Pet Project

Ayna Agarwal is not your average teenager.

Teen fundraiser Ayna Agarwal and friend.
Photo courtesy of Ayna Agarwal.

At 16, Agarwal is the international outreach coordinator for the Teen Advisory Board of the United States Humane Society and has started two organizations of her own: Paws and Claws, a summer YMCA camp program to educate teens on protecting animals, and SPOT Globally (the acronym stands for Stop Pet Overpopulation Together). 

Agarwal, a junior at the Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, has had a passion for animals since age 9, when she began volunteering at her local animal shelter in Colonia. Once in high school, she launched SPOT Globally (sites.google.com/site/aynasangels/).

The organization has raised more than $2,000 in cash and supplies to help shelters and veterinarians with the cost of caring for strays, including spaying and neutering.

In November, to mark her birthday, Agarwal asked friends and family to contribute to SPOT Globally. She has also reached out to Petco, Pathmark, and Barnes and Noble in an effort to broaden her donation base. In hopes of taking SPOT Globally to an international level, Agarwal visited New Delhi, India, last summer; she plans to go to Thailand in 2009 to promote the organization. “I want it to become a large organization, where people from all over are on board and are fund raisers under SPOT Globally.”

“I don’t think I could live my life not doing this many things for animals,” Agarwal says.

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