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The ASPCA offers travel scholarships of up to $1,000 each to select organizations for the ASPCA® Cornell Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Conference to be held at Cornell University, July 11-13, 2025. This scholarship program is made in honor of Dr. Leslie Appel, Founder and Executive Director of Shelter Outreach Services, and a champion for the field of shelter medicine. Dr. Appel requested that the scholarship be named for her beloved adopted dog, BeeBee.

Application Deadline
Applications must be submitted by April 4 at 5pm ET. Applications received after this date will not be considered.

Conference Registration
If you apply for a BeeBee Appel Scholarship, DO NOT register for the conference until after you receive word of scholarship approval. Applicants will be notified of funding decisions the week of April 21, 2025.

Eligible Scholarship Applicants

-Organization must be an established U.S.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit or governmental organization in good standing with the Internal Revenue Service.

-Organization must be in good standing with the ASPCA, including no overdue requirements/reports from previous ASPCA funding.

-Scholarships will only be made to organizations – not to individuals.

-Preference will be given to organizations that:

    * Are requesting assistance to send veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary staff and/or behavior staff to the conference.

    * Have not previously attended this conference.

    * Would be unable to attend without financial assistance.

Eligible Costs

If awarded, scholarship funds may only be used to cover the cost of travel (to and from the conference), local transportation, and hotel/lodging. Funds cannot be used to purchase food or alcohol (breakfast and lunch are included both days of the conference).

Conference registration will be waived for scholarship recipients. If you are applying for a scholarship, please do not register for the conference until after you have received notification from the ASPCA as to whether you have been selected for a scholarship. The ASPCA will not reimburse fees for individuals who register outside of the special process arranged for recipients and scholarship funds may not be used to cover this cost.

The ASPCA will waive conference registration fees for multiple attendees from the same organization granted a scholarship. This amount may not exceed $250 per organization, regardless of the number of attendees on the scholarship.