At the Rainier Animal Fund, our mission is working to ensure advanced veterinary care is accessible to Washington pets, so that they might thrive and live healthy, happy lives with the people who love them.
Our Mission
About the Rainier Animal Fund
The Rainier Animal Fund (RAF) was officially established at Rainier Veterinary Hospital as a 501(c)(3) in November 2016. The fund’s initial mission was to be a medical resource for homeless or abused pets in need of emergency veterinary medical care. Following the fund’s inception, RAF was able to step in to provide care for a handful of emergent cases.
“When we established RAF, we were seeing so many animals in abusive or hoarding situations, where they are neglected, or put in potential danger in homeless camps,” explains Debra Nicholson, DVM, owner of Rainier Veterinary Hospital and executive director of RAF. “Our original hope with the fund was to focus on caring for these animals and, eventually, re-home them to safe, loving environments.”
In 2019, RAF expanded its mission to help provide free medical veterinary care to families and pets in need. This initiative is accomplished through our “In-Service” surgery and advanced care veterinary clinics along with medical grants to cover individual care on a case-by-case basis for qualifying low-income families.
“At RAF, we recognize that access to affordable veterinary care is beyond the reach for many families,” Nicholson continues. “We want to be there to help those pets get the care they so desperately need. It is for this reason that RAF expanded its mission. We have set the stage to raise the funds we need to make our mission possible. We also look forward to working alongside our nonprofit colleagues in the field who have active programs in the Seattle area and are as equally committed to achieving these goals.”
The Rainier Animal Fund is a 100% volunteer organization that is able to implement its programs through its larger network of veterinary professionals, community partners, and sister hospitals; Bothell Pet Hospital, Elliott Bay Animal Hospital and Rainier Veterinary Hospital. All funding and in-kind donations go directly to supporting the RAF mission and its programs.
Our History
On May 9, 2016, a good Samaritan brought two kittens in to Rainier Veterinary Hospital; they were badly injured in a fire in a homeless encampment. While the medical team cared for the kittens, now christened Beauty and Millie, the staff began to receive an outpouring of community support.
The original Facebook post about Millie and Beauty that eventually led to the formation of the Rainier Animal Fund.
Through these donations, Rainier Veterinary Hospital raised enough funds to cover X-rays, provide fluids and pain medications, and—perhaps most importantly—take Beauty (who sustained more severe burns and damage than her sister) to a burn specialist in Shoreline. (Unfortunately, Beauty’s exam showed that the toxicity levels in her tiny organs and skin could not be turned around, and she was in more pain than we could treat. On May 16, 2016, we made the difficult but most humane decision for Beauty, and we ended her suffering by putting her to sleep.)
Sweet Millie made an incredible recovery and is a beautiful, happy cat today.
Millie, however, made an incredible recovery and has blossomed into a thriving, beautiful cat. “Millie is wonderfully active, super curious, and very friendly,” says the good Samaritan who adopted her. “She loves to ride in the car, come to work with me, or go visit friends. When she runs through the house, it sounds like an elephant—even though she’s only about 10 pounds. She leaps on her canine brother’s head and thinks she rules the house. Wait … she’s a cat. Yup, she rules the house. When she purrs, it’s loud and strong and includes a little chirping sound. We love her!!”
Through the generosity of the community, Rainier Veterinary Hospital was not only able to help Beauty and Millie, but also was able to establish the Rainier Animal Fund. Early efforts of this fund included:
- Treating a small dog that was hit by a car and abandoned by his owners at our doorstep. This pup sustained many fractures to his pelvis and needed surgery.
- Performed an amputation surgery on Mocha, who was attacked by a much larger dog in another homeless encampment.
But the team was just getting started ….
