{"id":29529,"date":"2026-01-14T13:30:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/?p=29529"},"modified":"2026-01-14T13:30:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T18:30:05","slug":"departments-spay-and-neuter-grants-program-fy27-grant-application-window-opens-january-16-and-closes-april-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/press-release\/2026\/01\/14\/departments-spay-and-neuter-grants-program-fy27-grant-application-window-opens-january-16-and-closes-april-17\/","title":{"rendered":"Department\u2019s Spay and Neuter Grants Program FY27 Grant Application Window Opens January 16 and Closes April 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Department\u2019s Spay and Neuter Grants Program FY27 Grant Application Window\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Opens January 16 and Closes April 17<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 14, 2026)<\/b> \u2013 The Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Spay and Neuter Grants Program seeks applications for competitive grant projects that will help reduce intake and euthanasia in Maryland animal shelters. Applications may be for pet-focused projects and\/or feral cat-focused projects.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FY27 grant cycle will award approximately $850,000 in funds to eligible projects that efficiently and effectively facilitate, promote, and increase spay and neuter services for cats and dogs in Maryland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Applicants may not request more than 25% of their organization\/program\u2019s annual operating budget, with a maximum grant allowance of $75,000. Organizations with a budget of less than $20,000 may request a maximum of $5,000. The minimum request allowable is $5,000 for all applicants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Application forms, instructions, and other materials have been updated for FY27 and will be available on the <\/span>Spay and Neuter Program\u2019s\u00a0webpage<\/span><\/a> on January 16, 2026, at 12:00 PM. The FY27 application window closes on\u00a0April 17, 2026, at 5:01 PM, and late submissions will not be considered.\u00a0Instructions from the previous grant cycle are available on the site now for review and guidance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eligible organizations include municipal or county governments and 501(c)(3) nonprofit animal welfare organizations. Applicants must be in Good Standing with the IRS, State of Maryland, and local Animal Control Authorities. See the program\u2019s\u00a0RFP document\u00a0for more information on eligibility and the application process.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This program is funded through fees paid by the pet food industry for each product they register to sell within the state. <\/span>To date, the program has awarded $9,827,838 in funds, totaling 355 grant projects that collectively have completed over 143,232 spay and neuter procedures.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Spay and Neuter Grants Program was established by the Maryland General Assembly during the 2013 Legislative Session. 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More information about the Spay and Neuter Grants Program is available on the department\u2019s\u00a0website. For questions about the program, contact the Spay and Neuter Grants Program Coordinator, Jen Swanson, at (410) 841-5766 or\u00a0<\/span>jen.swanson@maryland.gov<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

###<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Facebook <\/span>@MdAgDept<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Department\u2019s Spay and Neuter Grants Program FY27 Grant Application Window\u00a0 Opens January 16 and Closes April 17   ANNAPOLIS, MD (January 14, 2026) \u2013 The Maryland Department of Agriculture\u2019s Spay and Neuter Grants Program seeks applications for competitive grant projects that will help reduce intake and euthanasia in Maryland animal shelters. Applications may  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[403,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mda-newsroom","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29529"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29530,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29529\/revisions\/29530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}