Be The Change For Pets

Action: Operation Cat Transport

BlogPaws Guest Blogger: Wanda Kruse

I was lucky to participate in one of Your Daily Cute’s pet rescues. “Cute” fellow BlogPaws community member Dorian Wagner had arranged for two young tabby cats to be transported from the southeastern part of the U.S. to St. Louis, Missouri. Artist BZTAT aka Vicki Boatright recruited me via Twitter. Twitter is an incredible medium for getting the word out quickly to a worldwide audience. I contacted Dorian, and I was chosen to drive the last leg of their journey to their final permanent home.

I had the route planned almost down to the last minute. (When I drive, I drink a lot of soda which means I have to plan for stops if you know what I mean.) I headed across the Mighty Mississippi and soon left the majestic Gateway Arch behind me heading east on Interstate 64. I had my iPod loaded, the AC blasting, and my pedal was not quite to the metal. You see, I cut my teeth on Chicago traffic, but I try to drive sensibly. Since I was on a Mission of Cute, I had to be vigilant.

I don’t know how many of you have driven across central Illinois, but it is not the most inspired landscape. I think that I memorized every farmhouse, cow, and pig. I found a lot of places where ATT doesn’t have signal. It was so hard to see all the crops suffering from the drought, and I kept thinking about the poor farmers with the reduced yields of soybeans and corn.

Schmitty the Weather Dog's New Yorkie Runway: The Auditions

BlogPaws Guest Blogger: Theresa O'Connell
One of the great things about winter in New York City is the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, held in early February. Among the events preceding the show is the third annual New Yorkie Runway Fashion Show. 

Some of the celebrities attending this year's show are Miss USA Alyssa Campenella, former MTV VJ Lyndsey Rodrigues, Miss Teen USA Logan West, Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul & Mary), Kenny Santucci (from MTV's Real World/The Challenge), Dr. Marty Goldstein (radio host of "Ask Martha's Vet), Beefy the Skateboarding Bulldog and Ella, the Therapy Dog of the Year.

When I was invited to attend the New Yorkie Runway Casting Call, I jumped at the chance. The fabulous New Yorker Hotel was abuzz with the excited contestants and their human companions - and I could see why. The stakes are high! The winner and his or her proud owner, will walk the runway at the New Yorkie Runway Doggie Fashion Show, surrounded by celebrities!

The Judges

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: A Day of Service

By Kristin Dewey, BlogPaws Special Projects Manager

This weekend, millions of Americans participated in a National Day of Service, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. With today, January 21st, 2013, being Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Day of Service has been extended through the long holiday weekend, with people across the country volunteering every way you could think of to 'serve others' as Dr. King taught.

Nonprofit and charity organizations, are hosting special projects taking advantage of the large numbers of volunteers coming out to help clean and make repairs and improvements to facilities. Hospitals and retirement homes have extra visitors, spending a few hours to make the world a little better. You may have seen Food Banks in front of your local grocery stores, collecting groceries for needy families - or Pet Food Banks at your local pet stores.

If you have a little time to spare today - maybe you're off work, or don't have quite as hectic a schedule as usual - try to do a little something extra today. This would be a great day for a Shelter Drive-by, to brush and socialize a shelter cat, take a rescue dog for a walk, or make a donation to help others serve in an area you have a special interest in. Of course, it could be spending some extra time with someone who you help in some capacity every day - a parent, a child, a pet, an elderly neighbor.

I realize that many people reading this actually dedicate their lives to helping others - people, animals, the environment... Perhaps you could spend a few moments reflecting on Dr. King and his philosophy of service, nonviolence, compassion and empathy, and how it relates to what you do in your own life.

Give yourself a big hug for all the time and effort you give away, and remember to keep a balance. They say to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, so you'll be able to help your children and companions.

While you're out there making a difference, don't forget to breathe! Drink lots of water, get enough exercise and sleep, eat... Take care of yourself, or selfless service won't an option. How do you keep yourself grounded while you're saving the world?  

Did you, or are you, participating in any extra volunteer activities for MLK, Jr. Day? I'd love to hear about them!

Martin Luther King Jr. photograph by Phil Stanziola, NYWT&S staff photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. Dr. Other photos by Kristin Dewey.

Report: Natural Balance's Rose Parade Float Honors Military Dogs

By Chloe DiVita

I had the honor of being one of Natural Balance's guests for last week's Rose Parade. It was my first ever Rose Parade and the 5th float Natural Balance has entered. The event was amazing and I'm pretty sure my first Rose Parade is going to be hard to beat!

The main part of the float and replicated monument

"Canine's With Courage" was the theme of the float. It was a replica of the new Military Working Dog Teams Monument that will be dedicated to their hard work in October 2013 at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio holds the military training facility for all military dog teams, and thus is the perfect place to dedicate the monument.

Report: Non-Profit Uses Groupon to Fund Protective Vests for Police Dogs

By Kristin Dewey - BlogPaws Special Projects Manager

You may have recently seen an interesting Groupon offer: Vested Interest in K9s, Inc., applied and was chosen as a national Groupon Grassroots campaign, which has gotten them a huge amount of exposure and donations in the last few days for their mission of supplying state of the art bullet- and stab-proof protective vests to police dogs.


The campaign has featured the Massachusetts based non-profit since Christmas at no charge, suggesting people donate $10 – which goes directly toward vests to help protect these amazing dogs that put their lives on the line for their law enforcement partners and for the public safety.

The response from Groupon members and people seeing social media posts on Facebook and Twitter has been tremendous. Perhaps it’s the spirit of the season, but in the first fifteen hours of the current campaign, more than $15,000 had been donated - and the total as of this writing is $48,000. That's 47 vests!

I spoke with Vested Interest in K9s' president Sandy Marcal this weekend, seen below with Officer Dwane Foisy and K9 Raimo wearing his protective vest.

Sandy is a go-getter who obviously has no trouble making things happen when she puts her mind to something – and her mind is on protecting police dogs. Big time.  She’s an accountant by trade and a protector of K9 protectors by… Well, I could just see her in some kind of Super Hero outfit wearing a protective dog vest with her hands on her hips and a red cape.

She explained that her organization is comprised entirely of volunteers who recognize and get the word out that most police departments don’t have budgets for protective gear for their K9 members, and actively fundraise to supply police dogs with high quality bullet- and stab-proof vests.

Vested Interest in K9s doesn’t make the vests themselves, or make any profit from them. They fundraise and make the necessary arrangements, notifying officers on the waiting list that their dogs’ vests have been funded, getting the dogs’ measurements to the U.S. manufacturer, sometimes arranging custom embroidery on the vest on behalf of a donor (often in the name of a beloved pet), coordinating ceremonies for the presentations of the vests to the police dogs, etc.

The Vested Interest in K9s Groupon Grassroots campaign runs through this Wednesday, January 9th, 2013, and they're making a big push here in the home stretch to see how many more police dogs they can ‘vest’ in this drive.

Visit Vested Interest in K9's' Facebook Page to see photos of the dogs receiving vests in this fundraiser.

Learn how to apply for your own organization's Groupon Grassroots campaign here: Start Your Campaign.

 

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Action: Sandy Hook, CT - Kitties For Kids

BlogPaws Guest Blogger: Robin A.F. Olson

I live in Sandy Hook, CT, a district of Newtown, CT. I moved here 21 years ago from the Midwest. A few days ago, if I told you where I lived, you probably would have confused it with Sandy Hook, NJ or not had a clue of any sort where we’re located. Today the world knows exactly where we are in great detail. They know we’re a tight-knit small town. They see our quaint New England church steeples and clapboard sided homes and images of our hometown Fire Station draped in Christmas lights. It’s charming. It’s a sweet place to live. It’s safe.

Today they see the schoolyard sign for Sandy Hook Elementary covered in balloons, teddy bears and flowers because someone went on a shooting rampage killing the heart of this town, along with those precious lives.

As I sat crying in front of my TV, watching the news, the seed of an idea sprouted. I’ve had ideas before about things I should do and most of the time I come up with a good reason not to do it, but what happened in Sandy Hook, just 4 miles from my home, demanded I DO SOMETHING to counter the unspeakable horror of what happened.

I don’t have two sticks to rub together, financially speaking, but I do have something most people don’t have, I’m the President & Founder of Kitten Associates, “the NEW Breed of Cat Rescue” and the “thing” I have are KITTENS and cats.

That was the key. Although I don’t have a spacious shelter, I did have my foster room. I had five kittens as well as my own nine cats. The healing power of being with animals is well understood and I, in my small way, could offer that to the children of Sandy Hook. Perhaps it would help them find their smile again? 

My left brain warned me about “what ifs”… What if someone got bitten by a kitten? What if they didn’t want to leave after their 30 minute visit? 

I would ask for donations of plush cat toys. That way the child would have something to hug and a reminder of their visit and not be upset when it was time to leave. By Sunday I was in full swing. I decided to stop worrying and just DO THIS. “Kitties for Kids” was born.

Because I write a cat blog called Covered in Cat Hair and have a nice sized group of readers, I was able to ask them to help me make Kitties for Kids come to life. I added plush cat toys to our Kitten Associates Amazon WishList and in less than an hour, every one I asked for was purchased. 

I added more to the list and just as quickly, they too were purchased. I was breathless with glee that people would be so eager to help. 

I asked friends to spread the word and every single one of them said they LOVED the idea and did I understand how much GOOD I was doing?

Too humbled to really think about it, I just kept going on with my plan. A woman offered to send me a shipment of her therapeutic K.T. Cat toys, which encourage children to express their feelings after they’ve suffered a nightmarish experience. Between the simple joy of watching cats play, the plush cat toys and the K.T. Cats, we could really help those kids. 

By Monday we were sending out the first press release. I’ve done this a few times before with adoption events and such, but it’s always difficult to get the news out. I approached a local newsperson since they were swarming the streets of our town, but got the brush off. I kept at it, sending the information everywhere I could think of. Meanwhile, some of my fellow cat writers jumped into action to help.

Tuesday arrived and so did the media. We were on WNBC-NY’s news. They did a live feed from my foster cat room. After that the rest is a blur. The news spread like wildfire across the country. The phone doesn’t stop ringing. Emails are pouring in. I never could have dreamed a simple act, born from the love of my community, would result in so much positive feedback and the promise of really making a difference. 

The two week anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is approaching. The past two weeks have changed my life in more ways than I could have ever imagined. One person CAN change the world and break its heart in two, but there’s also one person in Sandy Hook, CT who is determined to join hands with others and change it back to being a place of joy, compassion and love.

Editor's Note: 

Kitten Associates wasn't able to host their annual Holiday Fundraiser due to the tragedy. They're flush with plush, having received more than 75 shipments of plush cats as of Christmas Eve, but could still use cash donations and other items from their
Amazon Wish List for their foster kitten program.

For more information or to make a donation to Kitties for Kids

visit kittenassociates.org, email info@kittenassociates.org, or call 203-744-9CAT (9228).

BlogPaws Community member Robin Olson has been blogging at the award winning CoveredinCatHair.com since 2006. She is president & founder of Kitten Associates and a spotter for the National Weather Service. 

 

All images ©2012 Robin A.F. Olson

Tribute to Dougal

Good bye, Sweet Dougal

The world lost a wonderful boy today.  Dougal, a sweet cairn terrier, was helped over the bridge today by his loving mom, Lynn Haigh.

Although quite tiny in real life, Dougal, known to his Twitter pals as @frugaldougal, was a pillar in the online pet community. He was the inspiration behind the legendary monthly Twitter #pawpawty, a gathering of pet lovers on Twitter, which raised more than $50,000 USD for pets in need while Dougal and Lynn managed it.

Among the online community, @frugaldougal was known for his kindness and generosity. I had the absolute pleasure of “meeting” Dougal and his mom during those early #pawpawty days and continuing our friendship through the years.

Lynn and Dougal were also incredibly instrumental in the launch of the BlogPaws “Be the Change” initiative, which formed at the first BlogPaws in April 2010, and continues today, with various activities and programs designed to help the online pet community make a difference for pets in need across the globe.

It will be sad not to have Dougal with us any longer but we know he is happy and healthy, waiting for his mum – and the rest of us who loved him - at the Rainbow Bridge.

Fly free, pal. 

Caroline and Romeo 

Concert to Benefit Hurricane Sandy Pets

Animal rescue advocate Wendy Diamond of animalfair.com, has a new band, The New York Pups, debuting this week at the annual Pet-Rox Holiday concert fundraiser for the Humane Society of New York.

Pet-Rox is a rock band featuring veterinarian Jeffrey Levy and his backup singers, The Roxettes have been playing animal fundraisers in NYC for 15 years, and this year will be joined by Wendy Diamond’s 'New York Pups.'

Proceeds from this light-hearted concert of traditional holiday music and original pet-inspired tunes by Dr. Levy will benefit Hurricane Sandy animals in the Lucky Diamond Critical Care Ward at the HSNY. The event will also promote rescues and pet adoptions.

The event is this Thursday, December 13, 2012, at 9:30 PM at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St., New York, NY 10010. Tickets are $20 and going fast. 

Action: Pin It For Pets - Holiday Pet Charity Promotion

We just learned of a great way to help pets this holiday season with a charity promotion using Pinterest from our friends at The Anipal Times. (That's the AT's Editor in Chief, BlogPaws member Brutus the Dane with Santa.)

The promotion runs from Dec. 1-16, 2012, and this is how it works: You post a photo on Pinterest, with the hashtag #pinitforpetsmart in the photo description. For each photo, PetSmart and Fetch… for Pets! will donate $25 to PetSmart Charities to help homeless pets, up to $25,000.

To participate, post a link to your Pinterest pin onto PetSmart's Pin It For Pets Facebook page.

And here's Carol Bryant's recent post, Do You Have A Pinterest Account?, explaining why maybe you should, where BlogPaws members have been adding links to their own Pinterest accounts so we can all follow one another.  ; )

Shelter Appreciation Week Blog Hop Winner

We just announced our grand prize winner from our Shelter Appreciation week blog hop where everyone participated in a Shelter Drive-by and then blogged about it. BlogPaws pledged to donate $1000 to Rescue Ink and use random.org to award another $1000 donation to one blog hop entrant's shelter, AND Iams pledged to feature one post on their Facebook page since the program supported Iams Home 4 the Holidays. The pledges were made in the hopes of getting at least 100 people to join the blog hop. While that did not happen, we are very appreciative of everyone who did join and both BlogPaws and Iams are honoring their pledged prizes.

Curious who won? Well, we'll give this picture for an answer here, and if you want to know the rest you'll have to hop over to BlogPaws and find out!! Thank you to all who participated. We will be working to make Shelter Appreciation Week bigger and better next year.