I just did this sweet story for PeoplePets.com, and I wanted to share it with you. A few weeks ago, two dogs escaped from an abusive situation in Florida. One of them, skinny and weak, had a 20-pound chain he was dragging. His friend, later named Brains, guided him through traffic in downtown West Palm Beach, nudging him along and waiting for him to make sure he was safe.

Two construction workers saw what was going on, scooped up the friends and brought them to the Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. Kay-Lynette Roca, founder of Safe Harbor Animal Sanctuary heard of their plight, “I asked for the dogs because they were going to put them down,” says Roca. “It’s so crappy for them to survive all of that and [then be euthanized]. They have gone through too much.”

Meanwhile, Halo had already planned on donating 5,000 meals to Safe Harbor, because we heard it’s a top-notch sanctuary. This story has a very happy ending. Click here to find out.

Here’s another fantastic myth-busting Ad Council spot! See details below.

From my blogs posted on July 14, 2010 and July 21, 2010.

Have you seen the new Ad Council TV campaign of hilarious vignettes shedding light on how animals end up at shelters? It’s great!

According to the Humane Society of the United States, about 1 of 5 domestic dogs and cats in this country were adopted from shelters. If we can move that figure to 2 out of every 5, then nearly all of the 4 million shelter dogs and cats euthanized every year would have good homes!

One of the reasons people buy pets from pet stores, Internet sites, and breeders they don’t know is they think those dogs and cats will be healthier or better behaved than those in shelters. It’s a myth! This video series pokes fun at this common misconception.

Here’s another fantastic myth-busting Ad Council spot! See details below.

From my blog posted on July 14, 2010

Have you seen the new Ad Council TV campaign of hilarious vignettes shedding light on how animals end up at shelters? It’s great!

According to the Humane Society of the United States, about 1 of 5 domestic dogs and cats in this country were adopted from shelters. If we can move that figure to 2 out of every 5, then nearly all of the 4 million shelter dogs and cats euthanized every year would have good homes!

One of the reasons people buy pets from pet stores, Internet sites, and breeders they don’t know is they think those dogs and cats will be healthier or better behaved than those in shelters. It’s a myth! This video series pokes fun at this common misconception.

by: Mimi Ausland

I’m really excited to tell you that Freekibble has now donated over 3.5 million meals to shelters, rescues and food banks! Everyday, over 55,000 people are going to www.freekibble.com and www.freekibblekat.com, to play the trivia… and we are generating kibble to feed many thousands of homeless animals everyday.

This week we launched a promotion called Letters for Pets. It’s a campaign that asks people to email a pre-written letter to The President asking for an official Proclamation for April 30th to be National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day! It’s a chance to get a whole day for adopting and celebrating shelter animals. AND, with every email letter sent, Halo Pets is donating a nutritious meal to Freekibble to help feed shelter dogs and cats – up to 50,000 meals! There are so many shelter dogs and cats in need of good, nutritious, food and this is another fun way to help feed them!

We’re partnering with Tails Magazine and Halo, Purely for Pets to get the proclamation and I’m the Spokesperson for the campaign. People can send the letter every day and we’re trying to get 100,000 letters emailed to the White House, but we’re hoping that we can get more than that – we’ve already had 28,000 letters emailed in the first 2 days! It’s great because we are raising awareness and kibble.

We’re very excited about getting a Proclamation and have kicked it off with a full week of Presidential Pets Trivia on both sites, as a way to get people excited about sending the letter to the President… and Adopt a Shelter Pet Day!

To help us get a Proclamation and feed more dogs & cats, click on www.freekibble.com/lettersforpets and e-mail the letter to the President.

If we can all work together to get a National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day, I truly think it could help homeless animals for years to come.

MIMI

In the tiny, remote town of North Battleford, in the Western Canadian province of Saskatchewan, is Battleford’s Humane Society, a small shelter run purely on donations. Krisy Wandler and her mom, Wendi, members of the shelter’s board of directors, recently figured out a unique way to raise more money for their homeless cats and dogs: sell Halo, Purely for Pets, which is not available anywhere nearby. And, all of the profit earned from sales can go to the shelter’s coffers.

So on June 19th, Krisy and Wendi held their first Strutt Your Mutt dog walk, hosted a bar-b-que, and introduced over 500 humans and their dogs to Halo with a variety of samples. Over $1000 worth of Halo flew out off the shelves that day, and the Wandlers will continue to sell Halo at the shelter. “Everyone who had a sample and fed their dog there said their dog ate it,” says Wendi. “It’s wonderful, I’m so excited.”

Over $5000 was raised that day, including the $600 of profit from their Halo sales. And now, all of the homeless cats and dogs at Battlefords will only eat Halo. “I think this an opportunity for every shelter across North America,” Wendi says. “I think if Halo could do this with other shelters, I think this could raise alot of money for the shelters.”

During the festivities, three dogs were adopted. Edward Marchewka (pictured, with Krisy Wandler) adopted Rosco, a 7-month old German Shepherd found starving. Marchewka made the day’s first Halo purchase; all of the dogs who found homes that day left with Halo. “We have no funding except for donations and fundraising,” Wendi says. “The Halo gives us a different opportunity to make money for the shelter.”

The genesis of the idea came from Krisy, 31, who started feeding her cat Halo. With no stores anywhere around carrying it, she bought the food off of a shopping channel. “My cat went absolutely nuts over the Halo food, and when her box of food is delivered, she knows it’s hers,” says Krisy.

And now, many other lucky cats and dogs in the North Battleford area can go absolutely nuts, too. “(Selling the Halo) is a huge help for our animals,” says Krisy. “And we do hope we did Halo proud.”

Indeed they did. Says Brooke Lavins, Halo’s Canadian sales manager who helped the Wandlers get their Halo: “Their passion for animals is refreshing. It’s great to come together to create such a successful event.”

Click here to go to the group’s Facebook page, where you can see photos of the day’s events.