New York · Nonprofit
PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC
PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC (New York) receives grants from 296 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,618,735 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($2,098,130). 167 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.9M
- Funders on record
- 296
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $23M
What Puppies Behind Bars Inc does
Mission
Puppies behind bars trains incarcerated individuals to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, facility dogs for police departments, and explosive-detecton canines for law enforcement.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Raising service dogs in prision and pairing them with wounded veterans, first responders and facility dogs for police departments:pbb trains incarcerated individuals in four ny prisons to raise service dogs for wounded veterans, first responders, and facility dogs for police departments (pds). Service dogs learn more than 70 commands to assist with daily tasks and mitigate symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Facility dogs are trained to serve whole pds. Pbb places dogs free of charge and provides intensive handler training and ongoing support. Service dog recipients, their families, and communities benefit through reduced anxiety and other ptsd symptoms. Facility dogs for pds enhance officer wellness and support community outreach. Approximately 125 incarcerated individuals train up to 60 dogs at a time. As puppy raisers, they learn important skills for reintegration into society with the hope of returning to work or school. Puppies enter the program at 8 weeks old and remain in training for two years under the supervision of full-time professional instructors with support from more than 250 volunteers.
$2,805,067 spent77% of program spendingRaising explosive-detection canines in prison:pbb raises explosive-detection canines (edcs) for work with law enforcement in two prisons in new york. An average of 40 incarcerated individuals take part in our program, raising 16 to 20 dogs at any given time. The training process takes approximately 10 months, and between 16 and 20 of these dogs graduate each year. Our edcs have gone to work to detect explosives or accelerants across the united states. The massachusetts state police, westchester county police department, and atf are just a few of the agencies that use pbb dogs. They screen courthouses and other government buildings, check stadiums before ball games, and help solve arson cases and provide many other services to the general public.
$264,077 spent$114,065 earned by the program7% of program spendingEmployment of formerly incarcerated individuals:incarcerated puppy-raisers in our program become expert dog trainers and gain interpersonal skills as well. They must work as part of a team to solve problems, attend rigorous weekly classes, do written homework assignments, and maintain a daily journal of their puppies'progress. Their literacy and communication skills are enhanced, and they benefit from the unconditional love provided by the dogs as well. Rather than biding their time while incarcerated, the pbb program allows them to make a contribution to society that is a source of pride and self-confidence. Many are hired for dog-related jobs after parole. Pbb currently employs five formerly incarcerated puppy-raisers as part of its full-time staff. All five work as instructors teaching currently incarcerated individuals by their example what can be accomplished with hard work and dedication after incarceration. One is also director of the service dog program for wounded veterans and first responders, and one is the director of volunteers. A fourth staff member is director of socialization for young puppies. A fifth staff member is the director of dog socialization.
$588,050 spent16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,657,194.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $22M to $25M (+13%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
78% of PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Alan Lawrence
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 91 funders to 112 funders, grant income rose $1.1M → $1.3M.
35 of 296 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 296 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
47% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 51% · 2019 36% · 2020 29% · 2021 23% · 2022 15% · 2023 19% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
43% of PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 34 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 23 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 7,349 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 7,349 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $378k on record — $374k federal, $4k state.
- Department of Justice$374k
- Registration for Meetings&Conf$4k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 6 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC?
- PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC (New York) receives grants from 296 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,618,735 to it, the largest being NETWORK FOR GOOD ($2,098,130). 167 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC have?
- IRS filings report 296 organizations giving $10,618,735 in grants to PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC, 167 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC?
- NETWORK FOR GOOD is the largest funder on record, with $2,098,130 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PUPPIES BEHIND BARS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Puppies Behind Bars →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 296 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing