The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and the Veterinary Medical Association of New York City (VMANYC ) have announced a first-year grant from Maddie's Fund to create programs to end the killing of healthy and treatable homeless animals in New York City. The fund will provide up to $15.5 million for the initiative over the next seven years.

Approximately $9.5 million of that amount will be spent to increase pet adoptions, while $6 million will be earmarked for subsidies to low-income New Yorkers for spay and neuter surgeries for their pets. The spay/neuter program will be administered by VMANYC, which partnered with the Mayor's Alliance, a coalition of sixty-five animal rescue groups and shelters, in applying for the grant. VMANYC expects its member veterinarians to perform 14,000 surgeries in the first year of the project alone.

"Transforming New York City into a no-kill environment is a tremendous challenge for everyone involved — the shelters and rescue groups, New York City's Animal Care and Control, and the citizens of our great city," said alliance president Jane Hoffman. "Now, powered by Maddie's Fund's financial support and its demonstrated faith in New York's ability to tackle the difficult challenges ahead, we are confident that New York will succeed in becoming a no-kill city in the foreseeable future." The alliance aims to increase adoptions and decrease the number of dogs and cats euthanized in New York shelters by 2,800 in the first year of the project.

Alameda, California-based Maddie's Fund is a $200 million family foundation established in 1999 by Dave Duffield, founder and former CEO of software company PeopleSoft, and his wife, Cheryl, in memory of the family's beloved miniature schnauzer.