Women for Paws

Women for Paws was created by our founder Grace C. Lopez because of her love for animals. Her vision for pet retention and animal welfare led her to create an organization that provides direct support to pet owners in desperate need of financial help. When our founder volunteered at a national breast cancer organization, she witnessed first-hand how many individuals had to give up their pets during treatment because they could not take care of them and in most instances, could not afford the expenses related to medical treatments, and basic needs. As a result, some pet owners had to give up their pets to shelters or to friends. Grace promised herself that one day she would create a charitable organization that would keep pets together with their human parents. Women for Paws is that organization and now provides financial support to pet owners that cannot care for their pets due to illness or temporary financial hardship. We are committed to pet retention, and we fundraise to provide the financial support needed to prevent the family pet from going to an animal shelter, being given away, or ending up on the streets.

We also provide financial support to pet owners who are victims of domestic violence that need to hide their pet at a boarding facility until they transition to a safe place where they can reunite. There is a tremendous need for this type of help due to the many pets that are targeted as a form of punishment.  Ninety percent of the pet owners that we serve are women who are struggling emotionally and financially to keep their family pet.  Pets are members of our families,  and pet owners should never have to decide whether to give up their family pet because they do not have enough money to feed them or provide the medical treatment necessary to save their lives. Women for Paws is committed to helping these pet owners. 

Women for Paws partners with a women's shelter, local pet rescue nonprofits, and the county's animal shelter.  In 2021, we partnered with Miami-Dade County Animal Services to work on pet retention initiatives.  We partnered with the Lotus House to help women in the shelter that have pets. Our goal is to make sure that the women transitioning out of the shelter with their pet, keep their pet.  We will provide financial support for the pet's immediate needs so that the pet does not become a financial burden.   

Women for Paws also responds to the emergency needs of pet owners when something horrible happens in their lives.  This year we are helping a victim of domestic violence who was so badly injured due to her offender that she is no longer able to work.  While she waits for social security to approve her status as disabled, she depended on food banks for her large service dog.  The pet owner was doing everything possible to feed her large dog by combining people food to extend the dog food that was given to her. We were referred by a rescue to help her and we have been helping her since then.  We provide for all of the prescription dog food, vaccines, and medicines.  We also provided support to a mother of three kids who was on television pleading for help for her two small dogs.  This pet owner was hiding in a safe place due to being a victim of domestic violence.  We were able to provide six weeks of housing so that her pets would not end up in a shelter.  Last year, we helped a family that lost everything including several pets to a house fire in Homestead.  The family was left with nothing, but luckily their children and three of their pets survived; we were able to provide financial support for the immediate needs of their pets.  Last year, we provided financial support to a woman who was physically abused by her partner who started to also abuse her dog.  She was in desperate need of boarding her dog for a month.  We were able to respond by providing the financial support needed.  The calls to action that we receive are heartbreaking.  We received a call from a pet owner that had limited financial resources and needed to save his dog's eye.  He didn't have enough funds for the emergency surgery and we were able to provide help.  We help elderly pet owners who foster and rescue so that animals don't end up in the street.  These are just some of the stories that stand out from what we do to respond to the needs of our community.  Women for Paws is a small nonprofit with a big paw heart, and your donation goes a long way. Please consider including us in your giving.  

Women for Paws is composed of only volunteers and every dollar donated is utilized to help pet owners in need of financial assistance.  We ask that you give as if your pet's life depended on it, because for some of these pet owners, it really does.  

With tremendous gratitude, 

Women for Paws, Inc.