Mars Petcare will award $100,000 in grants for city initiatives that help pets and pet parents be together

FRANKLIN, Tenn., (July 26, 2022) – For the fifth year in a row, Mars Petcare’s BETTER CITIES FOR PETS™ program is offering grants for cities working to become pet friendly and keep people and pets together. The annual grant program furthers Mars Petcare’s purpose: A Better World for Pets. Applications are open and will be accepted through August 26, 2022.

The company plans to award five $20,000 grants in 2022, for a total of $100,000. Grants are available to cities or their designated NGO/non-profit partner and may focus on any of the four areas of the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS program’s pet-friendly cities model: Shelters, Homes, Parks and Businesses.

“Sixty-two percent of pet parents say that having pets with them is important to their mental health in the post-pandemic world,”1 said Lisa Campbell, Director of External Affairs at Mars Petcare. “Whether it’s helping people keep their pets in challenging times or making it easier to have pets with them throughout the day, cities play an important role in enabling the bond between pet parents and their pets. We’re thrilled to support their efforts.”

Since 2018, the BETTER CITIES FOR PETS program has awarded $1,000,000 in food donations and more than $350,000 in grants that have helped cities across the country like Key West, Florida, Dallas, Texas and Sheboygan, Wisconsin create or expand pet-friendly initiatives. Recent recipients include programs to reduce behavior-related surrenders, to assist pet parents experiencing homelessness, and to make public spaces more pet friendly by adding pet-related amenities and signage.

Cities that receive grants in 2022 will also receive up to $2,000 in consultation services from Civic Design Center to help implement their program. To be eligible for a grant, cities must be a BETTER CITIES FOR PETS Certified City or have completed the City Assessment that is part of the city certification program. The BETTER CITIES FOR PETS City Certification program provides a national recognition platform for cities’ pet-friendly efforts, along with best practice research, policy advocacy and resources for programs that help pets and pet parents.

Learn more about the grants and find the link to apply at BetterCitiesForPets.com/grants.

About Mars Petcare  
Part of Mars, Incorporated, a family-owned business with more than a century of history making diverse products and offering services for people and the pets people love, the 85,000 Associates across 50+ countries in Mars Petcare are dedicated to one purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS. With 85 years of experience, our portfolio of almost 50 brands serves the health and nutrition needs of the world’s pets – including brands PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, ROYAL CANIN®, NUTRO™, GREENIES™, SHEBA®, CESAR®, IAMS™ and EUKANUBA™ as well as the WALTHAM Petcare Science Institute which has advanced research in the nutrition and health of pets for over 50 years. Mars Petcare is also a leading veterinary health provider through an international network of over 2,000 pet hospitals and diagnostic services including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™, Linnaeus, AniCura and Antech. We’re also active in innovation and technology for pets, with WISDOM PANEL™ genetic health screening and DNA testing for dogs, the WHISTLE™ GPS dog tracker, and LEAP VENTURE STUDIO accelerator and COMPANION FUND™ programs that drive innovation and disruption in the pet care industry. As a family business and guided by our principles, we are privileged with the flexibility to fight for what we believe in – and we choose to fight for: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.

1 KRC Research online survey of 1,003 U.S. pet parents from July 28 to August 8, 2021.
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