Duffield Foundation pledges $250 million for veterinary care
The Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation has committed $250 million over five years to expand affordable veterinary care.
The Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation has launched a five-year, $250 million initiative to reduce financial barriers to veterinary care for family pets across the United States. The foundation calls this one of the largest private philanthropic investments ever focused on expanding nonprofit community veterinary care.
Named 'Big Bet for Pets,' the program targets what the foundation estimates is a 50-million-pet access gap, driven largely by cost. Dave Duffield, the foundation's co-founder, stated that pets are family members who need veterinary care to live long, healthy lives. He said for too many families, that care is not easy to find or afford. The initiative is their way of investing in a stronger, more accessible safety net.
A growing philanthropic focus
The Duffields have funded companion-animal causes for over 30 years, notably through Maddie's Fund. Their new foundation, established in 2016, also supports programs pairing veterans with service dogs. This latest commitment builds on a similar 2023 pledge of $100 million from PetSmart Charities.
Amy Duffield Zeifang, the foundation's co-president, linked the urgency to the pandemic's aftermath. She said it became clear that the lack of access to affordable veterinary care was the crisis of our times within animal welfare.
Two new grant programs
The foundation has opened two funding opportunities immediately. The first is a pool of $2.5 million for small, unrestricted grants. The second is a larger fund for established clinics looking to scale their operations.
| Grant Program | Total Pool | Individual Award | Number of Awards | Application Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duffield Boost Grants | $2.5 million | $10,000 (unrestricted) | 250 | Open, via foundation website |
| Expanding Access Grants | $10 million | Multi-year awards | Not specified | December 16 |
Addressing an urgent, understudied challenge
Amy Mills, the foundation's vice president of access to care, called the lack of affordable veterinary care one of the most urgent and actionable challenges facing pets and their owners. She said the funding aims to address both immediate need and a knowledge gap in the field.
Mills noted that solutions in this space remain understudied. There is not a ton of research on what kinds of solutions work best for different populations to gain access to veterinary care. Through Big Bet for Pets, the foundation is investing in a future where every pet has access to the care they need.
