Maryland Department of Agriculture Awards 35 Spay and Neuter Grants

ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Maryland Department of Agriculture’s (MDA’s) Spay and Neuter Grants Program announces 35 grant recipients that will receive funding for projects that efficiently and effectively facilitate, promote, and increase spay and neuter services for cats and dogs in Maryland. 

These projects will receive a total of $850,319 in funding to target another 14,446 spay and neuter surgeries for pets of low-income families and feral cats. Projects start Jan. 1, 2022, and will be completed by the end of 2022. Recipients include municipal governments, county governments, and 501(c)3 nonprofit animal welfare organizations. View a full list of grant awardees on MDA’s website.

“Local spay and neuter programs are critical to helping reduce intake numbers and euthanasia rates in Maryland,” said Maryland Agriculture Sec. Joe Bartenfelder. “With this funding, local projects around the state are better able to serve their communities in assisting with spay and neuter procedures.”

This program is funded through fees paid by the pet food industry for each product they register to sell within the state. To date, the program has funded 218 grant projects that collectively have completed nearly 84,000 spay and neuter procedures.

The Spay and Neuter Grants Program was established in 2013. A seven-member advisory board, appointed by the Maryland Secretary of Agriculture, reviews all grant applications and provides recommendations to the Secretary on how grants should be administered. 

More information about the Spay and Neuter Grants Program is available on the department’s website. For questions about the program, please contact Nathaniel Boan at (410) 841-5766 or nathaniel.boan@maryland.gov. 

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