AAF History

Louise C. Harrison founded the Animal Assistance Foundation (AAF) in 1975. Her goal was to prevent cruelty to domestic animals. In the years before the establishment of the Foundation, Ms. Harrison made significant donations to several animal care organizations. The idea for AAF itself began in the mid 1960s when she directed her attorney, "Take care of my animals."

Louise Harrison and her sister, Margaret Collbran, granddaughters of brewer Adolph Coors and Colorado railroad pioneer Harry Collbran, were both animal advocates. They were also hoteliers. In 1955 the sisters purchased the Peck House, a historic hotel in Empire, Colorado, and renamed it the Hotel Splendide. Ms. Harrison was intrigued with the history of Colorado and the Peck family. She turned her energy not only into restoring the Hotel Splendide but also into writing a book, Empire and the Berthoud Pass, which was published in 1964. But animals were always a part of her life. Shadow, a donkey, and Ponce de Leon, a burro, lived in a pen behind the hotel, and numerous cats ate dinner outside the back door. Hotel guests brought their dogs, and people could even drop their pets off for the evening on their way to the opera in Central City.

In the 1950s, Velma Johnson, a Nevada rancher's wife known as "Wild Horse Annie," worked to pass legislation protecting free-range mustangs. After legislation was passed in 1971 to prevent slaughter of these mustangs, Louise Harrison had discussions with her attorney and trust officer, which ultimately lead to the establishment of a private foundation devoted to issues affecting the welfare of domestic animals.

One year after its founding in 1975, AAF opened its first neighborhood animal clinic, Queen City Spay/Neuter clinic at 42nd and Tennyson, a few blocks north of Elitch Gardens in Denver, Colorado. Regrettably, Ms. Harrison did not live to see the establishment of the Capitol Hill Spay/ Neuter Clinic in 1978 or the Lucky Star Cat Shelter in 1981. These early initiatives expanded, and in 1983, AAF turned over to the Dumb Friends League responsibility for the second of these facilities, renaming it the Extended Care Facility. It has since been encompassed in the new Buddy Center in Castle Rock, Douglas County.

In 1990, the Capitol Hill and Queen City clinics were consolidated into the Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital (HMAH) at 191 Yuma in Denver, Colorado. Shortly thereafter, the Boulder Clinic was also consolidated into Harrison Memorial Animal Hospital. Nine years later, in October of 1999, HMAH celebrated its 200,000 spay/neuter operation; it continues to provide reduced-fee veterinary service to low-income pet owners. HMAH was incorporated in 2000 as an independent public charity, an administrative move that separated the function of care giving from the grant-making mission of AAF.

The Animal Assistance Foundation, which celebrated its thirtieth year in 2006, has invested over $50 million in the well-being of animals in the State of Colorado. The three clinics and the new hospital account for an investment of over $24 million in pet population reduction and veterinary services to low-income pet owners. Other partnerships include $3.8 million to the American Humane Association; $3.5 million to veterinary medicine, research and support for Colorado State University; $4.1 million to the Dumb Friends League; $948,212 to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley; $348,000 to Longmont Humane Society; $173,500 to Rocky Mountain Alley Cat Alliance; $155,000 each to Larimer Humane Society and Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, and $850,000 for service grants.