Families facing ever-increasing economic challenges have had to cut back on expenditures, including spending money on their pets. In what is being called “economic euthanasia,” pet owners are being forced to euthanize their pets in the face of expensive and often unexpected veterinary procedures. The tragedy is that if funds were available, these pets would continue to live full and happy lives. The Foundation for Animal Care and Education (FACE) has been saving the lives of pets in Southern California since 2006. FACE was created to spare pet owners the agonizing choice of either allowing their pet to suffer or having their loyal companion euthanized, solely due to a lack of sufficient funds. As word has spread about the FACE Foundation and what they do, more cases have been coming in, putting the foundation in an unavoidable situation in which it will have to start turning cases away. Financially, FACE reached capacity for cases coming in for the month of June, and without more donations, the foundation will have to turn families and their pets away from receiving financial assistance. The foundation is asking interested pet lovers to make financial contributions to the charity. At the time of this release, the most recent success story from the FACE Foundation is an adorable dog aptly named Rug (pictured here). When bone fragments lodged in his esophagus, Rug needed immediate surgery. With a grant from FACE, Rug received the care he needed and his owners were able to choose life for their beloved dog. The FACE Foundation was the brainchild of a group of concerned members of the community with a passion for animal welfare and a group of veterinarians from the Veterinary Specialty Hospital in Sorrento Valley who could not stand to see beloved family members “economically euthanized.” “It was heartbreaking to see so many pets — family members — euthanized or surrendered because their owners could not afford to pay for veterinary procedures,” explains Cini Gannon-Robb, the vice president of FACE. The FACE Foundation relies solely on donations from individuals, foundations and corporations, and is actively seeking support from the community through cash contributions, partnerships, in-kind donations and volunteers to continue assisting pets in need. Since its launch in 2006, the lives of nearly 100 pets have been saved. To learn more about FACE and how you can help, visit the Web site at www.face4pets.org.