One of the requirements of the grants-in-aid (GIA) process is to show that “non-GIA funding is limited or otherwise unavailable for the proposed grant.”

Today, nearly 80 percent of total charitable contributions go to nonprofits with operating budgets of $500,000 or more.

Nationally, of the $373 billion in charitable contributions, animal welfare organizations received only 3 percent of that pie.

So for Poi Dogs &Popoki (PDP), our challenges are three-fold because we are small, focused on animal welfare, and do not have the resources to hire fundraising staff. There is no level playing field.

City funding has been an important and necessary part of our fiscal sustainability and it started with the City Council.

In 2011, we went to Council members and proposed a mobile clinic to provide affordable spay and neuter services to families in rural and underserved areas of Oahu.

We were able to demonstrate a direct nexus to the animal-control contract.

By reducing pet overpopulation, fewer animals would be euthanized. By microchipping every pet that we sterilized, more animals would find their way home if they were ever lost. And by promoting Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) for feral cats instead of Trap-Kill, fewer cats would go to animal control and burden the shelter.

All of these strategies support the city’s goal: reducing the cost of animal control. This year, we are on track to sterilize nearly 6,000 dogs and cats, thanks to City Council support.

We subsequently applied twice for GIAs, for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal years, and missed the cut both times. So we sought support from Council members who were familiar with the work that we were doing — in their communities, at their beaches and parks, for constituents who have no affordable option to sterilize their pets and who deal with the thousands of feral cats living in their neighborhoods.

While the Star-Advertiser may call it “dubious,” we believe it’s the role of our elected officials to continue to support the important work of small nonprofits that benefit the public. There is nothing arbitrary about that decision. For PDP, we are the only organization in Waianae, Nanakuli, Waialua, Kahuku, Waialua, Kaneohe and Waimanalo — providing services to people who would otherwise have no hope to control the population of pets and animals in their communities.

Sadly, the GIA priorities do not elevate animal welfare as a strategic imperative, despite the fact that 60 percent of people on Oahu own a cat or dog. Most private foundations mirror the priorities of the GIA: children, seniors, low income, etc.

While Hawaiian Homes communities have some of the most pet-friendly hale and lead in many of Oahu’s animal welfare challenges, PDP has been unable to secure support from funders such as the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs or Campbell Foundation.

Unfortunately, the majority of private animal welfare foundations are mainland-based so competition for funding is steep.

The ASPCA, Petco Foundation and PetSmart Charities all appropriately offer funding for spay and neuter. But PDP has been repeatedly turned down, and only last month, the Big Fix received some funding for TNR.

While cute pictures of puppies and kittens and finding animals their “forever homes” are the substance for wonderful ad campaigns to raise money, PDP focuses on meaningful services (spay and neuter) that will change our communities for the better. Forever.

But it takes a lot of volunteer hours and committed people to spend their free time caring for animals, trapping feral cats, rescuing dogs, feeding and caring for the unadoptable, the sick, the abandoned.

We mahalo our Council members for recognizing that not every nonprofit fits nicely into the GIA scoring system.

Ending pet overpopulation and the unnecessary euthanasia of adoptable animals is not just humane, it’s a fiscally appropriate decision that will save the city — and taxpayers — money in the long run.