There is a moment in a veterinary exam room that almost nobody outside it ever sees. The diagnosis is treatable. The animal is not old, not suffering beyond help, not out of options. And the owner is sitting on a plastic chair doing arithmetic, because the estimate is $2,400 and they have $300.

What happens next is not a medical decision. It is a financial one.

Animals Staying Alive exists for exactly that moment. We pay the clinic directly — not the owner, the clinic — so treatment can start that day. Through 31 December 2025 we have paid $432,890 in emergency veterinary grants for 245 animals, an average of $1,767 per animal, across more than 90 veterinary practices. 2025 was our largest year yet: $152,545 for 81 animals.

We have no staff, no office, no salaries and no fundraising costs. The board covers every operating expense personally, so 100% of your gift becomes a line on a veterinary invoice.

For ten years this fund has been carried by two donors — our founding family. That is what the Guardian program changes. Guardians give a fixed amount every month, so when a clinic calls on a Tuesday about a dog with a treatable obstruction, the answer does not depend on what came in last week.

$25 a month is $300 a year — roughly one animal's bloodwork, radiographs and exam.

You are not donating to an organisation. You are pre-paying for a stranger's worst afternoon to end differently.

501(c)(3) · EIN 81-4734688 · Founded 2016 · IRS Form 990 available on request

The Guardian Program

You are one tap from paying a veterinary bill.

Team Members