AHS & Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust commemorate 20-year anniversary

Rendering of the Papago Park Campus planned to open in 2023 (Photo courtesy of the AHS).

The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) and Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (Trust) are celebrating 20 years of helping to save homeless pets in Arizona and offering affordable resources to local pet parents.

According to an organizational release,¹ starting in 2001, the trust was a leading funder of AHS' Nina Mason Pulliam South Mountain Campus located at 15th Avenue and Dobbins Road in South Phoenix on 20 acres of donated land. The campus has been home to approximately 90,000 pet adoptions since then.

In 2011, the trust was key in forming AHS' expanded Margaret McAllister Brock Veterinary Clinic at its South Mountain Campus for pet parents in need. Currently, AHS' Veterinary Clinic aids low-income pet owners and treats more than 6,500 pets a year. AHS also founded the first-ever Pet Resource Center in Arizona, a call center dedicated to keeping pets and people together, offering resources for thousands of pet owners.

"Our 20-year partnership with the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust has allowed us to focus our efforts on both ends of the leash," said Steven Hansen, DVM, Arizona Humane Society president, and CEO, in the release.¹

"By implementing programs for both pets and their owners, we are better able to address the root of pet ownership problems in our community as opposed to simply putting a Band-Aid on it. In doing so, tens of thousands of pets and owners have benefited,” he added.

According to the release,¹ the outcome has been a 61% reduction in animal intake and an 83% reduction in euthanasia. The trust helped transform Maricopa County from 1 of the worst places to be a homeless pet to among the best.

Today, the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust is again a leading funder in Maricopa County's pet transformation as AHS has started construction on its Rob and Melani Walton Papago Park Campus. Anticipated to open in early 2023, the 72,000 square-foot campus will be located at the juncture of the 202 and 143 freeways in the Papago Park Buttes.¹

The complex will provide medical and behavioral interventions, treatment, and high-level care. The campus will also serve as a teaching hospital for veterinary students amid the overwhelming shortage in the industry. Additionally, the expansion to the triage area in the trauma hospital will allow AHS to care for thousands of more homeless pet patients than AHS' current Sunnyslope Campus, which debuted in 1957.

"Nina Mason Pulliam loved animals of every kind and had a strong understanding of the human-animal connection. She would be thrilled to know this campus that bears her name has contributed to nearly 100,000 pet adoptions, as well as kept animals with their human families during challenging times," said Lisa Shover Kackley, trustee of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust, in the release.¹

"We're proud of the work that continues to be accomplished at the South Mountain Campus and to be stepping with Arizona Humane Society into a new era of animal care."

Reference

AHS & Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust celebrate 20 transformative years. Arizona Humane Society. News release. April 12, 2022. Accessed April 12, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ahs--nina-mason-pulliam-charitable-trust-celebrate-20-transformative-years-301523064.html