Grants will power dog adoptions and care initiatives at shelters and rescues across Canada and the U.S.
BOLTON, ON, Oct. 28, 2025 /CNW/ - In celebration of National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, PEDIGREE Foundation announced today the recipients of $1.2M USD in 2025 annual grants to shelters and rescues across Canada and the U.S., with 97 grants supporting more than 115,000 dogs. This year also marks a major milestone for the organization: since its founding in 2008, PEDIGREE Foundation has helped more than one million dogs by supporting shelters and rescue organizations with grants that help increase dog adoption rates and keep people and pets together.
To date, PEDIGREE Foundation has awarded more than $15.3 million USD in grants. In Canada, this year $125,000 CAD in funding will be awarded through program development and disaster relief grants, as well as four grants to cover adoption fees as part of Mars' Global Adoption Weekend*, helping to provide care and support for more than 14,500 dogs in need.
The 2025 annual PEDIGREE Foundation grants to shelters and rescues across Canada and the U.S. support proven solutions that help more dogs find loving homes, including fostering, transport, behaviour training, and disaster relief. Recent data underscores the urgency of this work. According to State of Pet Homelessness Report, there are approximately 39,000 pets in shelters and rescues across Canada.
"With adoptions lagging and length of stay rising, our 2025 grants invest in foster expansion and funding transport, behaviour, and disaster relief, so shelters can find homes for more dogs," said Deb Fair, Executive Director, PEDIGREE Foundation. "We're proud to have helped more than one million dogs, and we're doubling down with our partners to grow these lifesaving interventions to help the next million."
Below are the 2025 recipients of this year's PEDIGREE Foundation Canadian Grant Program:
2025 PEDIGREE Foundation Canadian Grant Categories and Recipients
- Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society
- Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) of Alberta
- The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth
- Oakville & Milton Humane Society
- Oromocto and Area SPCA
- Niagara Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals & Humane Society
- Northwest Territories Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- The Nova Scotia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
- Save Our Scruff Rehome & Rescue
- The Winnipeg Humane Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
"When community members face pet food scarcity, they are often left with limited options: choosing not to put food on their own plate instead of letting their pet go hungry or surrendering their animal," says Christina Von Schindler, CEO, Winnipeg Humane Society. "The Winnipeg Humane Society pet food bank aims to ensure people never have to make those heartbreaking decisions. Since the pet food bank relies solely on donations, we're extremely grateful for PEDIGREE Foundation's support which will help us not only feed more animals in our community, but it also keeps pets where they belong: with their loving family."
For the 2025 grant cycle, PEDIGREE Foundation focused on supporting programs that increase dog adoption rates. These grants continue to support animal shelters and rescue organizations in Canada with implementing foster, behaviour and adoption matching, transport, remote community support, as well as safety net programs.
This year, $110,000 (CAD) was awarded through 10 program development grants, which were given to 10 shelters across Canada, as well as four grants covering adoption fees as part of Mars' Global Adoption Weekend event. Additionally, this year, an emphasis was put on developing and strengthening support for disaster relief efforts across Canada, particularly in light of the growing wildfire seasons, totaling $15,000 CAD. As part of the disaster relief grants, one grant was awarded to Winnipeg Humane Society to provide support with immediate on-the-ground wildfire relief in the local community. An additional grant was made in partnership with Humane Canada to support emergency disaster relief. This first-time grant partnership will enable more timely disaster relief, with an emphasis on supporting pets in need during disasters.
To learn more about PEDIGREE Foundation and the 2025 grant recipients, or to donate to help find loving homes for dogs in need, please visit PedigreeFondation.org and follow PEDIGREE Foundation on Facebook and Instagram.
*PEDIGREE Foundation operates independently from Mars, and grants are awarded solely based on charitable objectives.
About PEDIGREE Foundation
We believe every dog deserves a loving, forever home. PEDIGREE Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to help end pet homelessness. Nearly 3 million dogs end up in shelters and rescues every year, and nearly half never find a home. The foundation was established in 2008 by Mars Petcare, maker of PEDIGREE® food for dogs, to help increase dog adoption rates. We've awarded more than 6,400 grants and over USD $15.3 million to U.S. and Canadian shelters and rescues that help dogs in need. Since launching our Canadian grant program in 2022, we have provided more than $465,000 CAD to local shelters and rescues and Disaster Relief Grants across Canada. At PEDIGREE Foundation, we're working toward a day when all dogs are safe, secure, cared for, fed well and loved. See how you can help at PedigreeFoundation.org.
SOURCE PEDIGREE Foundation
For Canadian media inquiries: Marley Burnes, Weber Shandwick, 416-788-9509, [email protected]
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