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ASPCA Online Store: Pet Memorial Bracelet

July 25, 2008

1. Cat Photo Contest Winners Announced
2. ASPCA Success Story of the Week: Pucker Up!
3. Pet Safety Alert: Snake Bite Prevention Tips
4. Help Save America’s Wild Horses
5. Show Off Your Pet (and Win $250!) at AnimalAttraction.com

Me-Wow! Announcing the ASPCA Cat Photo Contest Winners!

In honor of Adopt-A-Shelter Cat Month this June, we asked you to catch your cat in the act—of being a cat! You know…attacking dust bunnies, stalking the dog, perfecting the art of the nap...whatever he does when he thinks you're not looking.

Our inbox was flooded with thousands of entries, leaving our judge, musical legend and fellow cat lover Michael Feinstein, with the difficult task of selecting the best of the best. He saw it all—bathing beauties, cuddling cuties…and one very unique kitty who’d probably jump at the chance to be his musical accompanist. A round of applause to everyone who entered, and a standing ovation for our top ten winners and honorable mentions. See the 2008 Cat Photo Contest winners here!

ASPCA Success Story of the Week: Pucker Up!

Jeremy and Kathy Clement of Nashville, TN, had their arms full—and their faces wet—as soon as they met twelve-week-old Anatolian mix Ella at the Humane Association of Wilson County. “When we opened her kennel door, she jumped into my arms and licked my face in a frenzy,” recalls Jeremy.

Apparently, the pup’s kisses were not administered simply to charm these potential adopters. She ran full speed toward a two-year-old girl, slowed down, crawled gently to the toddler's feet and kissed her on the knee. “That was it!” claims Jeremy, who had only one thing to say to the shelter staff: "Where do we sign?"

Ella was all puppy when she arrived at home, darting under the couch, stealing socks and leaping up into the Clements’ arms, giving kisses all the while. Even after recovering from a near-fatal case of kennel cough, she hadn’t lost any of her drive to smooch.

“She puts a smile on everyone's face with her tendency to shower people with kisses,” says Jeremy. “One day she saw a little boy crash his Big Wheel and she wouldn't stop kissing his teary cheeks until he was laughing. And on vacation in the Smoky Mountains, when two preschool girls in pigtails wrapped their arms around Ella, she just kissed and kissed their cheeks.”

The Clements treasure Ella’s capacity to love and, it seems, her capacity for directness. “Ella doesn’t beat around the bush when it comes to affection,” says Jeremy. “She just kisses me right in the ear!”

Check out Ella's page on the ASPCA Online Community!

Want to read other adoption stories? Visit ASPCA.org.

Pet Poison Alert: Snake Bite Prevention and Safety Tips

Planning any nature hikes this summer? Please take care to prevent your curious pets from painful encounters with snakes. This applies to urban, suburban and deep country animals alike. Take Stone, the four-year-old pit bull who was surprised last Tuesday, when a diamondback rattler, likely an escaped and illegally kept pet, bit him on the face in a Bronx, NY, park. Stone’s owner did exactly what he should have: he immediately brought his dog to an animal care facility. Stone could have died from the snake bite within 24 hours had he not received the antidote, two injections of antivenin, so quickly.

“A snake bite is always considered an emergency, because even a bite from a nonvenomous snake can be dangerous,” says Dr. Safdar Kahn, Director of Toxicology at the ASPCA Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, who offers the following bite prevention tips:

Walk your pet on a leash.
Steer your pet clear of long grasses, bushes and rocks.
Tidy up your yard by clearing away undergrowth, toys and tools that make great hiding places for snakes.
Clean up spilled food, fruit or bird seed, which can attract rodents—and therefore snakes—to your yard.
A snake can strike from a distance equal to about half his body length, so if you see a snake, head back the way you came.
If you think your pet has been bitten, keep him calm by limiting his activity.

For a complete list of snake bite prevention tips and symptoms that may indicate a bite, please visit ASPCA.org.

Save America’s Wild Horses Before It’s Too Late

One of the duties of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—part of the U.S. Department of the Interior—is managing the wild horses and burros who live on our vast public land in the American West. Despite protests from wild horse advocates and concerned legislators, in the last few years the BLM has been rounding up wild horses at an unprecedented rate. Adoptions could not keep pace, requiring the agency to house the animals in private, long-term holding facilities.

Today, almost one-half of the wild horse population is languishing in expensive holding pens paid for with our tax dollars. Claiming that it has become too costly to feed and care for them, the BLM is now considering euthanizing thousands of healthy horses.

Amid concerns of mismanagement, Congress requested a review of the BLM's wild horse programs in June 2007. This report, which is being drafted by the Government Accountability Office, is due to be completed in September.

Please visit our Lobby for Animals section to email a letter to your U.S. senators and representative, asking them to prevent the BLM from taking any further action until the report is released and Congress has reviewed its findings.

To receive alerts when animal-related legislation is introduced in your state and on the national level, sign up for the ASPCA Advocacy Brigade. This free service allows you to take timely action to effect real change for animals.

Show Off Your Pet (and Win $250!) at AnimalAttraction.com

Thousands of animal lovers are having a blast while helping the ASPCA—just by joining AnimalAttraction.com, a free online community for pet lovers. By donating $1 for each new person who signs up and $1 for each friend that members refer, AnimalAttraction has already raised $11,000 for the ASPCA!

And now there's a fun new way to help us even more—a pet photo contest! Your furry friends oughta be in pictures, right?! If one of our supporters wins the contest, the ASPCA receives $250—and so does the winning entrant. Only AnimalAttraction.com members can enter, but registration is free. Don't forget to tell your buddies to sign up and enter, too!

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