The Summerlee Foundation promotes a new ethic toward our fellow beings, supporting efforts to research, rehabilitate, rescue, protect, and advocate for animals. Our grantees give second chances to companion animals and injured or orphaned wildlife, provide refuge and sanctuary for exploited wild and domesticated animals, increase the understanding and protection of wild carnivores, and bring about the demise of policies and practices that abuse animals.

Our aim is to help the most overlooked, underfunded, and heavily exploited animals. The majority of our funding goes to small and medium-sized, lean and agile groups where we believe our contribution can be used quickly and have an outsized impact.

Geographically

The Americas with special emphasis on those communities that are the most underserved and the most challenged.

Program Areas

• Wildlife

Focus on advocacy/educational campaigns and ethical research protecting North American wildlife, including big cats, bears, coyotes; efforts to reform state wildlife agencies that set policy and management practices; wildlife rehabilitation facilities

• Animal Sanctuaries

Focus on domestic and captive wild animal sanctuary facilities; must be verified or accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS)

• Farmed Animals

Focus on efforts to decrease cruelty and reform practices in industrial animal farming

• Cats

Focus on sterilization and Trap-Neuter-Return, primarily in rural or underserved communities and primarily in the United States and Canada

• Dogs

Focus on sterilization in Latin America or First Nations communities

• Emergency Funding for Animal Cruelty Cases

May be awarded through the Annie Lee Roberts Emergency Animal Rescue Fund administered by Greater Good Charities; contact eamgrants@greatergood.org for fund availability

We also consider timely, creative, compelling projects outside of our funding priorities.

Request a reasonable amount of grant reporting, including a simple final report.