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A person wearing a Bissell Pet Foundations Operation Fix It shirt kneels beside a tan dog with a yellow ribbon on its collar, gently resting a hand on the dogs back.

BPF’s Fix the Future®

Fix the Future®: Changing How America Solves Pet Homelessness

Pet homelessness in the United States is not an adoption problem—it’s a prevention problem.

Fix the Future® is a national disruptor model created by Cathy Bissell and BISSELL Pet Foundation to address the root cause of pet homelessness—lack of access to affordable spay and neuter care. While traditional animal welfare efforts focus on adoption after pets enter shelters, Fix the Future® shifts the system toward prevention, delivering high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter services alongside vaccines and microchipping to stop overpopulation before it starts. By combining scale, efficiency, and direct community access, the model is designed to reduce shelter intake, ease overcrowding, and create a sustainable path to ending pet homelessness in the United States.

This is not a small-scale effort. It is the nation’s largest spay/neuter program.

  • Thousands of surgeries performed every month
  • Partnerships with shelters and communities across the country
  • A scalable model built to reduce intake at its source

We are not just helping pets—we are changing the system that fails them.

Bissell Pet Foundation’s Fix the Future logo with silhouettes of a cat and a dog, promoting a national spay and neuter initiative. The background is dark blue.
A brown and white puppy with floppy ears sits in the front seat of a car, looking out the open window. A person in a blue hoodie and another dog are partially visible in the background.

The mission of Fix the Future® is to create a healthier and more compassionate future for pets by eliminating barriers to spay/neuter access. By shifting animal welfare toward prevention, reducing unplanned litters before they fill shelters, we aim to reduce suffering, lower shelter intake, and promote responsible pet ownership. Together, we strive to build a community where every pet can live a safe, healthy and valued life.

Our vision is a world where no pet suffers from overpopulation or neglect. We envision a future where spay/neuter services are universally accessible, free, and supported by a community dedicated to responsible pet care. Through our efforts, we strive for a compassionate society where every pet is cherished, cared for, and given the opportunity to thrive in a loving home. 

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Fix the Future® Relief Veterinarian Impact

Data Since November 2023

11,048

A smiling woman wearing a navy blue T-shirt holds a small black and white dog with a red ribbon around its neck. They are indoors with people and a red barn visible through the window behind them.

390,915

188

A woman in scrubs and a mask gently holds a cat’s face with gloved hands, smiling, while another person supports the cat. The scene appears to be a veterinary clinic or animal care setting.

28

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Fix the Future FAQs

With the continued challenges and barriers for shelters and pet owners, too many pets are not receiving spay/neuter, resulting in unplanned litters filling animal shelters. We are reducing overpopulation and helping to encourage responsible pet ownership so pets will remain in their loving homes.  

BISSELL Pet Foundation does not award grant money through the Fix the Future program. Instead, we pay contracted veterinarians directly and connect them with approved Host Organizations (animal shelters) in regions where spay/neuter is needed. If you are interested in being a Host Organization and receiving spay/neuter support from BISSELL Pet Foundation, please review the requirements below prior to contacting us to see if you would be eligible. 

Host Organization Requirements

The deployed veterinarians often split their time between spaying and neutering the local shelter population to prepare pets for adoption and providing the procedure for pet owners.  

A nationwide veterinary shortage is making it hard for both pet owners and shelters to access veterinary care. 

The shortage also has increased costs, making veterinary care too expensive for pet owners’ and shelters’ budgets. Sadly, many pet owners surrender their pets because they cannot afford care, and too often, pregnant mothers or mothers with litters are surrendered to shelters.  

Review These Considerations

Think you’re a good fit? Email us at: fixthefuture@bissellpetfoundation.org

Fix the Future In Action

A map of the United States shows numerous red location pins scattered across the country, most densely in the central and southeastern regions, indicating various specific sites or points of interest.

Red Pins = Fix the Future Spay/Neuter Locations

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A group of smiling people in scrubs and T-shirts pose outdoors, holding large blue “1000” balloons. They display a sign celebrating 1,000 pet surgeries, with a Cincinnati Animal CARE sign in the background.

BISSELL Pet Foundation has made a significant impact on our operations and within the Hamilton County community. By funding a regional veterinary team to come on-site to provide spay/neuter services with the support of our medical staff, we’ve been able to essentially eliminate our backlog, releasing animals for adoption sooner and allowing us to reallocate our resources to other pressing medical needs.”

Amanda Gilbert, Medical Director at Cincinnati Animal CARE

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Fix the Future Rises to The Challenge

BPF’s Fix the Future has received a grant from the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation to help expand our program and complete 600,000 surgeries in the next three years through the Duffield Challenge. While this extraordinary gift accelerates our impact, it does not cover the full cost of delivering 600,000 surgeries nationwide. Continued support from donors will be essential to meet this moment. Join us to provide access for pets nationwide. 

DONATE NOW

 

Bar chart showing Duffield Challenge fund progress: 2023—1,967; 2024—98,713; 2025—211,675; 2026—77,736 with a 2026 projection of 230,000 highlighted in red and blue striped bar.

Pets Spayed & Neutered through Fix the Future