ABOUT US

Top: Founder, Karen with Sergei (2003)
Middle: Karen & her husband, Phillip, with Sergei (2007)
Bottom: Our 10-Year Anniversary Video, Featuring Pets Helped

Saving companion pets’ lives by coordinating care for sick or injured dogs and cats, providing families with resources to obtain life-saving veterinary treatment 

Our Story

 The Sergei Foundation was founded in 2009 as a North Carolina 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to meet the unanswered need and demand to help sick and injured companion dogs and cats.

Karen Fullerton founded the organization after the necessary euthanasia of her Siberian Husky of twelve years, Sergei, who is the namesake for the organization and is illustrated in its logo. Her sense of guilt when Sergei had to be euthanized after veterinary treatment had failed, led her to the sad realization that other pet owners must feel even worse when the option to treat their pet is taken away due to a lack of financial resources.  

In her despair, Karen’s passion emerged to help others avoid this unnecessary pain, guilt, and stress, and to help them obtain the veterinary care their pets desperately need. Read about Karen’s life journey and how Sergei inspired her as one of life’s greatest teachers in her book, Sergei’s Eyes, Reflections of Soul Lessons. Karen personally led the organization and all operations until its closing in 2022.

We Proudly Funded and Assisted through:

Critical/Emergency Veterinary Care

Surgery or life-saving treatment. Coordinated care, if needed, with NC veterinarians for immediate appointments, surgery expertise, or lower fees.

Diagnostic Test

A subset of ER care we were one of the only organizations that covered diagnostic testing, such as Xray or bloodwork

General Sick Care

Up to $100 for medicine, exam, or  diagnostic test for non life-threatening medical care to circumvent it from becomming a life-threatening need. 

Educate/compassion

Helping a pet means helping the owner! We educated each grantee and through blog articles, free advice/second opinions from our board veterinarian, and vet partners.


“We never stopped at just funding for veterinary care. If an applicant didn’t qualify for a grant, we aided them with other resources, links to free veterinary exams, second opinions from some of our veterinary partners, and even coordinated transportation in emergency situations.  This is why we were in the “compassion business” more so than animal welfare.”  ~Karen Fullerton 

View or Download our 2019 Annual Report

With Your Help, We made the World a Better Place

The Sergei Foundation provided unique and unparalleled services in its programs. Most rescues or other animal welfare non-profits do not provide funding for pet care once the animal has been adopted and labeled a “companion pet.” Others do not provide for any diagnostic testing. We were a bridge between rescues and other funding organizations to save pets’ lives.

…Just like Duke who had intestinal surgery!  We created  #HappyTales!

Want to meet some of the pets we helped? Follow us on Instagram! 

Transparency of Donations

Proud to have a Platinum rating on GuideStar! Visit for 990 Tax info and more...

2017

  • Programs 78% 78%

2018

  • Programs 83% 83%

2019

  • Programs 80% 80%

2020

  • Programs 84% 84%