Animal Victory Media Kit-About Our Founder: Janelle Babington

The short version below. The long version here.

I built Animal Victory and Animal Victory Fund for one purpose:
To create a sustainable financial engine so I could give money away to credible, sustainable, boots-on-the-ground organizations doing the hardest work. Rescue. The more funding that becomes available to these organizations, the more the abuse will stop.

I spent more than ten years hands-on in rescue. I loved that work; it broke my heart daily, but I learned everything I needed to know about animal rescue. I eventually realized my greatest impact wasn’t saving one animal at a time — it was building systems that could support thousands.

As with anything in life, the timing needed to be right for that to happen. When I married my husband in 2012, he supported me and pushed me to work toward that system. I was giving so much money away to animal rescues that he finally said, “If you keep giving all of our money away, we’re going to be in the free cheese line.”
So I said, “Well then, I’ll start a business to make the money.”
And in 2015, that opportunity came along.

This is how I’m using my skillset now.
This is the mission I was born for.

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HOW IT ALL STARTED — CECIL THE LION

This didn’t start as a business. It didn’t start as a nonprofit. It didn’t even start as a plan.

It started in 2015, when Cecil the Lion was killed in Zimbabwe.

I remember thinking: “I want to donate. I want to help. Who is collecting funds for the people doing the real work?”

I went online — literally just trying to donate $5 — and couldn’t find a single small organization accepting donations for Cecil.

Then Jimmy Kimmel went on TV and raised $750,000 overnight for the research institute tracking Cecil.

That moment taught me something I’ve never forgotten:
Donating is driven by emotion, not logistics.
People don’t stop to analyze who’s behind the donation link — they want the problem solved/animals saved.

That’s when something clicked for me:
The money exists, the compassion exists — but small rescues don’t have the bridge they need to reach donors.

That realization changed the direction of my life.

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WHAT ANIMAL VICTORY DOES

Animal Victory (for-profit)
A national advocacy and petition platform driving accountability, media attention, and public pressure to demand justice for abused animals.

Animal Victory Fund (nonprofit)
A disaster and emergency support fund that provides:

• Emergency crates, carriers, supplies

• Support for unhoused individuals with pets

• Disaster relief for shelters and rescues

• Grants to small, credible organizations doing the hardest work

Our belief:
Small rescues do the heaviest work but receive the least support.
We exist to bridge that gap.

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WHY THIS WORK MATTERS

• Up to 70 million homeless dogs and cats in the U.S.

• Only 7.7% of charitable giving goes to animals and the environment combined

• Approximately 87% of all animal-related donations go to the top 1–5% of large organizations

• Leaving 25,000–30,000 rescues sharing what’s left

Animal Victory and Animal Victory Fund exist for the millions of animals who fall through the cracks — and for the small rescues that save them despite limited resources.

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SIGNATURE PROGRAMS

✔ Petitions for animal justice
✔ Emergency disaster support
✔ Donations for small rescues
✔ Support for pets of unhoused individuals

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WAYS TO ENGAGE

Sign a Petition
Support Our Work
Learn More About the Fund