Sometimes, people get confused about the name of the Shakespeare Animal Fund, said Jennifer Webb, the founder of the nonprofit. Sometimes, people wonder if it’s an organization for performing dogs.
But that is far from what Webb’s nonprofit does for animals and their owners. The Shakespeare Animal Fund helps pet owners in their greatest time of need - when their pets are injured or dying.
Depending on the situation, veterinary bills can be expensive. The Shakespeare Animal Fund steps in to help by partially paying for these bills.
The idea for the nonprofit came after the passing of Webb’s own dog, Shakespeare.
“I was absolutely distraught. And I kept thinking, ‘thank God I had plenty of credit cards. I’ll pay whatever to keep my dog alive and healthy,’ ” Webb said.
Webb looked for veterinary help in Reno and at UC Davis. She paid for different kinds of testing, including an MRI. Shakespeare eventually passed in 2003.
Because of this, Webb began to wonder what her experience would have been like if she hadn’t had the money to pay for Shakespeare’s veterinary bills.
So, in January of 2004, she started her nonprofit in Reno, with the help of the Community Foundation of Western Nevada - now called the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada.
“They practically held my hand until April 2006. They worked with us, they taught me what I needed to do, and how to survive,” she said.
Roughly two years later, in 2006, she had her own nonprofit.
Now, the fund gets calls for all kinds of medical emergencies, Webb said. These emergencies include car accidents, bite wounds, and ear infections. The team has gotten calls about porcupine quills getting stuck in dogs faces and dogs getting shot.
It also helps owners afford euthanasia, if that’s their only available option.
Right now, people are only eligible if they live in northern Nevada counties or Alachua County in Florida. Despite that, the team gets calls from all kinds of places.
“We get calls for help that we have to turn down all over the United States, all the time,” Webb said.
The fund even gets calls or emails from places like Ukraine and London, Webb said.
“There’s a tremendous need, it’s certainly not just in Nevada,” she added.
Sometimes, these calls can be overwhelming.
“You’ve got to have a certain mentality. I would assume it’s a bit like being a therapist,” she said.
Although the fund is only available in certain counties for now, Webb is hopeful that won’t be the case in the next five years. She wants to expand the Shakespeare Animal Fund’s eligibility to Las Vegas and the Midwest, once the nonprofit has more volunteers, board members and funding.
Overall, the goal of the team is to help more people. Sometimes, pets can be the only family members that these callers have, Webb said.
“So often we deal with the elderly and the disabled. So often, their animal is their only family,” she said. “So just the incredible bond and the reason to wake up in the morning comes from having an animal you have to take care of.”
This is why the fund’s main focus is on veterans, low-income households and the elderly.
Owners looking for assistance contact the fund, which then determines eligibility. There are multiple factors for determining eligibility – age, disabilities, the estimated cost of care and even monthly household income.
Lisa Moffitt has been a board member for the fund for over a year. She has a passion for keeping pets with their owners, especially seniors, she said.
“I think it’s really important right now because there are stories of people [who will] forgo eating just so that they can take care of their pets,” she said.
This trend is also visible at the Nevada Humane Society (NHS). In 2023, 105 animals were surrendered to the NHS shelters due to financial reasons, said Jerleen Bryant, CEO of the NHS. This is a 65% increase in dog surrenders to their shelters since 2022.
The shelter’s animal help desk is staffed with counselors, who help owners through the surrendering process, Bryant said.
“They’re going to try to provide resources and counseling to keep that pet in the home,” she said.
If the owner can’t keep the pet, they make an appointment with the shelter to start the surrendering process.
“It’s an emotional situation and it’s taxing and has an impact to my staff. We don’t have the same staff working our help desk every day because it could be difficult for them,” she said.
The need in the community appears to be growing, but these resources work to keep pets with their owners.
The Shakespeare Animal Fund is planning a celebration in August that will include an auction and raffle.
KUNR’s Ember Braun is a student at the Reynolds School of Journalism.
