Funding Available to Animal Shelters with Freshpet’s Fresh Start Program

Fresh Start puts pets first with more than $100,000 in financial help to animal rescues and shelters 

Freshpet kicked off its annual Fresh Start initiative today, opening the door to funding for no-kill animal shelters and rescues in the U.S. The brand is calling on shelter advocates for nominations and the chance to capture one of the $100,000+ in funding available through the Fresh Start program. Winners can use the winnings at their discretion, helping fund medical expenses, adoption support, operating costs, and other needs. 

While many shelters throughout the country experienced a surge in pet adoptions and fostering last year, the need to support shelters hasn’t waned. In fact, many organizations are experiencing increased needs due to capacity issues, making programs like Fresh Start a much-needed opportunity to fund services.  

“Animal shelters play an incredibly important role in communities across the country,” said Meriel’ Peterich, Freshpet spokesperson. “Their work is profound and often overlooked – uniting pets with their new families and giving dogs and cats a fresh start in life. Their efforts rely on funding, volunteers and dedicated staff members. We’ve increased our giving this year to help support the critical services they provide.” 

Nominations for Fresh Start are open to the public from Sept. 13-19 via freshpet.com/fresh-start. Following the nomination period, voting will be opened to the public from Sept. 22-28. Winners will be announced the week of Oct. 4.  

Grand prize winners will be selected by fans online and represent five regions across the U.S. — West, Southwest, Midwest, Southeast, and Northeast. Each regional winner will receive $12,000. Additionally, Freshpet will select up to 10 runners-up in each region, granting them $3,000 in Fresh Start funding, as well as five winners in the Wunderdogs category who will take home $3,000 each. 

Freshpet has always believed in putting pets first and that every pet deserves a fresh start, which is why it created the program in 2018. The program has resulted in more than $180,000 in contributions to local non-profit organizations in just its first three years.  

For more information about Freshpet and the Fresh Start program, visit freshpet.com/fresh-start, and connect with Freshpet on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.