No More Homeless Pets
Weekly News
October 31, 2004
From super adoptions to spay/neuter successes, people working together to bring about a time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.
TOP STORY:
Biggest NMHP Conference Ever!
Cincinnati, Ohio - More than 500 people from all over the United States, and a few from Canada, filled the halls and rooms of the Holiday Inn-Eastgate in Cincinnati last weekend, eager to learn and share the good news about the No More Homeless Pets movement that is sweeping the country.
Read more or
view photos from t he conference.
SPAY/NEUTER NEWS
Phoenix Plans Big Fix
Phoenix, Arizona - More than 200 dogs and cats will be sterilized November 6 on a Spay Day sponsored by
Maricopa County Animal Care & Control. As part of the quarterly event, the surgeries will be offered free of charge at two locations for 120 cats and 80 dogs.
ADOPTION NEWS
Come to the L.A. Super Adoption!
Los Angeles, California - Best Friends Animal Society will bring together homeless pets from over 50 local rescue groups in the two-day Los Angeles Adoption Festival November 6-7 at La Brea Tar Pits Park. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day and will feature hundreds of animals from dog, cat, rabbit, bird, and rodent rescues -- as well as celebrity appearances, stage performances, children's activities, food and drink, vendors, and a silent auction. At one of the last L.A. superadoptions, 7,000 people came by, adopting more than 400 animals in five hours. The event is co-sponsored by Von's, City Beat, Petco, and Petco Foundation.
FERAL CAT NEWS
Anybody for a Hair Ball?
Palm Beach, Florida - PB Cats Inc., a group founded last year to help the island's feral cat population, is planning to kick off its fundraising campaign with a gala on Feb. 1. The current controversy? Naming the event. Coordinators are wondering if people will dress up to go dancing at a "Hair Ball," or if a name like "Purr Ball" might be more appealing. PB Cats Inc. was formed in March 2003 as a private/public partnership dedicated to using trap/neuter/return to control the local feral cat population. The group has received $50,000 annually in town funds that it builds upon with private fundraising. Read more in the
Palm Beach Daily News.
Campus rebels rescue ferals
Oxford, Mississippi - A campus group at Ole Miss is looking for volunteers to help with their trap/neuter/return program for the university's feral cats.
Feral University Rebel Rescuers began in April 2002 at the University of Mississippi, and since then has made a significant difference in the campus feral cat population. Read more about this project in
The Daily Mississippian.
Food drive for ferals
Indianapolis, Indiana -
IndyFeral has started a food drive to help restock the reserves of cat food they use to maintain feral colonies across the city. Participants may drop off cat food at Pet Supplies Plus locations around the city.
FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS
Dogs to "strut" for funds, homes
Okmulgee, Oklahoma - The
Okmulgee Humane Society is hosting its first annual Doggie Strut on Saturday, a 1.2 mile walk for people and their pets to raise money for the group. The registration fee for the event is $10 per dog, and participants are encouraged to gather pledges for their walk. The event will also feature pets available for adoption from several area rescue groups, as well as reduced-fee vaccinations, a "doggie drill team," games and contests for the dogs, training demonstrations, and vendors. Read more about the upcoming event in the
Okmulgee Times.
Giants give boost to Best Friends
San Mateo County, California - Best Friends Animal Society was greeted with a pleasant surprise when it received a check for $500 from the San Francisco Giants baseball team, as well as three bags of coins from the team's "change pot." The money was presented in front of the San Mateo Art Museum, at the opening of the
Best Friends Art Project.
Friends of Pets hosts first gala
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio -
Friends of Pets is hosting its first fundraising gala this Saturday, hosted by animal aficionado Dick Goddard and featuring an open bar, sit-down dinner, fashion show, and auction. Tickets for the event are $50, and all proceeds will go to aid the all-volunteer rescue, which has found homes for about 6,500 cats and dogs since it was formed in 1995. Read more about this event in the
Akron Beacon Journal.
IN YOUR COMMUNITIES
Dogs licensed to help depression, HIV
San Francisco, California - A wag of the tail and lick on the face can do a lot to lift spirits, as a new policy in San Francisco is recognizing. The city is now granting special tags for assistance dogs to help people with problems such as clinical depression or diseases such as HIV. The city has issued more than 650 such tags this year, in a move allowed by a 2002 ruling by a state regulatory agency. The legal designation has traditionally been reserved for dogs who assist people in wheelchairs or with visual or hearing impairments. It gives people the right to take their dogs into restaurants and public buildings, onto public transportation, and, most importantly, into apartment buildings with "no pets" policies. Read more about the people and dogs who are benefiting from this new program in the
San Francisco Chronicle.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Government hosts big adoption event
Singapore - The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority held its first-ever large scale adoption in Singapore, resulting in 15 animals adopted on the spot and applications placed to adopt 160 more. Several independent shelters and rescues participated in the event, which marked an important step forward for the government agency, whose traditional role has been to kill stray animals. For more information on the plight of Singapore's animals, visit
Action For Singapore Dogs and the
Singapore Cat Welfare Society.
