The press release went out this morning!

In only 95 days, this year’s Iams Home 4 the Holidays campaign put 1,267,541 orphaned pets into furever homes! Yes!

ONE MILLION TWO HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY ONE!!

I’m dancing on my laptop!! (opps! probably ought to dance on the floor instead!)

More statistics (for those who like ‘em):

• 651,224 dogs adopted
• 595,000 cats adopted
• 21,317 other pets–like rabbits, reptiles, horses, birds adopted
• Since 1999, a total of 7,034,989 animals have been adopted through the program
• 5 million bowls of food donated through Bags 4 Bowls

I want to send out a very BIG very HUGE

THANK YOU!!

to all the bloggers, tweeters, Facebookers, and other online people who helped make this happen–you know who you are! There is a special place in Heaven reserved for folk who help furbabies find furever homes and you have all earned your seat there!

Tyler says: "Thank you for helping orphaned pets find furever homes!"

This falls under the “better late than never” category! I meant to post it before Christmas, but the holidays were so involved this year that I never had a chance to do it.

On December 23, we (once again) got to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. What a great opportunity to bring recognition to the possibilities of adopting an orphaned dog or cat!

Since October 1, 2011 Iams Home 4 the Holidays has helped 413,903 pets find new loving homes! But what’s really exciting, is that we’ve reached a very important milestone: Since Iams Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999, we have helped find homes for 6,000,000 homeless animals!!!

Get involved!

It's a Kitten Shower!

We had a kitten shower at the office on Friday. But wait! There’s more…

Little Boy Kitty

Every September, we (the employees of Iams) take a day away from the office and do rehab work on a shelter in our area–as part of our celebration of Iams Home 4 the Holidays. This year, we worked on the Humane Society of Greater Dayton.

New Mom Robin and Lazer Tag for Kitties!

A couple of weeks before our scheduled day of work, somebody dumped a trio of kittens at the shelter. Yes, I said dumped–and the kittens were only a couple of days old.

Little Girl Kitty

As it happened, some of our folks were there doing prep work for the rehab. My buddy Robin was outlining some of the murals that would be painted later by the larger group. Robin was outraged that kittens so young would be separated from their mom.

Little Gray Boy During the Shelter Rehab

Over the following weeks, Robin stopped by ever few days to visit and care for the three little kittens. She was charmed and moved by their resilience and their will to survive.

Last week, at six weeks old, the shelter director decided they were old enough for Robin to foster. So Robin took them home. And started her journey down the short path of failing “Foster 101.”

Newly named Jezabelle, Jaxon, and Jasper.

So on Friday we had a kitten shower. Someone sent her a meeting notice for a bogus meeting and we yelled “Surprise!” when she joined us. And there were balloons and presents. And much laughter. And lots of phone photos of really cute little fuzz balls.

Robin told us that the family was having a hard time naming the kittens–and that her husband was OK with adopting two, but not sure about adopting three. I figured, if we could name all three then hubby would have a harder time saying no. So we asked the Iams community on Facebook. Robin took their suggestions, and the kittens are now Jezabelle, Jaxon, and Jasper.

C’mon hubby! Three kitties are just as easy to take care of as two kitties. And an extra excuse for warm snuggles!

~

OAHS

Here’s the press release!

Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award Given to Austin Humane Society

On Monday, October 10, the Iams Company and Mike Arms, president of Helen Woodward Animal Center and founder of the Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption program, will present the first annual Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award in recognition of Austin Humane Society’s extraordinary relief effort in the Austin/Bastrop wildfires in September, 2011.

Austin Humane Society took the lead in coordinating the disaster relief efforts for the animals displaced in the Austin/Bastrop counties as a result of the recent Texas wildfires. This widespread disaster destroyed over 1,400 homes in the Central Texas area. The Austin Humane Society helped create a temporary triage unit in the Austin and Bastrop areas providing food, and refuge, and medical care for the displaced animals. We are grateful for their dedicated service to enhancing the quality of life for animals and their families.

Iams gives out the Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award to a person or animal organization that exemplifies the commitment and passion for the lives of orphaned animals similar to what Mike Arms has been doing for so many years.

For the past 12 years, Iams has joined forces with Mike Arms and the Helen Woodward Animal Center for the annual adoption campaign to help raise awareness of orphaned animals in shelters and rescues around the world. The program has created new ways to increase public awareness about orphaned animals, increase the number of pet adoptions, lower euthanasia rates, and set records for the number of people that are receiving humane education.

I am so please that the Austin Humane Society has been recognized in this way!

We established the Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award last year, when we presented Mike with the “Iams Lifetime Hero Achievement Award” in recognition of his commitment and extraordinary contributions to enhancing the lives of homeless animals for more than 30 years. In his honor, we created the annual “Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award.”

Mike Arms is a Lifetime Hero!

For the past few years, we’ve used the same PSAs with a new voice-over at the end to advertise Iams Home 4 the Holidays–and frankly, these PSAs are classics! Unlike other TV ads that make you cry because they’re so sad, these PSAs make you cry because they’re so happy! It has become a tradition for me to celebrate these ads. Please grab a tissue and watch how the real reward in adopting a pet, is when the pet adopts you!

Ah! and now I’m misty-eyed! I love happy endings!

\~