The American Veterinary Medical Foundation (AVMF) is a non profit organization that supports disaster preparedness and relief for animals, including funding the Veterinary Medical Assistance Teams (VMAT). VMAT Teams are made up of veterinary professionals and support personnel and deploy within 24 hours to assist with animal care and veterinary medical treatment in large scale disasters such as the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005. In addition the AVMF supports state and local animal emergency preparedness through a competitive grant application process. One application is accepted per state for these grants.

In August, the Basic Animal Rescue Training and Minnesota Veterinary Reserve Corps Programs, both programs of the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association, submitted a joint grant application to the AVMF. The application requested $20,000 in funding to grow and support the two programs in 2007. The award letters arrived today indicating this funding has been approved and included an evaluation of the proposal. The Minnesota proposal was ranked Outstanding overall; the highest ranking awarded! In addition it was noted that the application from Minnesota tied with one other state for the first place rank of all the grant proposals submitted this year.