Morris Animal Foundation

Your Impact 

As a supporter of Morris Animal Foundation, you can be sure that your dollar today goes straight to work funding only the strongest and most impactful science to save pets, horses and wildlife. We collaborate with teams of volunteer animal health research experts to ensure the studies you fund will make a difference in their relevant fields, drive innovation, and do the most good for animals in need.  

Your donation for Colorado Gives Day 2024 is eligible to be doubled due to our Board of Trustees’ $200,000 end-of-year match. We will continue to update you throughout the year on the impact you are making for animal health with your gift today. You can be an informed pet owner and champion of animals everywhere by supporting Morris Animal Foundation. 

Our Work in Action 

Just like in human medicine, veterinary care requires investment in research before we employ diagnostics, treatment and advice. Also, just like humans, animals both in our homes and around the world are vulnerable to diseases (such as cancers, heart disease and arthritis), parasites and other health conditions (such as obesity and aging).  

At Morris Animal Foundation, we fund research with top veterinary and academic institutions to advance animal health in these key areas and more. Your impact can be seen helping pets and animals here in Colorado and around the world through projects like:  

For Pets:

• Developing the first parvovirus vaccine in the 1970s which has saved countless shelter and pet dogs since its inception. 
• Pioneering early research to differentiate cats from dogs in dosing of medicine—historically, cats have been treated as small dogs, which neglects key differences in body systems, metabolism and needs. 
• Cancer is a leading cause of death in adult cats and dogs–cancer research remains a top priority for the Foundation. Our funding has helped develop targeted drug delivery systems (to avoid killing healthy cells); improved imaging to aid diagnostics and surgical removal of tumors; and immunotherapies, treatments that help the dog’s own immune system fight cancer. Ongoing work includes working on early screening detection methods and, of course, mining the data from the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study for new insights on cancer risk factors.
• Reducing overcrowding and euthanasia in shelter and free-roaming cat populations through developing nonsurgical spay and neuter technologies. Typical spay and neuter programs, the most effective way to control these populations, are labor-intensive and costly. Nonsurgical sterilization, including a neutering vaccine that does not require capturing the cats, and a nonsurgical spay that would involve less painful recovery for female cats, is a less invasive and more cost-effective alternative that can help keep shelter intake numbers—as well as euthanasia rates—under control.  

In the Wild:

• Funding research in key threatened ecosystems—most notably the coastal wetlands of the Pacific and Southeast Atlantic coasts, the sagebrush ecosystem in the Midwest, and our own grasslands in the American West. 
• Established in-the-field medical care for the mountain gorillas of Rwanda with support from our Betty White Wildlife Fund. Betty White served on our Board of Trustees (she even was Board Chair!), and was an avid supporter of research to improve animal health—especially gorillas, sea lions and many wildlife species. 
• Developed a first-of-its-kind cell culture system to test a new drug that could protect hibernating bats from white nose syndrome, a rapidly spreading and highly fatal fungal infection.
• Understanding the impact of urbanization and increased contact with humans on wildlife populations. Notably, research in crickets shows that certain levels of noise pollution decreased cricket survival rates by 35%. 
• Employing conservation genetics to understand and reduce the risk of population decline and species extinction. For endangered wildlife, this means that scientists and wildlife managers in the field have better, quicker and cheaper tools to study and develop strategies to save these animals. 

For Horses: 

• Focusing on horse behavior and how different factors—lighting, feeding systems, social interactions and more—can play a role in horse health and performance. Data like this can be used to help stabled horses lead happier lives and inform further studies on how adjustments can improve their day-to-day quality of life.
• Focus in colic prevention and treatment including studying intestinal inflammation, understanding risk factors in transportation, identifying and educating on early signs of colic, and more efficient post-operation management to make surgery less cost-prohibitive for horse owners.