The Boca Fund, Inc.
We Are a Nonprofit Working to Save Animal Lives by Providing Start Up Grants for Affordable Community Veterinary Care Clinics.
What's New with The Boca Fund
By investing in low-cost clinics that provide affordable care, we can save animal lives by stopping economic euthanasia. Click the link below for more information on our first funded clinic.
Looking to start a low-cost, nonprofit clinic? Click the link below to learn more.
The Boca Fund Story
Real-Life Experience with a Large Community Care Clinic
Over the years, we have taken a diverse approach to addressing this issue, and it has manifested in many ways. Find out more about The Boca Fund below.
As a nonprofit, our mission has always been to save animal lives through low-cost veterinary care. The Boca Fund began as The Atlanta Animal Alliance, Inc. in 2003. We invested $200,000 of our own money to purchase a mobile spay-neuter vehicle and started a feline spay-neuter program called Project CatSnip. Why? There was, and still is, a cat overpopulation problem that needed to be addressed. We served 20 countries in Metro Atlanta with our program, which accounted for about 7,700 low-cost sterilizations per year. For five years, we provided this resource throughout the Metro Atlanta region, totaling close to 40,000 surgeries. In 2008, we sold Project CatSnip to launch WellPet Humane. Project CatSnip continued to perform spays/neuters and now accounts for over 100,000 cat spays and neuters, as well as other wellness treatments.
2008 was a bad year for most businesses as a result of the Great Recession. People lost jobs, and money was tight. They needed affordable veterinary care, and WellPet Humane provided it. Starting in a 2,000 sq. ft. rented suite, we soon grew based on word-of-mouth and a high demand for affordable care. In 2016, we moved to a 16,000+ sq. ft. facility in Northeast Atlanta. WellPet Humane was a full-service, well-equipped hospital complete with two surgery rooms, two dental stations with x-rays, and the latest technology. We offered quality veterinary medicine at an affordable price. Many of our clients were quietly referred to us by local veterinarians. We had a great staff of 50 employees with about 12 humanitarian veterinarians. We received about $4M a year in revenue and spent about $3.95M a year in expenses.
2008 was a bad year for most businesses as a result of the Great Recession. People lost jobs, and money was tight. They needed affordable veterinary care, and WellPet Humane provided it. Starting in a 2,000 sq. ft. rented suite, we soon grew based on word-of-mouth and a high demand for affordable care. In 2016, we moved to a 16,000+ sq. ft. facility in Northeast Atlanta. WellPet Humane was a full-service, well-equipped hospital complete with two surgery rooms, two dental stations with x-rays, and the latest technology. We offered quality veterinary medicine at an affordable price. Many of our clients were quietly referred to us by local veterinarians. We had a great staff of 50 employees with about 12 humanitarian veterinarians. We received about $4M a year in revenue and spent about $3.95M a year in expenses.
Our Vision
Most of the households who make less than $70,000 are unable to afford veterinary services.Our vision is a world where all companion animals can afford a spectrum of veterinary services based on their household income, with for-profit clinics providing 70% of the care and nonprofits providing affordable access to the other 30%.
Our Timeline
2021
Funded Affordable Vet Clinics
2020
Awarded Grants to Metro Atlanta Spay/Neuter Clinics
2019
Awarded Grants to Metro Atlanta Spay/Neuter Clinics
2018
Changed Our Name to The Boca Fund
2017
Sold the WellPet Humane Program
2016
Served Our 40,000th Low-Income Client
2015
Sold Project CatSnip after 90,000 Spays/Neuters
2014
Moved WellPet Humane to Doraville
2013
Built Out Our New 17,000 Sq. Ft. Hospital
2012
Project CatSnip Spayed/Neutered 70,000 Animals
2011
Grew to 4 Vets and 12 Staff Members
2010
Added Low-Cost Dental Service
2009
Expansion + 2,000 Sq. Ft.
2008
Opened Full-Service WellPet Humane
2007
Project CatSnip Performed Its 42,000th Spay/Neuter
2006
Provided Friday Shot Clinics
2005
Project CatSnip Performed Its 30,000th Spay/Neuter
2004
Planned for a Low-Cost, Full-Service Clinic
2003
Served 20 Counties in Metro Atlanta
2002
Launched Project CatSnip
2001
The Atlanta Animal Alliance, Inc. Was Founded
Meet the Founders
Bob Christiansen
Bob Christiansen has devoted his career to saving animal lives through education and Community Animal Management Systems. Bob Christiansen started in the animal welfare movement by developing a successful dog training school in San Diego, CA that trained approximately 1,000 dogs per year. Bob Christiansen has devoted his career to saving animal lives through education and Community Animal Management Systems.
Bob Christiansen
Meet Bob Christiansen
Bob Christiansen has devoted his career to saving animal lives through education and community animal management systems. Bob Christiansen started in the animal welfare movement by developing a successful dog training school in San Diego, CA, that trained approximately 1,000 dogs per year. Bob
Christiansen has devoted his career to saving animal lives through education and community animal management systems.
Bob Christiansen started in the animal welfare movement by developing a successful dog training school in San Diego, CA, that trained approximately 1,000 dogs per year. He quickly learned that dogs had people problems, and many were forsaken when expectations were not met. Having witnessed these unwitting abuses, he wrote two books dealing with dog training and behavior. His interest turned to animal welfare, and he found empathy for dogs abandoned and relinquished to shelters.
His highly praised publication, Choosing and Caring for a Shelter Dog and Save Our Strays: How We Can End Pet Overpopulation and Stop Killing Healthy Cats & Dogs, has won numerous awards and is highly praised by peers in the animal welfare field. In 1999, Mr. Christiansen launched the “Save Our Strays USA Tour.” He drove 12,000 miles and visited 25 cities in a mobile spay/neuter van. He conducted “Town Hall Meetings on Pet Overpopulation.” During the tour, he appeared on radio and TV talk shows to raise awareness of companion animal issues.
Mr. Christiansen was honored to be a keynote speaker at the Canadian Animal Shelter Conference in the spring of 2000.
Bob has consulted with many boards of directors and governments on developing effective strategies for “community animal management” and coordinating community efforts to save animal lives. Bob coined the phrase “live release rate” to show the good work animal control agencies do to save animal lives.
In December 2000, Bob moved to Atlanta to work as the Executive Director at DeKalb Humane Society. Mr. Christiansen later co-founded The Atlanta Animal Alliance, Inc. with Dr. Amy Orlin. Together, they developed the veterinary programs Project CatSnip, a low-cost spay-neuter initiative that has performed more than 90,000 surgeries, and WellPet Humane, a full-service affordable veterinary program that targets low-income pet owners. WellPet Humane served more than 30,000 pet owners and 50,000 pets annually.
Today, Mr. Christiansen works to initiate animal welfare philanthropy to fund and support community veterinary care clinics for companion animals.
Dr. Amy Orlin
Dr. Amy Orlin has worked as a small animal veterinarian for over 30 years. She obtained a B.S. from Emory University and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1988. She worked as an associate in a small animal private practice in Snellville, GA for twelve years.