Giving Back: Morris Animal Foundation

BJT readers—who represent one of the highest-net-worth magazine-audiences anywhere—clearly have the means to contribute to a better world. To help you do that, we’re spotlighting one deserving organization per issue. All of them have received a four-star overall-rating from Charity Navigator (charitynavigator.org), which evaluates philanthropic institutions based on their finances, accountability and transparency.

Morris Animal Foundation (morrisanimalfoundation.org)

Pets bring immeasurable joy and comfort to their owners and often become an integral part of the family. Morris Animal Foundation, founded in 1948, invests in science that advances veterinary medicine for companion animals, horses and wildlife in order to improve their health and well-being. The organization has invested approximately $70 million in more than 2,000 studies that have improved animals’ health and quality of life. At any given time, the foundation is managing about 300 health and welfare studies at research institutions, colleges of veterinary medicine and zoos. The charity’s Golden Retriever Lifetime Study ranks as the largest and longest effort ever undertaken to improve the health of dogs. Over the next 10 to 14 years, observational data collected from 3,000 golden retrievers will be used to try to prevent cancer and other fatal canine diseases.