PACT for Animals

Mission
PACT for Animals is a champion of the Human-Animal Bond. PACT gives peace of mind to hospital patients and military personnel by placing their pets in temporary foster homes until their owners can be reunited with the companion animals they love.
Every year thousands of companion animals are surrendered into animal shelters due to temporary crises. By providing access to safe foster homes for animals until their human companions can take them back, PACT reduces the number of animals in animal shelters and gives the owners peace of mind that their best friends will not be lost, abused, or euthanized.
We are the ONLY active non-profit organization in the country providing this unique, essential service in the animal welfare community, and all PACT Programs are FREE! PACT carefully screens every case to find the perfect match of Foster Home and Foster Pet. Foster families are in constant contact with the military/hospitalized owners providing regular updates, including photos, messages and videos of their beloved pets. For many people in a hospital bed, on deployment, or in another crisis situation, these emails are a comfort for their raw nerves, and the best thing they see all week!
When people are fighting for their health or fighting for our country, no one should have to worry about the safety of their best friends. Our foster programs save lives with every successful crisis rescue, foster placement, and joyful reunion. At PACT we believe in keeping families together and building strong communities willing to protect the Human-Animal Bond.
Our work is necessary in the animal welfare community and we love what we do!

Growth
The concept of PACT was conceived in early 2010. Buzz Miller, PACT’s Founder and President, has been rescuing animals for 30 years, and has worked with most of the shelters in the Delaware Valley. In 2010 Buzz started noticing that more and more people in the armed services were forced to surrender their pets to a shelter when they went on deployment. These brave men and women were risking their lives to fight for our country, and yet were forced to leave their best friends and sometimes only family in the lobby of an animal shelter, full of sadness, worry, and remorse.
Buzz felt that our nation’s soldiers should not have to abandon all hope of seeing their best friends again because of a desire to defend their country. Buzz decided to defend the lives of their companion animals at home, so that the armed forces could focus on their military training and have peace of mind when they thought about their furry families, in return for the peace of mind they give to us for our own families’ safety.
PACT was founded as a non-profit that would find these animals free, quality, volunteer foster homes while their owners unable to house them due to their deployment or training in the armed forces. Working out of the basement of Buzz’s house in Pennsylvania, PACT started getting the word out and talking to potential foster families. In 2011, PACT’s first operational foster year, we recruited 6 Foster Families and placed 4 grateful animals in loving foster homes.
In 2012 PACT’s foster network experienced substantial growth and we were able to place 40 animals in foster homes– 80% dogs and 20% cats. That Fall, Children’s Hospital Of Philadelphia (CHOP)’s social workers approached PACT about fostering an animal for a young boy who needed major heart surgery. His family planned to stay at Ronald McDonald House (RMH) to be near him during his life-threatening ordeal, but felt they had no choice but to surrender his beloved dog, Baby Powder, to a shelter, since the RMH did not allow animals. PACT was able to place Baby Powder in a wonderful foster home, and the boy’s operation was a success! This began PACT’s relationship with CHOP, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and relationships with the Ronald McDonald homes in the Delaware Valley.
2013 was a major year of growth for PACT. As more and more people became aware of our Military and Hospital Foster Programs we began receiving calls from all around the county. People drove their animals to Philadelphia from states as far away as Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, Illinois, and all states in-between, and some even flew with their pets to us to be placed with our quality foster homes. PACT started offering pet fostering to all hospital patients that were able to provide a solid “end date,” and began to work with animal lovers and fosters nationally to try to help more people around the country. Satellites of PACT were formed in Colorado and Arizona. These satellites were started by close friends of Buzz’s who shared his passion for saving animals. PACT also began building relationships with local veterinarians, trainers, kennels, pet suppliers and groomers in the Delaware Valley who were interested in supporting PACT’s work. By December 2013, we had placed over 100 companion animals in loving homes.
In 2014, PACT continues to grow to help more people around the country, and save more pets’ lives. We are looking to expand our local as well as national infrastructure of vets, trainers, kennels, and volunteers. PACT is working towards the day when 0% of beloved pets are unwillingly surrendered to shelters due to a temporary military or medical crisis. Can you help us make this happen?
“This year, however, we are DOUBLING the number of animals we have helped– from 52 last year to a goal of 100, and we are already high 80s! We also had pets flown in from FL, TX, CA, and WA, as well as people driving 14+ hours to bring their pets to our pre-screened and supported foster homes. We handle about 75% dogs and 25% cats, and only about 20% of our placements are hospital-related (the other 80% military) but I think that will increase as people find out about our programs.
All of our foster homes are pre-screened through a 3-step process (application, vet-check, and personal home visit or reference check), so people in crisis know that the home their best friend is going to is safe. The homes are also supported by PACT volunteers throughought the process- I check in with them monthly, and we have participating veterinarians, trainers, kennels, groomers, etc, that help if necessary. Owner pays for all food and medical needs, so to many foster homes it’s like a free pet. On the other hand, the foster home has to send regular updates to the owner, with pictures and sometimes even Skyping with the pet (dogs LOVE Skype, they’re convinced their person is IN the computer). To the person overseas, or stuck in a hospital bed, seeing that picture of their best friend playing in the sunshine with kids and bubbles is the best thing they see all week– and gives them a reason to keep safe and come home.”
Best,
Deborah Bedoll
Assistant Director
PACT for Animals
Tel. | 610-581-4141
Web | PACTforAnimals.org