approval process

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Approval Process

** Critical Note: Brown Dog Foundation does not currently offer pre-approval assistance in emergency cases. Nor do we issue approvals by phone or email. If the animal's life is in immediate danger, you, as the licensed professional, must decide how to proceed. The fact that you provide treatment does not automatically generate an approval from Brown Dog.

We can "fast-track" our process in most cases (a 1-day response when all parties cooperate fully and immediately). The typical process takes anywhere from 2-5 business days, depending upon the requirements of treatments.

The Brown Dog Process:

STEP 1: The family complete our "apply for assistance" survey online. This generates an email reviewed by a Case Manager within 24 hours.

STEP 2: If the family pre-qualifies for assistance, the second step is for the family to complete our 7 page Application for Assistance which requires a list of documentation to be compiled and submitted for review against our guidelines.

STEP 3: A Case Manager will contact the Veterinary Clinic by fax requesting additional information. It is important for the Veterinarian to read the accompanying letter and complete the Veterinary Form entirely (the IRS requires that we maintain a list of EINs that we make payment to - failure to provide the EIN will delay the process).

Veterinarians who proceed with treatment are doing so at their own risk.
Requesting information from you does NOT automatically generate an "approval".

STEP 4: Once we have the family's information and the Veterinarian's information, our Case Manager will summarize the case and provide a snapshot of Brown Dog Foundation's Financial Situation to the Grant Review Committee.

STEP 5: The Grant Review Committee votes. The Grant Review Committee is comprised of 4 Board Members each casting 1 vote. A unanimous vote is required to "approve" a case. One vote against, generates a "denial".

STEP 6: A Letter of Commitment or Letter of Denial is generated on Brown Dog's letterhead, signed by our Board President and delivered via Fax (for emergencies) and via USPS (for cases that are not an emergency).

We will do our best to work with you through crisis situations. However, Brown Dog Foundation is not fully-funded, nor are we staffed full-time. It is important that you are comfortable with the fact that not all families meet our criteria and while, a family may pass our Pre-Qualification Screen they may not pass the full Application Screen. There are many reasons that may lead to a denial. When we have more cases than we can afford to fund presented at one time, we are forced to review each family's entire application and compare to one another to make our decision.