No More Homeless Pets
Weekly News

November 14, 2004
From super adoptions to spay/neuter successes, people working together to bring about a time when there will be No More Homeless Pets.

• Amazing Animals
• Spay/Neuter News
• Adoption News
• Feral Cat News
• Fabulous Fundraisers
• In Your Communities

TOP STORIES:
Election day brought mixed results in races across the country that featured important humane issues. Read more.

The sixth annual "Home 4 the Holidays" adoption campaign kicked off with a little help from famous adoptee Benji. Read more.

Coming up: Best Friends in Seattle - Holiday Gala
November 19, 7 - 9 pm. Be a part of Best Friends in Seattle! Celebrate the holidays with Francis Battista, one of the founders of Best Friends. Meet Seattle program manager Julie White and learn more about Best Friends Brigades and the Best Friends Network. Event includes silent auction, merchandise, food, prizes, and more. Get all the details.

AMAZING ANIMALS

New York, New York - Cookie proved tougher than his name last May when he protected ex-model Carina Schlesinger from a knife-wielding rapist in Central Park. The usually gentle shepherd mix was honored as a hero last week, and presented with a medal and a toy stuffed bone at a luncheon held by the North Shore Animal League.

Schlesinger, 25, adopted Cookie from a New Jersey animal shelter four years ago, and was walking the dog in the park when Cookie fought off the would-be attacker. Cookie's defense yielded a blood sample from the accused rapist, which enabled police to identify the attacker and link him to other crimes. Said Schlesinger of her savior: "He's a good example of what can come out of a shelter." Read more about this heroic dog in the New York Post.

SPAY/NEUTER NEWS

Helena, Montana - The Montana Spay/Neuter Task Force performed a whopping 1,400 free spays and neuters during a five-day October event held at the fairgrounds. Half of the people who brought pets said they had never had a pet sterilized before. Local humane officials estimate that after a task force event comes to town, they see a 25 to 50 percent decrease in the number of animals brought to shelters. Read more about this extraordinary event, and how the project has managed to win over local vets, in the Queen City News.

Through an online contest, the Spay Neuter Assistance Project is offering people the chance to win "1,000 No Birthdays" for their community. The region that receives the most votes by December 1 will win 1,000 free sterilizations done with the non-surgical product Neutersol, in a project co-sponsored by PETsMART Charities. Each person can vote only once, although voters can forward the ballot on to as many people as they like. In order to vote, and for an update on the "election" results, visit the SNAP website.

ADOPTION NEWS

Los Angeles, California - The 12th Best Friends Adoption Festival, held at La Brea Tar Pits Park, drew about 12,000 people and resulted in the adoption of 520 animals -- and still counting as local groups send in their final firgures.

The event included animals from over 50 local rescue groups, and featured appearances by many celebrities, including Daryl Hannah, Illeana Douglas, Robert Culp and James Avery. All 112 dogs and cats brought by the city shelters left the event with new homes -- with the exception of three older dogs who are being taken in by Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. (We just couldn't stand to send them back by themselves!)

See a photo gallery of the event.

Riverdale, Utah - No More Homeless Pets in Utah hosted an adoption event for local rescue groups in the parking lot of the Riverdale PETsMART, and 70 dogs and cats went to new homes. Best Friends entertained children at the event, with face painting, storytelling, and arts and crafts.

FERAL CAT NEWS

A newly published book traces the feral cat trap/neuter/return movement from its beginnings in the United Kingdom through its growth in the United States, and offers a vision of where the movement will go in the future. TNR: Past, Present, and Future, A History of the Trap-Neuter-Return Movement by Ellen Perry Berkeley includes several pages of color photos by Best Friends photographer Troy Snow. Berkeley writes that her mission is "to support the efforts of TNR advocates, to expose the misunderstandings and falsehoods of TNR detractors" and to ultimately help create a better life for feral cats.

Find out more about this book, including how to order a copy, on the Alley Cat Allies website.

FABULOUS FUNDRAISERS

Laconia, New Hampshire - Animals in New Hampshire will benefit from a loan from a federal program that helps rural communities. The Agriculture Department's Rural Development Program is lending $1.8 million to the New Hampshire Humane Society to build a new animal shelter in Laconia. The new structure will replace one of the oldest and largest shelters in the region, and help a humane society that takes in more than 2,000 animals each year. Learn more from WMUR Channel News.

Bend, Oregon - Second-grade students at Saint Francis Elementary School conducted a drive, for the seventh year in a row, to acquire food and supplies for the Humane Society of Central Oregon. The three-week effort began on the feast day for Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and ended with the students delivering 3,000 pounds of food, litter, toys and cleaning supplies, and $175 in donations.

Oceanside, California - Elaborately decorated doghouses will be the centerpiece of the North County Humane Society's "Make This a Humane Holiday" fundraiser, to be held November 19. Dozens of volunteers -- and a few dogs -- have decorated the doghouses, which will be auctioned off for several hundred dollars apiece. Four-footed shelter alumni are also invited to the fundraiser, where they will be treated to their own buffet. The event will include wine, food, live entertainment, and live and silent auctions. Tickets are $60 per person, with all proceeds going to benefit the shelter. Read more about this fundraiser in the Union Tribune.

IN YOUR COMMUNITIES

Bakersfield, California - A judge ruled last week that Kern County Animal Control must stop euthanizing animals before the expiration of the state's mandatory four-day holding period. The order is the latest in a series of injunctions issued against the county as a result of a lawsuit coordinated by an animal advocacy group called Shelter Watch that seeks to enforce the state's humane laws. In prior hearings, the judge ordered the county to close a night "drop-box" for animals, send its employees to a class in humane euthanasia, and halt the illegal practice of adopting out animals who have not been sterilized. Read more about this landmark case on the Shelter Watch website.

San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C. - Gail A. Eisnitz, whose field investigations over two decades led to criminal prosecution of numerous animal abusers and to network television, radio and newspaper exposes, was presented with the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Medal last week. The award, given by the Animal Welfare Institute, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the advancement of animal protection. Previous winners of the award include Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall and Sen. Hubert Humphrey. Eisnitz is the chief investigator for the San Francisco-based Humane Farming Association and the author of the groundbreaking 1997 book Slaughterhouse, which exposed shocking violations of the Humane Slaughter and Federal Meat Inspection Act. Read more about Eisnitz at U.S. Newswire.

Norfolk, Virginia - About 100 people attended a meeting to discuss how Hampton Roads can become a no-kill area, in an event sponsored by the Animal Welfare Coalition of Hampton Roads and Best Friends Animal Society. Speakers included Gregory Castle, one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society and the president of No More Homeless Pets in Utah, and Robin Starr, the CEO of the Richmond SPCA. The Animal Welfare Coalition has applied for a grant from Maddie's Fund to create a demonstration project that will illustrate the benefits of the no-kill approach.