Foster 50 Challenge Grants Provide $240,000 Across 43 Animal Shelters and Rescues to Strengthen Foster Programming from Coast to Coast

Participating organizations reported placement of 83,500 animals in foster care during the three-month challenge

FRANKLIN, Tenn., Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Foster 50 Challenge is a national initiative to help animal shelters and foster-based rescues increase foster participation, with the ambition to make an impact across all 50 states. Today, the Foster 50 coalition – led by PEDIGREE Foundation and including Maddie's Fund, Adopt a Pet, MuttNation Foundation, ASPCA, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, Mutual Rescue and Outcomes for Pets Consulting – is announcing the recipients of the 2026 Foster 50 Challenge Grants, with $240,000 being awarded to 43 animal well-being organizations.

Across the country, animal shelters and foster-based organizations are working tirelessly to care for pets in need and help them find loving homes. Meanwhile, the need for support continues to grow. According to Shelter Animals Count, 2025 ended with more dogs and cats in shelters than when it began, and mid-year data from 2026 shows a similar trend, with more dogs and cats entering shelters than leaving. Fostering offers a powerful way for communities to help, giving pets a temporary home while opening up valuable shelter space for other pets in need. Ultimately, fostering paves the way for more adoptions by giving pets a chance to thrive in a home environment and helping shelters learn more about their personalities to find the right adoptive families.

That's why the Foster 50 coalition conducted Year Two of the Foster 50 Challenge this summer. More than 300 shelters and rescues signed up to build and strengthen their foster programming during the three-month challenge, with free resources and support from the Foster 50 coalition along the way. At the same time, pet lovers across the country rallied and became foster volunteers in their communities, a collaborative effort that led to powerful results. Participating organizations reported the following impact from the three-month challenge:

• More than 83,500 animals placed into foster homes, reflecting a 14% increase from the start of the challenge.
• 108,200 animals adopted from participating shelters and rescues during the challenge period, including animals adopted directly from shelters and those that spent time in foster care.
• Nearly 19,000 community members become new foster caregivers – more than doubling last year's challenge.
• The number of animals staying 60+ days in shelters dropped by 28.5%.
• Among organizations with annual intakes over 5,000, the number of long-stay animals dropped by 34%.

"Fostering is one of the most impactful ways we can help get dogs and cats out of shelters, into environments where they can thrive and ultimately get adopted into forever homes," said Deb Fair, Executive Director of PEDIGREE Foundation. "What's so powerful about Foster 50 is the collaboration of the coalition partners around a shared goal, while empowering shelters and rescues with resources, support and funding to build stronger foster programs for the long term. Seeing nearly 19,000 new foster volunteers step up this year shows how much is possible when organizations come together to rally shelters, rescues and animal lovers to join the movement."

"The community response to this challenge was incredible," said Mary Ippoliti-Smith, Maddie's Fund Executive Leadership Team. "The public plays an important role in supporting pets to help them get adopted. By taking a pet out of the shelter, even for a short time, foster caregivers can help them reveal their true personality. In fact, research shows that dogs are 14 times more likely to be adopted after a foster sleepover. Congratulations to all participating organizations and their communities!"

The 2026 Foster 50 Challenge Grants
PEDIGREE Foundation and Maddie's Fund each awarded $100,000 in grant funding – doubling their giving from Year One of the program – to help the recipients expand, improve and innovate their existing foster programming or launch new foster programs.

Adopt a Pet awarded four Senior Pet Data Grants of $5,000 each, totaling $20,000, to collect additional data on fostering and senior pets. Adopt a Pet will share the findings to help more organizations make informed decisions about fostering senior pets.

MuttNation Foundation awarded $20,000 across four Love Harder Grants of $5,000 each, focusing on dogs that tend to have a harder time getting adopted, such as seniors, pit mixes, large breeds and dogs with disabilities.

To view the full list of 2026 grant recipients and learn more about Foster 50, visit pedigreefoundation.org/Foster50.

About PEDIGREE Foundation
We believe every dog deserves a loving, forever home. PEDIGREE Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization working to help end pet homelessness. Nearly 3 million dogs end up in shelters and rescues every year, and nearly half never find a home. The foundation was established in 2008 by Mars Petcare, maker of PEDIGREE® food for dogs, to help increase dog adoption rates. We've awarded more than 6,400 grants and over $15.3 million to U.S. and Canadian shelters and rescues that help dogs in need and have helped more than one million dogs through grants support. Since launching our Canadian grant program in 2022, we have provided more than $465,000 CAD to local shelters and rescues and Disaster Relief Grants across Canada. At PEDIGREE Foundation, we're working toward a day when all dogs are safe, welcomed, cared for, well fed and loved. See how you can help at PedigreeFoundation.org.

Contact:
Samantha Barron
WOI Communications
[email protected] 

SOURCE Mars, Incorporated