The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control has been selected as a wildcard contender in the Petco Foundation’s 2019 Innovation Showdown and is asking for the public’s support to have the chance to be the third contestant competing for $450,000 in lifesaving funds.

As one of seven organizations with an idea in the wildcard voting round, DACC is encouraging its supporters to go to petcofoundation.org/showdown to vote for their innovative animal welfare idea from March 4-16. The organization with the most votes will win a spot to pitch their idea live on stage to the innovation investors at this year’s Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo.

Pawsitive Steps Academy is an innovative program that provides skills and education about animal care to young people in probation camps while providing kittens too young to be placed in shelters with vital care and nurturing. The program emphasizes the human-animal bond and its effect on emotional development and well-being. Both the youth and the kittens are at critical stages in their development, where tremendous impact can be made in a short period of time. The kittens receive the supportive care they need, the youth receive valuable skills and experience in animal care, and both receive care and comfort that comes from bonding with an animal. The goal of the program is to provide foster homes for vulnerable kittens and nurture an environment where the youth can learn new skills, reap the benefits of interacting with animals and open pathways to educational and career opportunities. The grant award would be used to expand Pawsitive Steps Academy to other probation camps in Los Angeles County.

“In the business of saving animal lives, innovation is critical,” said Petco Foundation President Susanne Kogut. “We are thrilled to partner with the Innovation Investors from the nation’s top animal welfare organizations to be the catalyst for change and reward organizations for their lifesaving innovation.”

Innovation Showdown is a collaborative project bringing the nation’s top animal welfare organizations together to invest in lifesaving innovation. Modeled after Shark Tank, participants seeking funding to save animal lives will present their best lifesaving animal welfare ideas on stage to the Innovation Investors (which include leaders from the Annenberg Foundation, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, The Jackson Galaxy Project, Maddie’s Fund®, Mary Jo & Hank Greenberg Animal Welfare Foundation, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Petco Foundation and the WaterShed Animal Fund).

Each presentation will consist of a video, brief pitch and a Q&A from the investors. The Innovation Investors will then collectively agree on the amount of investment to grant each of the three organizations pitching their ideas live on stage. From the hundreds of idea submissions across the country, two finalists and seven wildcard contenders were selected. DACC is vying for the third finalist spot. The Innovation Showdown aspires to encourage ideas that will change the landscape of animal welfare.

For more information about DACC, visit animalcare.lacounty.gov/ For more on the Petco Foundation, visit petcofoundation.org and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by using the hashtag #PetcoFamily.

About DACC
DACC is the largest animal welfare agency in the nation, protecting people and animals through compassionate care, community education, proactive intervention, and effective enforcement.

About the Petco Foundation
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $250 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we’ve helped more than 5.5 million pets find their new loving families, and we’re just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved