2026 ASPCA Research Grants

Timeframe: Friday, April 10, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. ET. - Friday, July 10, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

About these Grants

ASPCA research grants fund high-quality research across a variety of disciplines and methods that has clear potential to benefit animals, either directly or through effecting systems-level change. Proposals to extend studies focused on other disciplines to include animal welfare will also be considered if they can be clearly demonstrated to have substantial potential benefit to animals.

Attend an Open House to learn more or ask questions

This year we are soliciting proposals in the following Six research areas

Access to Veterinary Care (AVC) Research: : proposals that address AVC for cats, dogs, and equines from any angle (e.g., medical, legal, impact, program delivery, community engagement, veterinary engagement). Ideally, the research will establish tools or guidelines to improve access to veterinary care.

Applied Behavior Research: proposals that inform the development, refinement, or validation of evidence-based shelter behavior protocols, or validation of applied shelter behavior research methodology. Proposed research must assess the impact of interventions for common behavior concerns in shelter populations that frequently lead to euthanasia of otherwise adoptable dogs and cats, such as excessive arousal, or validate methodologies to reliably assess behavior and/or welfare in the shelter environment. Proposals that focus on general management protocols will not be funded.

Cruelty Research: proposals that address cruelty toward equines, cats, or dogs from any angle or relevant discipline (e.g., public policy, law, criminal justice, criminology, veterinary forensics, community engagement, prevention/intervention, human behavior change). Of particular interest is research that a) increases understanding of the perspectives of key stakeholder groups (e.g., law enforcement/animal control, veterinary professionals, animal shelters/rescues) or b) investigates the effectiveness of cruelty prevention/response efforts at the community or system level. Also of interest is research that heightens awareness of animal cruelty and builds knowledge that informs and engages key community stakeholders and allied professionals in preventing and responding to this animal welfare issue.

Note: A separate funding opportunity for cruelty research is available from the Animal Welfare Institute.

Farm Animal Welfare Research: Proposals exploring how farmers’ use of healthier, non-conventional broiler chicken breeds, intersects with the birds’ use of pasture, environmental outcomes, and/or chicken product nutritional content. Research may be conducted by farms or other businesses in addition to academic or research institutions. However, field studies must include an academic partner or follow established field trial protocols for design and data collection.

Psychological Trauma Research: proposals related to developing and validating novel approaches to the objective documentation of animal cruelty and neglect in the absence of physical trauma (i.e., documenting psychological trauma) in dogs. Proposals are encouraged from any relevant discipline (e.g., physiology, psychology, ethology). Of particular interest is research that focuses on objective measures, including biomarkers and quantitative behavioral phenotyping.

Shelter Research: Proposals related to the well-being and care of equines, dogs and cats in a shelter environment, as well as programs that strengthen prevention-oriented approaches that reduce animal suffering and keep animals and people together. Scope includes topics reflected in the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters (2022), including shelter management and operations, population management, adoption and adoption promotion, medical health, public health, and shelter-based surgery. Note: proposals related to shelter behavior research should be submitted to the Applied Behavior Research category, proposals related to animal cruelty should be submitted to either the Psychological Trauma Research or Cruelty Research category, and proposals related to increasing access to veterinary care should be submitted to the Access to Veterinary Care category (see descriptions).

Grant Fund Amounts

The total funding amount available for these opportunities is $750,000.

The maximum individual grant amounts for each research area are $35,000 (Psychological Trauma Research), $35,000 (Applied Behavior Research), $50,000 (Access to Veterinary Care Research and Cruelty Research), $75,000 (Farm Animal Welfare Research), and $50,000 (Shelter Research). Requests may be made for any amount within the maximum, and applications of any amount will be equally considered.

Grant Timeline

RFP will open on Friday, April 10, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. ET.
RFP will close on Friday, July 10, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Recently Awarded Grants

The following is a list of recent awards under our ASPCA Research Grant programs. It is not intended to be prescriptive; rather, it offers prospective applicants an idea of the types of research we have funded under this solicitation.

Access to Veterinary Care Research

Open Door Veterinary Collective, “Increasing Access to Veterinary Care (AVC) Through Best Practice Guidelines for Veterinary Social Work”, 2023
Steinbach Consulting and Research LLC, “Market Access and Competition in the U.S. Veterinary Service Industry”, 2023
Toronto Humane Society, “A Retrospective Study Comparing Safety and Efficacy of 2-Dose and 3-Dose Melarsomine Protocols in a Shelter Setting", 2023
Tufts University, “Validation and Optimization of a Novel Method to Detect Glucosuria from Urine Voided on Clumping Clay Litter", 2023
University of Tennessee, “Standardized Community Needs Assessments that Include Non-Human Family Members”, 2022
The Ohio State University, “Decision Making in the Provision of Accessible Veterinary Care”, 2022
Mission Animal Hospital, “Spectrum of Care: Quantitative and Qualitative Impact Research”, 2022
Tufts University, “Perineal Urethrostomy as a First-Line Treatment Option in Cats Presenting to the Emergency Room for Urethral Obstruction”, 2022
University of California, Davis, “Incorporating Video Telemedicine for Improved At-Home Management of Chronic Health Conditions in Cats: A Focus on Degenerative Joint Disease”, 2022
Oregon State University, “The Reality of Financial Constraints for Feline Male Lower Urinary Tract Obstructions: Do Complication Rates Outweigh a More Affordable, Outpatient Treatment”, 2021
University of Wisconsin, “Fecal Microbial Transplant (FMT) for ParvOvirus in the OutPatient setting (FMT-POOP): A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate a Practical and Low-Cost Intervention”, 2021
The Ohio State University, “Evaluating Cost Effectiveness and Outcome of Low-Cost Patient Care and Patient Selection”, 2021
Iowa State University, “Evidence Based Incremental Care Approach to Managing Acute Canine Vomiting”, 2020
University of California, Davis, “Examining the Efficacy of Video Telemedicine for Providing Virtual Health and Behavior Care for Cats”, 2020
Tufts University, “Prevention of GDV by HQHV Veterinarians: A New Opportunity”, 2020
Western University of Health Sciences, “A Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate a Low-Cost Treatment for Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease”, 2020
Emancipet, “Evidence-Based, Low-Cost Treatment for Common Canine Skin Conditions”, 2020
Cornell University, “A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Resource Efficient Intervention Protocol for Management of Traumatic Wounds in Dogs”, 2020
University of Pennsylvania, “Establishing a Penn Vet Collaboration for Studies in Accessible High Quality Clinical Medicine with a Research Project Examining Metronidazole Treatment in Dogs with Diarrhea”, 2019
Idaho Humane Society: Clinical trial of Paraosseous Clamp-Cerclage Stabilization (PCCS) Technique as an Inexpensive Osteosynthesis System, 2024
Kansas State University: Amplifying the Voices of the Unhoused: Exploring Barriers and Trust in Veterinary Care with Photovoice, 2024
Purdue University: Studying the treatment of sporadic bacterial cystitis in spayed, female dogs with Clavamox, 2024
Regents of the University of California, UC Davis: The validation of companion cat health measurements during virtual veterinary appointments, 2024

Applied Behavior Research

Michigan State University, “Early Identification and Treatment of Shelter Dogs Exhibiting Maladaptive Coping”, 2022
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, “The Importance of Choice of Food Enrichment on the Wellbeing of Shelter Cats”, 2022
Arizona State University, “Reducing Kennel Reactivity in Shelter Housed Dogs”, 2021
Colorado State University: Identification of biomarkers of chronic stress using a military working dog model, 2024
Regents of the University of California, UC Davis: The impact of pair housing on the behavior of bonded and non-bonded adult shelter cats, 2024
Texas Tech University: Assessing the impacts of enrichment and pharmaceutical interventions on mitigating excessive arousal in shelter dogs, 2024
Auburn University: Examining the Effects of Chew Toys on Kennel and Cognitive Welfare in Working Dogs, 2021

Cruelty Research

Houston Humane Society, “Tracking Animal Cruelty Trends to Empower Solutions That Safeguard Our Community Members Against Human and Animal Crime”, 2023
Virginia Commonwealth University, “Developing New Time-Since-Deposition Signatures for Prosecuting Crimes Involving Animal Fighting”, 2023
Thomas Jefferson University, “Professional Responses to Animal Abuse in Childhood: A Mixed-Methods Exploration”, 2022
University of Denver, “Encounters with Animal Maltreatment in Professional Settings: The Experiences of Human Services and Public Service Personnel”, 2022
New York University, “A Preliminary Investigation of Animal Cruelty Reported During the Assessment of Family Maltreatment Incidents”, 2021
University of Denver, “Understanding Animal Control and Humane Law Enforcement Officers’ Perspectives on Community Engagement”, 2021
Colorado State University: Ascertaining the barriers to effectively addressing animal cruelty and neglect: applying lessons learned from Colorado throughout the US, 2024
Marymount University: Evaluation of the Virginia State Police Training program for animal service officers on reporting animal cruelty to the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS), 2024

Farm Animal Welfare Research

Innovate Animal Ag: In-Ovo Sexing Market Research as a Tool to Influence Industry and Consumers, 2024
Purdue University: How the age of pullet introduction to pasture influences lifetime behavior and performance, 2024

Psychological Trauma Research

University of Nebraska at Omaha: Studying the long-term psychological trauma in pets with broken bond, 2025

Questions

For project-related inquiries about Applied Behavior or Psychological Trauma, please contact bst.research@aspca.org
For project-related inquiries about Access to Veterinary Care or Cruelty Research, please contact ASPCAresearch@aspca.org
For project-related inquiries about Farm Animal Welfare Research, please contact suzanne.mcmillan@aspca.org
For project-related inquiries about Shelter Research, please contact sheltermedicine@aspca.org. If the project has an equine sheltering focus, please contact christie.kappert@aspca.org
For application submission inquiries/technical difficulties, please contact grants@aspca.org