Illinois

Wild Hearts will use a Grey Muzzle grant to purchase vital assistive devices, like harnesses, slings, and carts, to help aging pets maintain and improve their mobility. These tools help dogs like Stella, an older pitbull mix with degenerative myelopathy, get up and move again, improving their quality of life. 

Wild Hearts offers comprehensive care to animals with mobility issues by providing equipment, supplies, education, and other resources to rescues and pet owners. They aim to prevent the needless surrender and euthanasia of pets with varying abilities and improve their quality of life.

Live Like Roo will use this grant to help families, rescues, and shelters to cover the cost of chemotherapy treatment for senior dogs diagnosed with cancer. Chemo is incredibly costly and help paying for it is one of the most common requests Live Like Roo receives. The grant will pay for chemotherapy to help dogs like 13-year-old Chopper, who, thanks to lifesaving treatments, lived another year after his diagnosis.

The Live Like Roo Foundation provides emotional support and financial assistance to families whose pet faces a cancer diagnosis. Since 2016, they have granted over $1,600,000 to families, rescues, and shelters with about 90% of their funding being used to support dogs. The organization was founded in memory of Roo, a sweet boy who spent far too long in a shelter and then most of his remaining months battling an aggressive form of cancer. But he went on the bucket list journey of a lifetime and enjoyed every last day.

A grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization will help Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) sustain its medical and dental care program for senior dogs. With the funds provided by Grey Muzzle, ARF will provide senior dogs with routine medical services, including a wellness examination, spaying/neutering, medications, vaccinations, microchipping, and dental care. Providing timely medical care will help reduce pain, improve mobility, and prepare senior dogs like Spot for adoption.

ARF is an all-volunteer, foster-based organization in Wheaton, Illinois dedicated to rescuing and rehoming homeless dogs and cats, including animals that other rescue groups often cannot take in due to advanced age or exceptional medical needs. They are committed to enhancing the lives of animals by promoting affordable, responsible pet ownership and public awareness of animal welfare.

A Grey Muzzle grant will help the Belleville Area Humane Society launch a new initiative within their Wonderdog program focused specifically on senior dogs. Wonderdogs are beloved and deserve a forever home, but need some extra help (e.g., training, marketing) because of their age, breed, or temperament. These dogs receive individualized care plans designed to provide a range of support tailored to their specific needs. Casha, the first Grey Muzzle-supported Wonderdog, is currently in a specialized foster home and will undergo a full medical check-up and dental treatment to get her ready for adoption.

The Belleville Area Humane Society is committed to innovation and has a proven track record of growth, serving the region for over 63 years. It has worked closely with partner organizations to achieve a countywide save rate of over 98%. Other services include a special lost and found pets program; community outreach programs such as spay/neuter, vaccines, trap/neuter/return, a compassionate care fund, and a robust pet food and supply pantry; and foster and adoption programs.

The Naperville Area Humane Society is grateful for a generous grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization to support the Lucky 7 Fund, which provides diagnostic and medical treatment to all senior dogs in their care. This grant will ensure 20 senior dogs receive medical, dental, and preventative services that will not only make them feel better but also help them find forever homes more quickly. 

For more than 40 years, the Naperville Area Humane Society (NAHS) has been helping homeless animals in Naperville, IL and surrounding cities, delivering services that reflect integrity, respect, compassion, and joy for all people and animals. NAHS accepts animals from owners who can no longer care for their pets and from organizations, both near and far, that lack resources to offer the animals a second chance. 

Second City Canine Rescue (SCCR) will provide 87 senior dogs with needed medical and dental care, placing them in loving foster homes while they await adoption. The grant will help dogs like eight-year-old Elle, who needed several masses removed and biopsied and is fighting a tick-borne illness. Despite her age and health issues, Elle is a wonderful houseguest with her foster family, who report that she politely uses an “inside hound voice” and loves every human and dog she meets. Elle has love to give an adopter and looks forward to finding her forever home.

SCCR’s mission is to rescue and place homeless dogs into permanent, loving homes. SCCR believes in rescuing responsibly℠, investing time and effort into their dogs to ensure they are ready to be part of a family and placed with adopters who match their temperament and energy level. This ensures each dog has the best chance of finding their forever family. Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, SCCR has saved more than 5,300 dogs since its inception in 2011. All breeds, ages, sizes, and colors are welcomed and loved. 

The Anti-Cruelty Society received a grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization to help fund in-depth cleanings and extractions for older dogs at the Society. The Society provides veterinary services to senior dogs which often includes minor cleaning and extractions of unhealthy, rotting teeth. Currently, the Society does not have a designated dental program, but this grant will help fund more oral procedures for older dogs to help their quality of life in their new forever homes.
 

Founded in 1899, The Anti-Cruelty Society (The Society) is Chicago’s oldest and largest, private, open-admission, unlimited-stay humane society. With a mission of building a community of caring by helping pets and educating people, their comprehensive programs and services help over 50,000 animals and humans every year and include: adoption, charity veterinary clinic, low or no-cost spay/neuter clinic, cruelty investigations and rescue, humane education & community outreach, a free behavior helpline, dog training classes, S.A.F.E.

With the grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization, Heartland will ensure all senior dogs at the shelter receive the medical care they need, including veterinary exams, diagnostics (bloodwork and urinalysis), and dental cleanings. Providing this medical care up front is expected to decrease the length of stay for senior dogs, finding them permanent homes more quickly before they become stressed or sick in the shelter environment. Heartland also intends to allocate a portion of the grant toward helping owned senior dogs remain in their loving homes, who might otherwise be surrendered due to the cost of care.
 

Heartland Animal Shelter is a no-kill, nonprofit organization that rescues animals from the Chicagoland area and across the nation. Their mission is to find permanent, loving homes for homeless animals and promote responsible pet ownership through education, community outreach and collaboration while maintaining respect and compassion for all creatures. Heartland has saved more than 10,000 animals since the shelter opened in 2002.

A Grey Muzzle grant to As Good as Gold - Golden Retriever Rescue of Illinois helps to expand their work through Elsa's Fund. AGaG specializes in the care and rehabilitation of senior dogs with more significant and complicated health needs, allowing the shelters to keep healthy seniors for them to adopt.

Elsa’s Fund uses funds specifically allocated for medical costs of senior dogs, helping senior golden retrievers who lose their homes and providing them with care and rehabilitation to prepare them for adoption.

Read how your donations are making a difference here: 

As Good as Gold – Golden Retriever Rescue of Illinois is dedicated to the rescue, care and adoption of Golden Retrievers and golden mixes who are in need. In addition, As Good as Gold educates Golden Retriever guardians and the general public about the importance of spaying/neutering, positive training methods, diet and exercise, appropriate medical treatment and humane care.