News Alert: July 8, 2011

1. A&P Stores’ Preferred Pet Club to Support ASPCA

Recognizing that almost half of its loyalty customers are pet parents, A&P is launching an exciting new initiative to support its Preferred Pet Club program, while helping to raise funds for the ASPCA and animals in need.

The hallmark of this new relationship is a special promotion through December 31, at A&P, Pathmark, Waldbaum’s, Superfresh and The Food Emporium in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Connecticut. For every $100 in pet-related spending, A&P will make a $1 donation to the ASPCA. Pet parents who sign up for A&P’s Live Better Wellness Club will also have the opportunity to receive special offers on pet prescriptions.

A&P and its banner stores carry a full line of pet food and supplies to meet the needs of a wide range of pets, including dogs, cats and birds. Pet parents can choose from a broad selection of pet food and treats, toys, shampoos and other accessories to keep their pets healthy, happy and clean.

During the next few months, A&P also plans to sponsor other initiatives to support the ASPCA relationship, including Adopt-A-Pet events in select stores, to help find homes for needy animals.

To learn more about this exciting new program, please visit www.preferred-pet.com.

 

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2. You Snooze, You Win—Art of the Catnap Photo Contest Winners!

Regular News Alert readers know that June is Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month, and this year’s was a great success! The ASPCA worked with Fresh Step to promote fee-waived cat adoptions nationwide and help more kitties find loving forever homes. (You can help us raise $100,000 to support more fee-waived adoptions by liking the program on Facebook.)

To celebrate shelter cats’ month in the sun, we asked you to send us photos of your kitties taking catnaps in unconventional places. You didn’t let us down—when your cats curled up and napped, you grabbed your cameras and snapped. The result? Lots of pics that reminded us of why we love shelter kitties so much! We saw a cat on a cable box, a feline in a birdbath and many kitties in all sorts of wacky places around the house. We had lots of fun seeing all your pics of kitties catching Z’s, but five stood out to our panel of judges.

Let’s hear it for the winners of the Art of the Catnap photo contest! Check out the five winning photos—and the five runners up—in the slideshow below.

Thanks to all who entered, and an even bigger thank you to everyone who has adopted and loved a shelter cat. As your photos prove, they’re truly the best!

 

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3. ASPCA Grants Across America: Golden Heart Pet Assistance League

Many areas of Alaska are not accessible by roads and can be reached only by boat or airplane. Veterinarians are hard to come by in these communities, so pet parents face an extreme set of challenges when it comes to providing their furry friends with vaccinations, wellness exams or spay/neuter surgeries. Coming—or should we say flying?—to the rescue is the Golden Heart Pet Assistance League (GHPAL), recipient of a $5,000 grant from the ASPCA in June.

GHPAL is dedicated to preventing animal cruelty through educational programs, promoting responsible pet ownership, helping people with pet-related problems and providing veterinary services to underserved areas of Alaska. Licensed veterinarians and technicians are flown to rural Alaskan villages for stays lasting several days, during which the team provides spays/neuters, routine vaccinations and humane euthanasia. Their most recent outing resulted in 50 spay/neuter surgeries! With an average trip costing GHPAL between $4,000 and $5,000 (including airfare and all supplies), the ASPCA’s grant will enable this wonderful group to have a dramatic positive impact on the pets and pet parents of an entire Alaskan village.

Beyond veterinary services, GHPAL offers veterinary technician students living in these rural communities with hands-on learning experiences. In its local community of North Pole, Alaska, GHPAL offers education to children and adults about animal safety, basic animal first aid and safety techniques for dealing with aggressive dogs.

The ASPCA is on track to award more than $10 million in grants to worthy animal welfare groups across the U.S. in 2011. To learn more, including how your organization can apply for an ASPCA grant, please visit ASPCAPro.org.

 

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4. Happy Tails: Hope Springs Eternal

Xavier Lee, 13, was hoping to find a new best friend for his dog at the Joplin adopt-a-thon on June 26. What he got instead was a new best friend for himself.

Xavier, his mom, Dana, and his brothers J.J. and Alex had been having a difficult month—J.J.’s assisted-living home had been destroyed in the tornado that tore through Joplin on May 22—so everyone was excited to welcome a new dog into the family.

The family looked around at the available dogs, but when Xavier saw a squirmy little puppy perk up at the sight of him, he knew he’d been chosen. The puppy jumped up in her cage and started yipping excitedly, and Xavier was overcome with laughter. It was love at first sight.

The resident Lee dog is named Sparky Anakin, so naturally, Xavier named the new puppy Leia.

The excitement of Leia’s arrival hasn’t worn off yet in the Lee household. “Xavier and Alex have been taking her out at 5:00 A.M. to go to the bathroom, and they keep fighting over who gets to hold the leash! I tell them, ‘Boys, you have to share!’" laughs Dana, who adds that the excitement hasn’t worn off for Leia, either. “She’s just wearing herself out trying to do everything!"

Xavier is having lots of fun teaching Leia new tricks and playing her favorite game, tug-of-war, every day, and their bond is already firm. “She means a lot to me," he says. “She’s like a sister that I never had, and I just love her so much. No one is going to take her place in my heart!" As for Sparky, he wasn’t so sure about Leia at first, but he’s starting to warm up to her—even though she insists on playing with his toys. He’s starting to see her as less of a disturbance in the Force, and more of a member of his family.

Please stay tuned to www.aspca.org/joplin to read more Happy Tails from Joplin.

 

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