About the Animal Assistance Foundation

Louise Harrison founded the Animal Assistance Foundation in 1975, inspired by her passion for animal welfare. As the granddaughter of brewer Adolph Coors, she used $2 million from the proceeds of Coors’ 1975 public offering to establish the Foundation. Guided by a clear and compassionate mission, Louise envisioned "taking care of the animals of Colorado," creating a lasting legacy of support for animal welfare across the state.

The Queen City Spay Neuter Clinic, on Tennyson Street, opened in 1976, giving Louise the satisfaction of seeing a dream become reality. She devoted most of her energies in the last eight years of her life to the welfare of domestic pets and to the promotion of spay/neuter programs which the Foundation continues to support and expand. Other spay and neuter clinics in high-need Denver neighborhoods were also funded, including the Lucky Star Cat Shelter at 3rd and Sheridan, followed by Capitol Hill Clinic at 13th and Marion.

In 1977, AAF began its lasting partnership with the Dumb Friends League, supporting their spay/neuter programs to combat pet overpopulation. Louise Harrison had been donating to the League since the early 1970s and advocating for spay/neuter as a solution to pet overpopulation and unnecessary euthanasia. She even urged local veterinarians to offer subsidized services for rescued cats she housed in her basement.

Though Louise sadly passed away in 1978, her vision lives on. AAF continues to support the Dumb Friends League, honoring her mission to care for Colorado’s animals.

In 1980, AAF began a partnership with the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, funding an off-campus spay/neuter clinic on Pearl Street in Boulder, Colorado. From 1980 to today, AAF has been proud to support HSBV’s mission, contributing to increased access to care, expansion of their state-of-the-art animal hospital, and development of behavior programs.

The 1980s were a highly productive decade, marked by a significant increase in the number of cats and dogs being spayed/neutered. As time went on, new ways to serve the community emerged, responding to the growing demand and the realization that spay/neuter efforts were successfully reducing high euthanasia rates. This environment led to the idea of consolidating clinic operations into a single, unified program.

In 1983, the Dumb Friends League accepted an offer from the Animal Assistance Foundation for rent-free use of its Lucky Star Cat Shelter, and in the 1990s, the shelter evolved into an extended care center for animals recovering from illness or injury.

As AAF grew, it expanded its reach, funding veterinary intern programs at Colorado State University and supporting animal shelters across the state. By 1990, the spay/neuter clinic funding was consolidated into the creation of Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital in Denver. Harrison Memorial was the first non-profit veterinary hospital in Colorado.

After just a decade of operation, Harrison Memorial had treated more than 300,000 animals.

On October 25, 1999, Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital performed its 200,000th spay/neuter, reflecting the impact the hospital had on Denver and pets in need.

In 2001, AAF agreed to provide an in-kind donation of grant administration support to the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund (CPOF). Thanks to the continuing generosity of Colorado’s compassionate citizens, CPOF has achieved remarkable milestones, raising and allocating more than $8.8 million to local organizations.

Through the Adopt-A-Shelter License Plates initiative, more than $5 million has been granted statewide for vital medical care, spay/neuter surgeries, and microchipping, helping shelter and rescue pets find loving homes faster.

Additionally, the Tax Checkoff Grant has played a pivotal role in addressing pet overpopulation by subsidizing essential spay and neuter surgeries for more than 85,000 beloved pets across communities facing challenges in accessing animal care services.

A significant part of AAF's legacy was the establishment of Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital in 1990. For the following 15 years, AAF served as the hospital's primary external funding source, ensuring its vital operations. In 2007, when Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital merged with the Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation, AAF played a pivotal role by providing substantial financial support for the merger and generously gifting the hospital building to the resulting organization.

The Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance, founded in 2008, addresses the issue of unwanted horses in Colorado. Initiated by AAF in collaboration with CSU’s veterinary school and other stakeholders, it emerged from efforts to tackle the rising problem of abandoned and neglected horses. Officially receiving 501(c)(3) status in 2009, it became a tax checkoff-funded grantmaker in 2010, with initial funding of $70,000 provided by the Animal Asssistance Foundation.

In 2015, AAF helped create Metro Denver Cat, granting
$1 million over the life of an innovative multi-year pilot program focused on intensive community outreach in select Denver neighborhoods. The project successfully delivered Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) and spay/neuter services for pet cats to these communities, improving the welfare of local cat populations. Building on valuable lessons learned, the program’s approach was adapted and implemented in Yuma, Colorado. This collaboration resulted in a highly successful rural TNR initiative, also funded by AAF.

In April 2020, as the COVID pandemic unfolded, the Foundation's Board of Directors swiftly approved $200,000 in emergency grants. These funds supported 27 organizations, providing vital assistance ranging from operational support and veterinary care for pets of the homeless to horse rescue efforts and foster intake relief. One grantee remarked, “Your funds made it possible for us to continue offering our services, to keep business running mostly as usual when the pandemic first hit and before anyone had an accurate sense of how long it would continue to affect daily life. We will be grateful to Animal Assistance Foundation forever for offering this lifeline, and for offering it how and when you did.”

In 2023, The Animal Assistance Foundation’s Board and leadership undertook a strategic planning process. Through the process, AAF designed a new grantmaking strategy focused on three pillars of support: Capacity Building, Innovation and Collaboration, and Responsive Funding.

Today, the Foundation supports a wide range of animal welfare organizations, both geographically and in their emphasis, reaching municipal shelters, private shelters, association groups, human service providers, and rescue groups. 

AAF remains dedicated to finding new solutions in the face of evolving challenges. The Foundation works very closely with its partners, traveling throughout the state for in-person site visits, learning about the biggest barriers to progress, and serving as a resource in solving these complex and ever-changing issues.

As a Colorado foundation dedicated to funding companion animal care across our state, AAF serves as a leader and convener in the animal welfare industry to bridge connections between different types of organizations and to initiate novel, research-backed projects to tackle pervasive and interconnected issues, such as access to care, behavior issues, and shelter overcapacity.