About the Purple Leash®Project
The application window is now closed. It opens at the beginning of each year for VAW shelters across Canada.
The Purple Leash Project is an initiative launched by Purina PetCare Canada to help more domestic violence shelters across the country become pet-friendly, so survivors can escape with their pets and begin their healing journeys together.
To mark the Purple Leash Project’s launch in Canada in 2024, Purina Canada committed $75,000 to Women’s Shelters Canada (WSC). With this funding, WSC distributed grants to shelters across the country, which resulted in the enhancement of 20 already pet friendly shelters across Canada by adding washing stations, beds, litter boxes, cages, and ramps.
In 2025, Purina Canada donated an additional $150,000 to WSC. With this funding, WSC awarded grants to:
- Six (6) shelters that were not yet pet-friendly, with the goal of supporting their transition to welcoming pets on-site, and
- Four (4) additional shelters to enhance their already pet friendly spaces with essential pet supplies and equipment.
With Purina Canada’s support through the launch of the Purple Leash Project, WSC was able to introduce the Purple Leash (previously the Pet Ready Grant) a national funding stream that helps shelters create safe, pet-inclusive spaces for survivors.
Purple Leash Grant
The Purple Leash Grant is for violence against women (VAW) shelters across the country to support them in removing barriers that prevent people and their pets* from staying together in shelters through thoughtful spatial design of shelter facilities.
The funding must be used to make the shelter/TH more pet* friendly. Becoming “pet friendly” involves removing barriers that prevent people and their pets from staying together in the shelters through thoughtful spatial design of shelter facilities, including, but not limited to:
- Conversion of existing shelter spaces
- Construction of new shelter spaces, including co-sheltering with individual pet rooms
- Pet-friendly communal housing
* Pet means a companion animal such as a cat, dog, or caged rabbit and excludes animals with a hoof and farm and livestock animals.
Your Organization Can Apply if:
- You operate a VAW shelter/transition house in Canada whose primary mandate is to offer 24/7 residential services for women, children, 2SLGBTQIA+ people, and/or gender non-binary people fleeing domestic violence and are in good financial standing.
- AND EITHER your VAW shelter/transition house currently allows clients’ pets to stay with them on-site
- OR Your VAW shelter/transition house has concrete plans to allow pets on site.
Funding cannot be used for:
- Veterinary Bills
- Salaries
- Pet clothing
Resources to Help Support Your Planning
(Please note that some of these are American sources)