Category: animal rescue

Bring ‘Em Home for the Holidays

This week is the kick off for Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH). IH4TH is a joint effort between Helen Woodward Animal Center and Iams with a goal to find homes for 1.5 million orphaned animals between now and January 3rd, 2012. This might sound impossible but for the past 12 years, this collaboration has resulted in over 5.7 million families adopting an animal from a shelter, rescue or adoption center.   Last year alone, 1,125,667 animals were adopted.  This is not small potatoes.  This is saving lives. 
The man behind the magic is Mike Arms, President of Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, CA.  Mike founded the IH4TH in 1999 with 14 shelters in the San Diego area who together adopted 2,563 animals who all went home with Iams food.  Today, there are over 3700 organizations globally that are participating in this adoption drive to save lives.  The success of this program is credited to the thousands of volunteers and  workers who dedicate their time to find homes for millions of animals. 
This week I attended the employee kick off event at P&G Pet Care that included a wonderful video presented by Mr. Arms which was dedicated to the canine heroes of 9/11.  A fact I didn’t know is that over half of the search and rescue dogs used during that tragedy were adopted from shelters.  In addition, the first annual Mike Arms/Iams  ‘Hero’ Award was presented to the Austin Humane Society for their efforts in coordinating disaster relief for displaced animals during the recent Texas wildfires.  This award is given by “Iams to a person or animal organization that exemplifies the commitment and passion for the lives of orphaned animals similar to what Mike Arms has been doing for so many years.”  Frances Jonon from the Austin Humane Society graciously accepted the plaque and the $5000 award for their organization. 
Mike Arms, Frances Jonon and Michel Brousset (Iams)

Another partner in this years effort is the Ryan Newman Foundation.  Nascar driver Ryan and his wife Krissie are avid supporters of spay/neuter and animal adoption.  They were supposed to attend the kick off event but Ryan was a bit busy with his driving schedule.  (I’m not a Nascar fan but it would have been cool to meet them!)   They did have a great video of them sharing their support of IH4TH with one of their many adopted dogs hanging out with them in the kitchen of their North Carolina home. 

You don’t have to adopt an animal to participate in IH4TH as there are several other ways you can become involved.  You can volunteer at your local shelter, give a donation (food or money) to your local shelter,  “Like” Iams on Facebook to donate food, “Share” Iams Facebook with friends and family, and/or buy a bag of specially marked Iams who then donates food to a shelter.  Saving all these animals is a community effort.  The workers and volunteers at animal adoption organizations cannot do it alone.  They need our help to support and care for these animals and help find them loving homes.  Your efforts will be saving lives by reducing euthanasia of orphans.  What better holiday gift to yourself than knowing you made a difference in a creature’s life!

Let the adoptions begin!!

For more information: 
Iams Facebook page–Get up to date information, adoption announcements, and holiday cards
Iams Home 4 The Holidays–Learn more about how you can help the effort
Helen Woodward Home 4 The Holidays
Adopt Your Next Pet!–Browse through and see all the orphans waiting for their forever home

The Rescuer

I suppose it’s not a big surprise that my life and career has revolved around animals.  I am pretty sure the “animal crazy” gene is embedded deep in our family DNA somewhere.  Although I am the only one who has taken on a career caring for animals, the rest of my family are all long time animal lovers and  have had pets most of their lives.  But there is one family member in particular I would like to pay tribute to here. My Aunt Patty has rescued and cared for orphaned animals needing TLC and often times signficant medical care and expense to keep them going. She goes above and beyond and is selfless when it comes to caring for the creatures in need.  In addition to rescue and care, these lucky animals usually land a forever home with her.   

I know there are countless animals she has saved over the years.  I’m certain  that I don’t hear about most of them but there are a few that are top of mind for me. Her rescues are not limited to dogs and cats; if an animal needs help, she is committed. They all have a story that lead to their resuce.  Living in a rural area, most are stray animals that are hungry needing food and a warm place to sleep while some are babies or have found themselves in harm’s way needing more extensive care.  Fencer is the first animal I remember her saving.  She was a young dog they found hung up in a fence with a severely injured rear leg.  Ultimately, the leg needed amputation due to the severity of the injury.  Patty nursed her back to health and Fencer then lived out the rest of her life as the family pet.  She was a lucky dog who despite her rough beginning, lived a long, happy life well into her teens.  Others rescues of interest are the baby crow “Buzz” that she fed into adulthood who would sit on the back porch with them during the summer, the baby raccoon who’s mother was killed on the road,  and the dairy calf who was born blind with a severe infection and not fit for life on a dairy farm. They are not all happy endings but there is no doubt that during their time with her, they are loved and well cared for. 

When I graduated from vet school, I took a job nearly 3 hours away from my family.  Unfortunately this distance does not allow me to help much with veterinary care for the family pets or the rescued animals that Patty takes on.  I did have the opportunity to visit a couple weeks ago and see her most recent rescues and examine a couple of them.  She has an area in the basement that she calls the “hospital”.  It is a dedicated area where she nurses the sick ones back to health and closely monitors her geriatric pets.  Her most recent cat rescue was a kitten “that blew in with the last storm”.  He showed up starving and flea infested at the back door during a thunder storm.  I’m happy to report he is making a speedy recovery and counting his lucky stars he found her back door.  I don’t want to forget her husband Duane.  Duane is a long time animal lover as well and shares in the care of the creatures great and small that they bring into their lives. 

There are thousands and thousands of selfless people who participate in animal rescue every day.  They are all heroes and should be recognized as such.  This is my way of recognizing a true hero in my family who continues to open her doors to helpless beasts needing  her loving care.