As you can probably imagine, developing The Big Hearts Fund’s Application for Aid is a tedious task wrought with potential pitfalls. Some of the questions I’ve been asking myself are: Just how do you objectively assess who really needs help? And, in the case of multiple applicants, who needs help the most? To answer these questions, I’ve turned to other organizations who are doing the same thing in hopes of learning from them. There was only one problem with this – I can only find two other organizations in existence that help current pet owners pay for vet care. Why are there so few organizations that do this, you ask? Likely answers: 1) needs-based assessment is tricky and tedious and usually scares people off, and 2) most of the grants/funding available to animal-related non-profits are reserved ONLY for shelter and rescue organizations.

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to have a phone conversation with Jacki, founder of IMOM (In Memory of Magic). IMOM helps pet owners and shelters fund emergency veterinary care for pets who would otherwise have to be euthanized within 10 days of the diagnosis. If you visit IMOM’s website, you will see for yourself that their application process is extremely thorough and streamlined. It is very likely that our application process will require similar documents from owners and veterinarians.

Here is a little preview of what our application will likely resemble.

From Owners:
The biggest piece of information we will need is some proof of income. Required documents may include:

1) The most recent federal income tax return,

Obviously with these documents, all social security numbers and account numbers should be blacked out before they are sent to us. We would have to destroy all documents that come to us without these numbers blacked out.

Additional forms such as social security statements, unemployment benefit letters, food stamp approval letters, or copies of most recent pay stubs may be required of applicants who do not have federal income tax returns. Basically, we will be looking for any reason to accept each application. (Thank you especially to IMOM and Jacki for the added insight in this area!)

From Veterinarians:

1) Completed form signed by the vet stating the name/breed/age of pet to be treated, the specific heart disease diagnosis (if an initial echocardiogram has already been conducted), the necessary treatment being recommended, and the prognosis for the pet upon treatment

2) An itemized estimate for treatment, with cost broken down by procedure, for which this owner is applying for aid from The Big Hearts Fund.

As it says in our “about” section, we hope to begin accepting applications for aid sometime this spring. As always, we’ll keep you posted when the finalized application is up and running! Insight, comments, and questions are welcome.