Animal Rescue League of Boston Receives $3 Million Grant to Establish Center for Shelter Dogs

BOSTON, Mass. February, 12, 2008 -- The Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Boston has received a $3 million grant from The Stanton Foundation, the largest private contribution in the ARL of Boston’s 109-year-old history. The Stanton Foundation was created upon the death of the late Dr. Frank Stanton, the former president of CBS and a noted philanthropist.

The grant allows the ARL of Boston to develop the first-in-the-nation Center for Shelter Dogs. Once completed, the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston will provide a model for improving the welfare and eventual placement of homeless dogs cared for by humane organizations, animal control facilities and rescue groups in Massachusetts and throughout the nation.

"We are honored to be selected by The Stanton Foundation to develop a world-class program for homeless dogs. The Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston will greatly impact the welfare and placement of dogs in Massachusetts and throughout the country,” says Animal Rescue League of Boston President Jay Bowen. “We are grateful to The Stanton Foundation for its financial call-to-action for shelter dogs in our society."

Both through its name and mission, the focus of the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston will be canines. The Center will accomplish this goal by improving our ability to screen for, evaluate, and resolve dog behavior problems; by increasing our understanding of the role of the shelter environment and the disruptive effect of the stress of homelessness and rehoming on dog behavior; by developing better methods of evaluating and mitigating stress in the shelter environment; by developing improved strategies for matching with prospective adopters, and by implementing long-term follow-up programs to help validate assessments made in the shelter environment and smooth the transition to an adoptive home. It will also examine the role of alternatives (e.g., home-based rehabilitation programs) to the traditional approach for homeless dogs. Amy Marder, VMD, CAAB, an internationally recognized animal behavior specialist, will serve as the Director for the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

“Rigorous science-based research and outcomes assessment will be the cornerstone of all the efforts of the Center for Shelter Dogs at the Animal Rescue League of Boston,” says Gary Patronek, VMD, PhD, Vice President for Animal Welfare and New Program Development. “Although anchored in our Animal Behavior Program, the efforts of the Center for Shelter Dogs will extend beyond the discipline of Animal Behavior and will incorporate clinical medicine and epidemiology to develop a world-class program on behalf of homeless dogs waiting for adoption into loving, caring homes.”

About Frank Stanton

Frank Stanton is regarded as one of the greatest executives in the history of electronic communications and one of the television industry’s founding fathers. He was the master builder of CBS, turning an also-ran radio network into a broadcasting powerhouse under company architect and founder William S. Paley, who appointed him president in 1946. Stanton held the title for 25 years longer than any network television head. Stanton was also a pioneering advertising researcher, inventing the first radio advertising audience counting device a precursor of today’s “people meter” to give CBS an early competitive edge with sponsors. In 1960, Stanton initiated the first televised presidential debates -- the famous Nixon-Kennedy “Great Debates”--winning a Peabody Award for his efforts. But his biggest contributions to the industry and the society it served were his staunch efforts to defend freedom of speech whenever it was assailed and assuring that the new medium of television fulfilled its responsibility to broadcast in the public interest.

Animal Rescue League of Boston

Founded in 1899, the Animal Rescue League (ARL) of Boston is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing domesticated animals and wildlife from suffering, cruelty, abandonment, and neglect. In addition to the organization’s animal rescue, law enforcement, shelter, and veterinary headquarters in Boston, the ARL of Boston operates shelters in Boston, Dedham, and Brewster, Massachusetts. The ARL of Boston also maintains a fleet of animal ambulances, a mobile Spay Waggin’ providing subsidized spay/neuter services throughout Massachusetts, and operates the state’s only Mobile Adoption Rescue Vehicle (MARV).

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