No More Homeless Pets
Weekly News

October 17, 2004
From super adoptions to spay/neuter successes, people working together to bring about a time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.

• Adoption News
• Feral Cat News
• Fabulous Fundraisers
• In Your Communities
• International News

THIS WEEK'S SPOTLIGHT:
Washington, D.C. - The American Partnership for Pets is hoping that a major letter-writing campaign will influence the U.S. Postal Service to include a reprint of the "Spay or Neuter" commemorative stamp in its lineup for 2005. Some 250 million of the stamps were sold during the first printing, helping to raise awareness of the benefits of spaying and neutering. Learn more information about the stamps and the letter-writing campaign.

ADOPTION NEWS

Washington, D.C. - In its first super adoption event, DC Metro No More Homeless Pets placed 98 cats and dogs -- and one guinea pig. Nearly 2,500 people came to a shopping complex to meet animals from 13 organizations, including animal control agencies from three counties. Lots more events are planned. Event sponsors included Best Friends Animal Society, Fairfax Corner and PETsMART Charities, as well as 16 local businesses.

Manatee, Florida; Denver, Colorado - Approximately 70 dogs abandoned during the three hurricanes that hit the area were airlifted out of the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport earlier this month, headed for new lives and families in the Denver area. Although 140 dogs were originally scheduled to take flight, many were adopted before take-off by local families. The dogs came from the Suncoast Humane Society, the Humane Society of Pinellas, Hardee County Animal Services and DeSoto County Animal Services, each of which were hard-hit by the series of hurricanes. This is the second airlift that the Humane Society of Sarasota County has coordinated in less than a month. They took more than 100 dogs and cats to Atlanta and Houston on a September flight. Half of the first flight, and all of the second, were paid for by the Florida Association of American Kennel Clubs. Read more about this rescue effort in the Bradenton Herald.

Dallas, Texas - Twenty-eight shelters and rescues from the Dallas-Fort Worth area are continuing their collaboration to bring to print eye-catching ads promoting spay/neuter, responsible pet ownership, and the adoption of shelter animals. The ads have appeared in the Dallas Morning News on three different occasions since August, and the groups are planning still more. The most recent ad appeared October 10, challenging people to protect their pets with appropriate identification, to act quickly if they are lost, and to spay/neuter their animals.

Naples, Florida - As they struggle to place animals displaced by the hurricanes, three Florida shelters have more reason than ever to tempt people with their fourth annual Fall Pet Fest on October 23. The event is hosted by the Collier County Humane Society, Lee County Animal Services, the Humane Society of Lee County, and the Lee County Animal Care Trust. The festival will feature a day of fun and activities for people and their pets, including a K-9 Olympic Competition, a pet fashion show, fly ball, agility trials, dog training, and contests for the best pet costume, best trick, and most unusual mutt. Learn more about the upcoming event in the Golden Gate Gazette.

FERAL CAT NEWS

Greensboro, North Carolina - Once a month, the Feral Cat Adoption and Placement project gears up for its spay/neuter clinic, staffed by about 30 volunteers and six veterinarians. The group began in 1996 to offer support to feral cat colony caretakers, and since then has sterilized about 600 cats each year, at no cost to the caregivers who bring them to the clinic. Read a great feature about this amazing program on GoTriad.com.

Turlock, California - Students and faculty from California State University, Stanislaus, are forming a group to trap and neuter the feral cats on campus. The Campus Cat Coalition has brought in experts to teach them how to perform TNR, and plans to start raising money immediately with fundraisers such as bake sales. The coalition is also working with Turlock Animal Control to microchip the animals, so they can be returned to their colonies if they are brought into the shelter, rather than being euthanized. Learn more about this grassroots campus program in the Turlock Journal.

FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS

Salt Lake City, Utah - Five dollars can buy a cappuccino or an ice cream sundae ... and $5 from each family in Utah can save thousands of lives. No More Homeless Pets in Utah kicked off a program Sunday which asks each family in the state to donate $5 to help Utah's homeless pets, thus contributing to reducing euthanasia by eight animals a day each year. No More Homeless Pets in Utah, a program of Best Friends Animal Society, is nearing the end of its five-year grant program from Maddie's Fund, leaving a significant gap of approximately $2 million per year in resources necessary to make progress in ending the euthanasia of animals in Utah's shelters.

Massachusetts - The Massachusetts Animal Coalition has kicked off a special online auction of low-numbered animal-friendly license plates. The new line of plates recently went on sale at the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles for the price of $40, $28 of which will benefit state spay/neuter programs. The animal coalition is selling more than 100 of the first plates produced through the online auction, which will culminate in a live event November 4 featuring hors d'oeuvres, a cash bar and pet-friendly gift bags. Read more about this fundraiser in the Westwood Press.

Dickson County, Tennessee - The Humane Society of Dickson County announced in August that it might have to shut down if it didn't receive more financial support from the community -- so the community pulled together to keep the shelter running. Since making the public plea, the shelter has been flooded with support from all segments of the community, collecting pet food and supplies and approximately $15,000 in a little over a month. The support has come not only from Dickson County residents and businesses, but also from local children, youth groups and schools, and groups of employees from local companies. Read more about this community effort in the Dickson Herald.

Boise, Idaho - The second annual Stray Cat Strut was held in Boise to support Just Strays, a group that runs a cageless, no-kill cat shelter and provides low-cost spaying and neutering. The event featured gourmet catering, a live band, and live and silent auctions. Since it began in November 2002, the group has placed more than 220 cats, and spayed or neutered about 200 more. For more information on this successful new group, see the Idaho Statesman.

IN YOUR COMMUNITIES

Oregon - Project Pooch (Positive Opportunities, Obvious Change with Hounds) has had an astounding 100 percent success rate in preventing recidivism among youth offenders at Oregon's MacLaren Correctional Facility. Project Pooch pairs young offenders with dogs with behavioral problems, and gives them the responsibility of turning the dogs into great family pets. According to a report given at the 10th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions held earlier this month in Glasgow, Scotland, the program has succeeded in reforming some of the worst juvenile offenders, including murderers, rapists, and armed robbers. Of 100 offenders who graduated from the program between 1993 and 1999, not a single one is back behind bars -- an unprecedented success for a youth correctional program. For more information on this program, see The Guardian.

Long a supporter of animal welfare efforts, the Iams pet food company has nevertheless come under increasing fire lately for its use of laboratories to conduct feeding studies on cats and dogs. In response, the company announced last week that it will stop contracting the tests out to private laboratories and universities, and conduct all tests at the Iams Pet Health and Nutrition Center, pet owners' homes, and organizations such as shelters where dogs and cats already live. The company said this transition will be made by 2006, and that it is continuing to develop alternatives to dog and cat feeding studies.

Lancaster, California - Former professional photographer Marilyn Dalrymple has combined her love of animals with her love of art in a new exhibit called "What Value Life?" The photo show is being held at the Cedar Centre Gallery until October 23, and features sepia-tone prints of dogs and cats living in shelters, contrasted with full-color prints of beloved pets taken by Dalrymple when she owned a portrait studio. The artist started taking the shelter photographs to feature them on an adoption website, then came up with the idea for the photo show, to contrast the value people place on their own pets with the value they place on the lives of shelter animals. Throughout the exhibit, donations will be accepted for two Antelope Valley pet rescue organizations, Hakuna Matata and Cat/Canine Assistance Referral and Education. Read more about Dalrymple's show in the Daily News.

Dewey, Delaware - Suzanne Kihn rescued a gentle greyhound named Shadow at last year's Greyhounds Reach the Beach get-together, adoption fair and fundraising event. Now Suzanne and the ex-racer are providing comfort to patients at the Lewes Convalescent Center. Not only is Shadow the perfect size to visit people in beds and wheelchairs, the dog is also gentle and sweet to the nursing home residents. Plus, she patiently tolerates the uniforms she is asked to wear for the visits -- a Santa hat for Christmas, bunny ears at Easter, and a spring bonnet in May. Read more about Shadow's visits in the Coast Press.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Quezon City, Philippines - The Paws Animal Rehabilitation Center (PARC) is a one-of-a-kind facility in the Philippines, offering refuge for abandoned cats and dogs for the past two years. PARC is operated by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) and was built with the assistance of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. It is currently home to about 40 dogs and 50 cats who were rescued or abandoned by their people, and is run by more than 200 volunteers and six veterinarians. Read more about this unique facility, including how you can make a donation, from the Inquirer News Service.

Warsaw, Poland - With a wonderful scarcity of stray animals in their own country, German animal lovers look to animal shelters in Poland when they want to find a new pet. Germans have adopted at least 400 dogs and 70 cats from the overpopulated Polish shelters over the last two years. Find out more from Expatica.

Glasgow, Scotland - People with cats or dogs visit their doctors less often, are more likely to survive heart attacks, and have an easier time overcoming stress and loneliness. All this, according to studies unveiled at the 10th International Conference on Human-Animal Interactions, held earlier this month in Glasgow, Scotland. The studies were conducted in Germany, Australia, China and the United States, and showed that people with pets visit their doctors 20 percent less often than those without, while people with dogs are four times more likely to survive a heart attack. A study in England showed that people who share their lives with cats are happier and less stressed, but they might have a somewhat lower opinion of their fellow man than those who are catless -- 75 percent prefer the company of their cats to other people! Find a complete report from the conference in The Guardian.