Welcome
Dear Doctor and Team,
Every veterinary professional knows the moment: a family in the exam room, a treatable pet, and a number they can’t reach. Too often the outcome isn’t decided by medicine — it’s decided by money. We built the Hero Fund to give you another answer.
Cherish Pet Angel Network (the Network) exists to end economic euthanasia and honor the bond between people and their pets. You make the medical decisions. We build and support the fundraising program that helps your clients say yes to care.
This playbook shows how it works, what it costs you (nothing), and how to begin. Thank you for the work you do — and for considering a partnership that helps you save the pets you can already treat.
You make the medical decisions. We build and support the fundraising.
Contents
Why the Hero Fund Exists
A pet is family. When family is sick, no one should have to walk away because of a price.
Most people never plan for a $1,500 emergency. When it comes — a blockage, a bite wound, a sudden illness — loving owners can find themselves choosing between their pet’s life and their rent. That choice breaks families, and it weighs on the teams who have to witness it.
The Hero Fund exists to stand in that gap. It gives your clients a way to say yes, and gives your team a way forward when the medicine is possible but the money isn’t.
No family should lose a pet they could have kept.
The bond between people and their pets is one of the most powerful relationships in a person’s life — and losing a pet to cost, rather than to illness, leaves a wound that lasts for years.
The Cost of Economic Euthanasia
Economic euthanasia is the euthanasia or surrender of a treatable pet for one reason: the family can’t afford care. The condition is fixable. The barrier is only the bill.
Sources: PetSmart Charities–Gallup State of Pet Care Study (2025–2026); MetLife Pet Insurance.
Turning away a treatable patient over money is a leading driver of moral distress and burnout in veterinary medicine. The Hero Fund gives your team another option — and a reason to stay hopeful.
The average vet bill is now about 60% higher than in 2014, and a serious emergency can run $1,500 to $5,000 or more — far beyond what many families can absorb in a single day.
How the Hero Fund Works
The Hero Fund is simple by design. You focus on the patient; the Network handles the money and the fundraising.
A family faces a treatable case they can’t afford.
You identify it as a Hero Fund candidate — a medical call, made by you.
A quick online case form to the Network — no paperwork burden on your staff.
Fill Out Case Form Here
Within three business days of approval, the Network sends funds directly to your hospital, applied to that patient’s care.
The family stays whole. With permission, the story is shared.
You make the medical decisions. The Network builds and supports the fundraising program — and holds the funds as the 501(c)(3).
When a case is approved, the Network releases funds directly to the veterinary hospital, applied to that patient’s care. The Network does not distribute funds to individuals — keeping the process clean for your practice and protecting everyone involved.
Your Role
Your part is light by design — a few meaningful actions, not a second job.
Display the Hero Fund card and QR where clients see them.
When cost is the barrier on a treatable pet, tell us.
When a family is willing, capture a photo and a signed release.
Worked funds get valued; passive funds get ignored. A few minutes from your team turns the Hero Fund into something your community rallies behind.
As the Network grows, member hospitals will gain access to partner programs and group-purchasing benefits as they’re secured — including savings on payment processing, medical supplies, and pharmacy.
The Network’s Role
Everything around the money and the megaphone is ours. You never have to become a charity, hold restricted funds, or build a marketing team.
We hold Hero Fund dollars in a transparent, per-clinic balance.
Website, social, PSAs, and newsletter — we broadcast your wins.
Branded cards, signage, and digital assets, produced for you.
You make the medical decisions. The Network builds and supports the fundraising.
Funding the Hero Fund
The Hero Fund fills from many small sources — and every dollar tied to your clinic stays visible in your own transparent balance.
Scan- and text-to-give from clients and neighbors.
Area businesses who back your fund and get recognized.
The Network pursues grants and runs fundraising on your behalf.
Because balances are transparent per clinic, your community can see their generosity at work — which makes them give again.
When a pet passes, a $650 aftercare grant provides cremation and keepsakes for the family — arranged through a member provider, or one the Network sources near the family. Like all assistance, aftercare funds are paid directly to the provider, never as cash to the family. Funded by general gifts, as resources allow.
Not every emergency is medical. A fire, flood, job loss, or housing crisis can leave a healthy pet at risk — and surrender starts to look like the only option. Crisis support helps these families stay together. Funded by general, unrestricted gifts, as resources allow.
Success Stories
Nugget’s Second Chance
At sixteen months old, Nugget — young Bentley’s kitten — became seriously ill with a blocked urethra — a life-threatening emergency. The treatment he needed cost $1,000, and the family couldn’t afford it. Without help, a treatable kitten would have been put down.
The Hero Fund at Beach Pet covered the cost. Nugget recovered, and he’s back to running, jumping, and playing — and Bentley still has his kitten. The treatment was always possible; the Hero Fund is what made it affordable.
Marketing Your Hero Fund
You don’t run the marketing — the Network does. Your job is simply to put our materials where people can see them, and to share the wins.
Tent card, table sign, and QR — co-branded to your clinic.
We feature your fund across social, PSAs, and the newsletter.
One good story, submitted once, travels everywhere we broadcast.
We produce and broadcast to one standard. You bring the story and the front-desk placement; we carry it to the community.
The Deluxe Payment Program
The Network has partnered with Deluxe (NYSE: DLX), a national payments leader. When a member business processes its card payments through our Deluxe program, a portion of the processing revenue is shared with the Network every month.
- — Match or beat your current processing plan
- — Complimentary statement review of your current processing costs
- — No long-term contract, no equipment leases
- — Every transaction supports the Network’s mission
Our goal is to save you money — and the optional Deluxe program can actually reduce clinic costs.
Community Partnerships
A Hero Fund grows stronger with the community around it. The Network helps you connect the local partners who want to be part of something good.
Neighborhood businesses who fund and champion your Hero Fund.
Coordinated support where partnerships are active.
Awareness and giving moments, arranged with the Network.
Clients give more when they see local names beside yours. Partnership turns a clinic fund into a community cause.
What You Receive
Membership is a working inventory of value — not a fixed list of vendors. Programs are added only when they match or beat the value you have today.
A fund tied to your clinic, with a transparent balance.
Front-desk kit, signage, and digital assets, produced for you.
The Network’s megaphone working on your behalf.
Badge, directory listing, and broadcast recognition.
Access to endorsed partner programs as they’re secured.
A partner team behind you, not a manual to follow.
As programs are secured, members gain access to endorsed options in areas like payment processing, pharmacy & supplies, medical equipment, business insurance, and payroll & HR. Each is added only when it delivers equal or better value than what you use now — the payment-processing option follows that same rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. There’s no fee to participate. The Network is the 501(c)(3) that holds and administers the funds.
Joining the Hero Fund is free. The optional Deluxe Payment Program can actually reduce your clinic’s processing costs — and a portion of that processing revenue comes back to support the Network’s mission every month.
You do. The medical call is always yours. A Hero Fund case is a treatable condition with a strong likelihood of recovery and a good quality of life — where cost is the barrier.
No fixed cap. A case can draw up to whatever your clinic has in its Hero Fund balance.
Within three business days of approval, paid directly to your hospital.
No. The Network holds Hero Fund dollars in a transparent, per-clinic balance and handles the receipts for every gift.
Through a simple scan- or text-to-give on the materials we provide — and through community fundraising the Network runs.
Display the materials, flag qualifying cases, and share a story when a family is willing. That’s it.
Complete the short setup form. We build your localized kit and materials, and you’re ready to help.
Getting Started
Starting a Hero Fund at your clinic takes minutes.
A few details about your practice — scan the code to begin.
Your localized Hero Fund, materials, and media, produced for you.
Put the card out, flag your first case, and share the win.
Contact & Connect
