Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode in Diamond Spring, Calif. Tops West Division after First Two Months of 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode in Diamond Springs, Calif. has moved into the lead in the West Division of the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge.  The shelter has adopted or reunited 1,083 pets during the first two months of the three-month competition, an increase of 691 lives saved over the same period last year. Through October, 50 animal shelters from across the country are working to increase adoptions in order to win a piece of the more than $500,000 in ASPCA prize grants, including a grand prize of $100,000.

"Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode ended the first month of the contest with nearly 500 adoptions already on their counter, and were well on their way to 600 adoptions by the first week of September," said Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA. "They have an incredible group of enthusiastic staff and volunteers which makes us really excited to see them at the top of their division with 1,063 lives saved in just two months."

In addition to Animal Outreach of the Mother Lode, contestants in the West Division for the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge are: In the West Division:

• Kern County Animal Control in Bakersfield, Calif.
• Escondido Humane Society in Escondido, Calif.
• Marin Humane Society in Novato, Calif.
• Animal Friends Rescue Project in Pacific Grove, Calif.
• San Bernardino County Animal Care & Control in San Bernardino, Calif.
• Animal Friends of the Valleys in Wildomar, Calif.
• Canyon County Animal Shelter in Caldwell, Idaho
• Nevada Humane Society, Reno, Nev.
• Greenhill Humane Society in Eugene, Ore.
• Humane Society of Central Washington in Yakima, Wash.

The contestants are working to save more cats and dogs during the months of August, September and October 2012 than they did during the same period in 2011. The ASPCA and Rachael Ray will award a $100,000 grand prize to the shelter contestant that achieves the greatest increase in lives saved during this three-month period. A second place prize of $25,000 will be awarded to the shelter with the second greatest increase in lives saved, and the contestant that does the best job of engaging its community members in helping to save more animals will win $25,000. Those organizations that do the best in their divisions will be eligible for between $5,000 and $40,000 in additional grants.

All her life, Rachael Ray has been an advocate for animals and a supporter of animal welfare groups. Her love for animals and for her pit bull, Isaboo, inspired her to create a pet food called Nutrish® to raise money for animals in need.  Ray donates 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of Nutrish® to organizations like the ASPCA so they can implement programs like the $100K Challenge and support shelters and animal organizations around the country.

To find a contestant near you, please visit http://challenge.aspcapro.org/contestants. To see a complete list of events as they are scheduled, please stay tuned to http://challenge.aspcapro.org/events throughout the contest. The ASPCA also has joined the contestants and all of their supporters in tweeting with the unique hashtag #100KChallenge. The ASPCA encourages animal lovers to use #100KChallenge on Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word about adopting animals from shelters in the contest.

The ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge is a groundbreaking contest that challenges animal shelters across the country to come up with innovative ways to engage their communities and get more homeless cats and dogs into loving homes. For more information about the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge, please visit www.aspca.org/100kchallenge.