The Cleo Fund is an Animal Welfare Society program that helps-income-qualified pet owners spay/neuter their pets.

The Cleo Fund is the spay/neuter arm of the Animal Welfare Society.

Founded in Portland in 1971, the Cleo Fund was the first organization in Maine to recognize the importance of spaying and neutering pets. What started as a fundraising effort to help spay Cleo, a stray dog that had recently given birth to 10 puppies, turned into a non-profit organization dedicated to helping income-qualified individuals afford spay/neuter surgeries for their pets.

In 2012, the Cleo Fund selected the Animal Welfare Society to carry on its mission. The merger created the largest spay/neuter organization in Maine, allowing the Cleo Fund to expand its reach statewide. Under AWS, the Cleo Fund established a voucher program, redeemable at participating veterinarians throughout the state. The veterinarian discounts the surgery, the client pays a small co-pay, and the Cleo Fund pays the remaining balance. If the cat is feral, the Cleo Fund covers the entire cost of the surgery.

The Cleo Fund advocates for and provides resources for spaying/neutering pets, puts on educational seminars, organizes spay/neuter clinics throughout the state, offers resources and services to feral cats and their caretakers in Southern Maine.