This time of year, my company is deep into Iams Home 4 the Holidays. This is the 14th year that we’ve partnered with Mike Arms and the Helen Woodward Animal Center to help get orphaned pets adopted and into furever homes–our goal this year is 1.2 million pets!

So right now a big focus of my work life is looking for ways to help get more orphaned pets adopted. And that makes me look for ways I can help in my personal life. And I’m really excited about an idea from Dr. V of Pawcurious: A shelter drive-by.

What’s a shelter drive-by?

It’s so simple! I had to go to my local warehouse store today. Before I left, I took a look at the wish list on the Greater Dayton Humane Society’s web site. Among the listed items was paper towels and paper bowls–perfect items to purchase from a warehouse store! Which is exactly what I did–along with all the rest of the things on my list. And on the way home, I dropped the paper towels and paper bowls off at the shelter. So incredibly easy! What a difference we could make by doing a simple shelter drive-by once or twice a month!

Take action!

So here’s my challenge to you: Next week, Thanksgiving begins the madness that is the holidays. Start a new tradition for the holidays that you can carry into the new year. Establish the habit of looking at the wish list of your favorite shelter or rescue. And once a month, do a shelter drive-by when you do your grocery shopping. If your finances are in good shape, do it twice a month. If we all do it, our shelters can take the money they would have used for supplies and use it for more worthy things–like saving more animals! Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?

~*~

This past weekend there was a famous horse race on TV.

Not to be outdone, my friends at Helen Woodward Animal Center staged their own version of a race–this one involved puppies looking for their furever homes. Once again, I am in open-mouth admiration for Mike Arms and the clever, positive ways he finds to encourage pet adoption!

For some wonderful warm fuzzy moments, check out the video they’ve posted on their blog, Pause For Tails.  It’s adorable!!

Mike Arms and my friends at the Helen Woodward Animal Center have been inspired by the runways of NYC! It’s time for these amazing furbabies to show their haute couture side–these pets are ready for their close ups!

This is another fine example of how Mike and HWAC bring attention to available pets–not with the negativity of being “abandoned,” but with a more positive, marketing-like strategy of showing them as beautiful, fashionable, with the potential to be beloved family members.

Big kudos to Mike and HWAC! And also to volunteer photographer Ricki Douglas!

If you are interested in adopting any of these pets, would like to make a donation, or would like more information, please contact Helen Woodward Animal Center Adoption Department at: 858-756-4117 ext. 313, or stop by at 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

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!

I’ve been featuring some heart-warming Small Paws Rescue stories this month as I nag my readers, my friends and my family into make a contribution to my fund raiser. But I need to take a step away from Small Paws and mention a very wonderful side event of Iams Home 4 the Holidays, the 3-month long adoption event that we (Iams) do with Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) every year. It’s the essay contest.

Every year, Mike Arms and HWAC collect hundreds of stories that detail the adoptions that happen during Iams Home 4 the Holidays. These stories are read and narrowed down to the top four.

I just finished voting for my favorite story on the HWAC site. And you can too–up until Monday March 21 (YIKES! That’s now!)

Go! RUSH! To the HWAC blog where you can read the rest of the details and then read the stories of  Darby, Mama Mia, Fred, and Rose. These stories may at first bring a tear to your eye, but ultimately your heart will indeed be warmed by the happy ending each of these sweet orphans experiences in finding their furever home.

HURRY! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!! GO READ! GO VOTE!!

This Saturday presents another opportunity to see one of my favorite veterinarians, Dr. Jessica V. of PawCurious, in tears.

I adore Dr. V. because of all she’s done for animals. Not only does she help animals in her professional capacity as a veterinarian, she’s also one of the driving forces behind “Be the Change for Animals,” a grass-roots social media effort that supports animal causes.

A couple months ago, at the BlogPaws West conference in Denver (September 2010), I watched as Mike Arms picked an unsuspecting Dr. V. from the audience to help with his keynote speech (P&G Pet Care—my company—provided both keynote speakers for this conference). I knew Mike would call on someone to help—I’ve seen him do this before. Over breakfast that morning I had strongly requested that he NOT pick ME! Mike had told me he always picks the person who seems the most empathetic and in tune with what he’s saying. He chose the right person when he picked soft-hearted Dr. V.

Mike asked Dr. V to read a very powerful and emotional letter written by a shelter worker in charge of his shelter’s once-a-week euthanizations. This letter underscores the horrendous emotional price our shelter workers pay each time an orphaned pet is uselessly destroyed. By the time Mike told Dr. V. that she could stop reading (she never finished the letter), we were all of us in tears.

(SIDEBAR: Dr. V later said to me that among the lessons she learned during Mike’s keynote address is NEVER SIT IN THE FRONT ROW!)

Dr. V at BlogPaws:

It is appropriate that Dr. V. again help Mike out by reading a letter. This time, it will be during the HOPE Telethon* to benefit the Helen Woodward Animal Center. And it’s a different letter.

So here’s an opportunity to see our favorite Dr. Jessica V. in tears. And be sure you’ve got tissues handy, because she won’t be the only one crying! This will be a cathartic moment for everybody watching, so be sure to tune in to the livestream of the event!

• WHO: Dr. V of Pawcurious and the friends of Helen Woodward Animal Center
• WHAT: The HOPE Telethon, to benefit the HWAC.
• WHERE: Livestreaming over the interwebz at www.AnimalCenter.org
• WHEN: Saturday November 13 from 10am to 2pm, Pacific time. (1pm to 5pm EST)

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*What is the HOPE Telethon?

H=Helping people with special challenges

O=Orphaned cats and dogs finding safe haven

P=Parents and children learning about sharing the earth

E=Educating shelters about “the business of saving lives”

According to the website:

“Each year Helen Woodward Animal Center reaches 10,000 animals and 50,000 children and adults with our unique programs, but we need your help to make it happen. The HOPE Telethon will be broadcasted live on KUSI – TV 9/51 on November 13th, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. to raise funds for the Center’s many beneficial programs. Tune in or come visit us at the Center.”

Read More

This month we start something that is very dear to my heart–and the hearts of nearly everybody I work with: Iams Home 4 the Holidays!

• It’s one of the world’s largest pet adoption programs.
• Our goal is 1.5 million orphaned pets adopted over the next 3 months.
• Our partner is Mike Arms, founder of the adoption drive and president of Helen Woodward Animal Center
• There are 3,500 animal organizations worldwide participating!

As Mike Arms says,

“Pet homelessness is an epidemic in our country and many animal organizations look to programs like Iams Home 4 the Holidays to help drive families to our centers to see these amazing animals. We’ve been a part of the adoption drive for 12 years now and have really seen the benefit of what this program can do for animals, our employees and the families who adopt.”

If you’re not in a position to adopt a new furry family member, consider making regular visits to our Facebook page. Our official “Adoption Angels”–Jack in New York and Meaghan in Saskatoon–are two new pet parents who will be posting about their personal journeys of adoption as they integrate their new four-legged family member into the home.

Jack and Jane, Their First Meeting

Also, when you visit the Facebook page and “Like” the page itself, or the various messages, photos, videos, etc. posted by the Adoption Angels, we (Iams) will donate up to 100 meals per “Like” or comment to feed orphaned animals. Our goal is 5 millions bowls of food!

Iams Home 4 the Holidays strives to educate about the importance of adoption so that every pet adopted goes to a permanent, loving home. Families who adopt through the program will receive an Iams adoption kit loaded with important information about nutrition, training and proper care to ensure that the relationship with the new animal starts off on the right paw.

Do you work with a shelter or rescue group? It’s not too late to  join our adoption drive!

Iams Home 4 the Holidays has begun! Three short months to get 1.5 million orphan pets adopted!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We’re (Iams) doing something fun on the Iams Fan Page on Facebook this weekend to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

My Own Angel Valentine.

We are donating (up to 5,000 meals!) one meal to the Helen Woodward Animal Center for every pet photo posted to the Iams wall this weekend up until midnight on Valentine’s Day.

So if you haven’t already done it, go post a photo of your furry Valentine to the Iams wall on Facebook. We want to give away 5,000 meals, our Valentine, to feed pets in need.

The folks at the Helen Woodward Animal Center are holding a “best adoption story” essay contest for the participating Iams Home 4 the Holidays organizations. The finalists have been narrowed down to 5. Between now and the end of February, we are all invited to vote for our favorite!

My buddy (and hero!) Mike Arms says:

Mike Arms, President of the Helen Woodward Animal Center and founder of Home 4 the Holidays

“These stories all have happy endings but for some of them it was a long, hard battle. Some make you cry, others make you laugh, they all touch your heart. 

We need help from animal lovers worldwide to select the most heart-warming and most successful pet adoption story from this past holiday season. There are so many great stories about pets that were saved during the holiday season. Now they’re starting the new year with a new, “leash” on life.

We’ve narrowed this down to the top five. Between now and February 28 we’re asking people to vote on their favorite story. The animal shelter or rescue group that submitted the winning entry will receive a $500 donation from Helen Woodward Animal Center.

One vote per person. This isn’t about which organization can convince the most people to vote. It’s about which story touches your heart.”

If you love animals, then these stories will make you cry–but in a good way. I just cast my vote–you should too!!