How Greater Good Charities Helped Rescue Pets in 2022

Wag!'s partner, Greater Good Charities, has been working hard in the first half of 2022 to make the world a better place for pets and people alike.

Greater Good Charities is a global non-profit organization that's given over $400 million in impact — including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support — to over 5,000 charitable partners in 121 countries since 2007. Greater Good Charities works to help people, pets, and the planet by mobilizing in response to need.

Wag! and Greater Good Charities have been partners since 2016. Check out this video from Wag!'s CMO Patrick McCarthy about our five-year partnership with Greater Good Charities:

Together, we’ve donated more than 16 million meals to shelter pets. In 2020, Wag! teamed up with Greater Good Charities to deliver foster kits with donated pet supplies and foster pets to foster parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Here's a quick look at some of Greater Good Charities' 2022 initiatives, plus a few easy ways you can help Greater Good Charities continue to #AmplifyTheGood.

July 24th kicked off National Feed a Rescue Pet Week 2022, an annual fundraising event founded and hosted by Greater Good Charities. In 2021, Greater Good Charities raised funds for more than 3.4 million meals for rescue pets.

Each month, Wag! donates a portion of the proceeds from every 30-minute Walk to Greater Good Charities. To help our partners start National Feed a Rescue Week 2022 on the right paw, Wag! quadrupled our monthly donation amount!

Our support of Greater Good Charities wouldn't be "pawssible" without Pet Parents and Pet Caregivers like you — thank you!

A $25 donation provides 500 meals for shelter pets in need, like Fig and Ari. This cute canine and kitty duo are the "spokespets" for this year's fundraising event.

This year's National Feed a Rescue Pet Week was a great success, raising $154,056 — equivalent to 3 million meals for rescue pets!

When the Fetching Tails Foundation rescued Fig from an overcrowded shelter in Texas, the poor pup was 10–15 pounds underweight and battling eye infections and skin inflammation.

Thanks to the pet food donated to Fetching Tails through Greater Good Charities' GOODS Program, Fig transformed into a playful, happy, and healthy dog. Check out his before and after photos — talk about a "glow-pup"!

When this sweet kitty was found by Barb's Precious Rescue in Palatine, IL, he had upper respiratory illnesses and a badly infected eye.

Sadly, Ari's eye condition didn't respond to initial treatments, so his veterinarians had no choice but to pursue a more invasive and costly treatment to save it. Luckily, though, little Ari has made a "furrific" recovery!

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Greater Good Charities has been in contact with vetted humanitarian and animal welfare partners who are responding to the crisis in Ukraine and working on the ground. 

To help sustain emergency relief efforts for the millions of fleeing refugees and for those remaining in war-torn communities, Greater Good Charities has been strategically responding to meet humanitarian and animal welfare needs.

Greater Good Charities has awarded emergency relief to dozens of organizations in 5 countries to help support the immediate needs of people and pets struggling in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Greater Good Charities is also sending critically needed supplies, such as Good Packs, pet food, toys, humanitarian meals, and medical supplies, to organizations in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

To date, Greater Good Charities has directly supported partners helping hundreds of thousands of refugees and their pets displaced in Ukraine and fleeing to neighboring countries. Greater Good Charities has also funded over 7 million meals via local partners and food banks. 

Additionally, Greater Good Charities is providing more than 500 tons of pet food (4+ million meals) for Ukrainian pets of refugees displaced in Ukraine and fleeing to neighboring countries, and to struggling animal shelters in Ukraine, with a commitment to procure an additional 1,000 tons.

German-based organization Tiernothilfe Ukraine e.V. received a grant from Greater Good Charities to pay for gas and crates to ship more animals out of Ukraine. The Street Dog Coalition received funding to supply pet passports and paperwork to help pets get across the Romanian-Ukrainian border.

If you'd like to support Greater Good Charities' humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, please consider sharing or donating to its Ukraine fund. Anonymous donors will match all donations up to $350,000. 

Greater Good Charities New Year’s resolution for 2022 was to continue making meaningful changes when it comes to rescuing pets in need. Within 2 weeks, Greater Good Charities made that resolution a reality with its New Year’s Flight to Freedom initiative.

The goal of the initiative was to ease the burden on overcrowded animal shelters in Louisiana, where demand for adoptable pets is low and euthansia rates of healthy shelter animals are among the highest in the country. The problem of overcrowding has been compounded by the pandemic, natural disasters, and an increasing prevalence of heartworm.

On January 13, Greater Good Charities flew 50 dogs from shelters in Louisiana to New Jersey, a state where demand for adoptable animals is much higher. The pups were received by shelters across the region.

Here's our favorite pet rescue story from the Flight to Freedom: a 4-year-old Beagle named Elmer, who was heartworm-positive at the time of rescue, was adopted in less than 3 months! Check out Elmer in his new “furever” home:

Among the other pups flown out of Louisiana include 4-year-old Daffodil, whose rescuers found her in the middle of a busy road during rush-hour traffic. A litter of 8 puppies found living under an abandoned house in northern Louisiana was also rescued.

The Flight to Freedom is part of the Good Flights’ Save a Heart initiative to protect dogs from heartworm. According to the American Heartworm Society, Louisiana and Mississippi have the highest incidence rates of heartworm in the US.

Betty White wasn't just a Golden Girl — she was a national treasure. Her record-breaking 74-year acting career aside, Betty White was also an Army volunteer, human rights activist, and animal welfare advocate. 

Betty White was a powerful and beautiful voice for shelter pets, making a difference to dogs' lives across the country. She worked with several animal rights organizations, including The Morris Animal Foundation and the African Wildlife Foundation. She even starred in The Pet Set, where she discussed pet care and conservation with celebrity pet parents.

Betty White sadly passed away on December 31, 2021, at the age of 99. To honor what would have been her 100th birthday on January 17, Wag! teamed up with Greater Good Charities to deliver pet food to 100 pet rescue groups in southern California.

Deliveries began on Betty's birthday to celebrate one of the shining lights of the 20th century. These deliveries are part of the 4.9 million meals that Wag! and Greater Good Charities raised funding for during the Giving-Tuesday campaign.