Ladies and Gentleman Pet Parents, Start Your Bidding!

Komfort Pets, the company who brought the first ever climate-controlled pet carrier to market, announced that they will auction off a carrier signed by celebrities. Proceeds from Komfort Pets carrier will benefit the ASPCA!

Celebrities had an opportunity to autograph this carrier at the GBK Productions Emmy gifting suite on September 12th, 13th and 14th. Those who lent their signature for this cause include: Debra Messing, James Pickens Jr., Lorraine Bracco, Paula Abdul, Kevin Dillon, Cheryl Hines, Rebecca Gayheart, Seth Green, Rex Lee, Mario Lopez, Michael Urie, Beau Bridges, Bradley Whitford, Blair Underwood, Stacy Keibler, Michael Maloney, William Baldwin, Michael Madsen and Leeza Gibbons.

Bidding begins November 14th, and ends November 19th on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/). For more info on the carrier’s cool features, like auto heating and cooling, visit http://www.komfortpets.com/.

Go, Nikki, Go!

We recently wrote about Nikki Granat, the 12-year-old singer who did a benefit concert for us. Nikki’s concert in New Jersey raised over $300 for the ASPCA. Wow!

Now Nikki’s back—this time on the radio! This Saturday, the little songbird will be a guest on Junson Radio Kids.

“Tune in to hear Nikki's story, and how you can join her in her efforts to help homeless animals.”

Jonzun Radio Kids airs every Saturday, from 12:30-1:00 P.M., E.S.T, on WPUL 1590 AM. During broadcast times, the show streams worldwide.

New York Showcases Its Cats This Weekend

If you’d like to spend zero and see 500 cats this weekend, head on over to NYC’s Madison Square Garden for its giant Adopt-A-Cat event. The public is invited—admission free—to meet the homeless cats presented by more than 20 local animal shelters, humane associations and rescue groups.

And yes, of course the felines of the ASPCA will be making an appearance! Once they heard that people were going to be adopting kitties, they told us we better bring them along if we know what’s good for us. And you know cats—can’t say no to ‘em. Of course, the silly kitties also thought the event was at a real garden (we let them down gently).

Public hours:
Saturday, October 13th: 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Sunday, October 14th: 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.

**In conjunction with the event, the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's animals, along with the Cat Fancier's Association, will present a Code 3 van parked outside MSG, on 33rd st. and 8th Avenue, both days this weekend. You’ll get a chance to tour a real mobile animal hospital!

Let Your Job Do the Work

How ironic that donating through your job can save you a ton of work. If you are a federal employee, you can give to the ASPCA through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), which runs from September through December each year (that’s now!). Whether you donate $1, $10 or more per paycheck, or make a one-time donation, your contribution will go a long way in helping us continue to find effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

In addition to the CFC, the ASPCA participates in a variety of state, city and other workplace giving campaigns as a member of Independent Charities of America and Animal Charities of America. Check with your Human Resources office to see if the ASPCA is a designated charity in your workplace contribution campaign. If we are not a designated charity, ask if you can write us in or have us added to the list. For more information, please contact Nada Polanco at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4502, or nadap@aspca.org.

Now get to work!

Hero Holds Out for the ASPCA

The Hero Initiative, a nonprofit that benefits comic book creators, held an event last week at Flatiron Joe’s in Manhattan to pay tribute to comic book legend Mike Wieringo, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four.

Mike passed away on August 12th of this year after a heart attack. The Hero Initiative and the ASPCA were Mike’s “two ‘pet’ charities,” according to Hero’s blog entry on the event, which raised over $4,000 dollars—half of which was donated to the ASPCA!

This overwhelming outpouring of generosity has us wanting to buy a whole lot of comic books! The Hero Initiative is a really awesome and unique cause. We all grew up with comics, and continue to decorate our cubicle and office walls with them—thanks to Hero for reminding us to show some appreciation for the geniuses behind the artwork.


Walter Simonson, Amanda Connor, Jimmy Palmiotti and more came to Flatiron Joe's to do some sketches.

Photos: © 2007, Marvel Characters, Inc.

Nikki Sets Good Standards for Kids—By Singing Them!

Why, thank you, Nikki Granat! Our new 12-year-old friend will be singing to raise money for the ASPCA and for The Friends Of County Animal Shelters in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Proud parents Jay and Robin Granat wanted to introduce their daughter to the concept of philanthropy, and asked her to choose a charity to support. “I feel bad when I see puppies without homes and I wanted to sing to help them,” says Nikki.

Crooning classics by legends like Nat King Cole and Jennifer Holliday, Nikki is obviously no ordinary kid. So show this special songbird some love in Jersey this weekend!

Performance info:
Sunday, September 16th
2:15 P.M.
Oritani Field Club; Hackensack, NJ

To read more about how kids can help animals, check out our kid site, Animaland!

A Penny For Your...Search?

What if the ASPCA earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, we do, thanks to GoodSearch.com, a search engine powered by Yahoo! that donates half of its revenues to charities. Simply visit GoodSearch.com to start making a difference and check out how the numbers add up.

If 500 people search four times a day, roughly $7,300 will be raised in a year—without anyone spending a dime. So far over $4,200 has been raised for the ASPCA in 2007 alone. So be sure to visit GoodSearch.com and add your two cents (or three or four) to animal welfare!

***If you can, be sure to visit today--the ASPCA is featured as Charity of the Day!***