Denton County Magazine • May June 23 • Nonprofit Focus

Everyone needs a best friend, and shelters and rescue groups do an admirable job of helping our four-legged pals. But who do shelters turn to when they need assistance? Luckily in Denton, such a group exists: The Denton Animal Support Foundation (DASF), which is on a mission to save more Denton-area animals through adoption and prevention of abandonment.

Bette Sherman, the foundation’s co-founder and chairman of the board, is careful to point out that the foundation leaves the work of rescuing, caring for and adopting out animals to the professionals and volunteers who work in shelters and rescue groups. DASF is a private nonprofit organization that partners with entities and programs in Denton County, such as the Linda McNatt Animal Care and Adoption Center (the City of Denton’s animal shelter), to provide much-needed funding. The foundation also promotes adoption by subsidizing adoption fees, spreading the word on animals needing homes and providing education about responsible pet ownership.

At a time when shelters across the country are seeing record-high numbers, DASF has doubled down on its efforts to keep animals off the streets before they become homeless. “If we can find more ways to make pet ownership more affordable, we can reduce those numbers,” Sherman said of the foundation’s efforts to keep best friends together.

DASF sponsors free vaccine and microchipping clinics and provides pet food to people who may not be able to afford it. Through food drives and donations, the foundation stocks an emergency pet food pantry at Denton’s animal shelter and at food banks and homeless shelters in the area.

“We have fed more than 10,000 animals since March of 2020,” Sherman said. “People can go – no questions asked -- to the shelter for pet food. Just call first and give the staff time to pull together the food needed.”

As neither a rescue group nor a shelter, DASF serves as a fundraising and promotions arm for these organizations doggedly devoted to the care of individual animals. The idea for the foundation came to Sherman and co-founder Pete Kamp after seeing that Denton sorely needed a new animal shelter to not only improve space and life for the animals there, but also to serve as a welcoming resource for the community to visit and adopt new best friends.

After successfully raising $2 million toward the building of Denton’s new shelter, which opened in 2015, DASF decided it could do more to advocate and care for the pet population in Denton County. It began by sponsoring work being done by shelters and rescue groups, and by keeping pets out of shelters from the start. Additionally, the nonprofit created an endowment allowing its work to go on in perpetuity, providing a hub for the pet-loving community for years to come to sustainably support rescue work.

Sherman encourages everyone to support their local shelter and recommends getting involved with DASF as a way to help the animal population on a broader scale.

“I personally can’t work in the shelter every day because I would try to bring home all the animals,” Sherman said. “My husband already checks my handbag when I leave to ensure I haven’t snuck a cat out.”