MAKE A DIFFERENCE

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Permalink Reply by goldenchild on September 30, 2008 at 9:21pm

MARYMOOR DOG PARK WORK PARTY COMING SOON... DETAILS BELOW FROM S.O.D.A's website (http://www.soda.org/):

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Saturday, October 11, 2008 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
2008 Hog Fuel Work Party #1. We will be spreading 8 (or more!) truckloads of "hog fuel" to resurface the trails for winter.
Tools needed are:
- Wheelbarrow, pitchfork, and garden-rake.
WE NEED LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS!
Check-in at the S.O.D.A. Canopy located between Old Dog Bridge and the Main Beach.
Lunch will be served to all volunteers.

S.O.D.A. is a 100% volunteer organization. Without volunteer support the park cannot exist.
S.O.D.A is a 100% volunteer organization - we depend on YOU to get the work done! Join us for this project! For more info, call the S.O.D.A. Hotline at (425) 881-0148 or email us at dogsoffleash@soda.org.
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Permalink Reply by goldenchild on October 5, 2008 at 12:57am

This looks to be a great fundraiser event being put on by the Human Society.... Donate, contribute, or sponsor a walker.... http://www.walk4theanimals.com

Saturday, March 7, 2009
MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the 19th Annual Walk for the Animals taking place in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Walk is a fun and exciting event, for both people and their four-legged friends. Thanks to all our walkers and sponsors we raised a net of $475,000. We need your help to exceed that in 2009!... http://www.walk4theanimals.com/

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Permalink Reply by goldenchild on December 29, 2008 at 12:11pm

Greetings ~

My apologies for this long post, but hopefully you'll find worthwhile...

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoyed their insanely white Christmas (I'm still digging out of my driveway!!)!

I’m writing to you as one pet enthusiast to another to inform you of the dire food and funding shortages occurring at many of our local no-kill animal shelters. One shelter in particular that I’ve been giving to, “Happy Paws” (http://saveourdogs.com) located in Arlington, has recently witnessed their food supply dwindle dramatically. This is the time local no-kill shelters could really use our help with pet food and/or money donations, both of which are tax deductible.

If you are interested in donating money to help a local no-kill shelter, most have websites that allow you to donate online (for a list of local shelters, see: http://www.saveourstrays.com/no-kill.htm). If you would like to donate food or other “goods”, but don’t have the time and/or means to deliver, just let me know and I can pick up, deliver, and provide you with a tax receipt for your donation (within the Seattle Metro area). I have been donating food solely to the Happy Paws, but if you have another shelter in mind that could use some assistance, we could divide and distribute food to help multiple shelters based on needs.

Anything you can give I’m sure would be greatly appreciated by the shelters. I’ve just been grabbing a bag of dog food each time I go to Costco (about $20) and deliver when I have four or five bags. As you will see from below input from the Happy Paws shelter, they do have some preferences on types of dog food and “quality” vs. “quantity” among other needs/requests…

From Happy Paws No-Kill Animal Shelter:
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Are there any preferred brands of dog food?
Most of the low-income dogs, if not all, have been living on poor food. The higher the quality the better, meaning meat as the first ingredient, if even this means a smaller bag of food.

Do you need any certain types of food (chicken, lamb, turkey, fish, etc)?
The dogs with allergies need duck, fish, and venison (not salmon they don't seem to like that). Newman's Own seems fine and isn't too expensive (purchased from a pet store though).

Do you need soft / canned food?
Yes, we use soft/canned food all the time to give medicines with. Also cat and kitten canned food.

How much food do you normally need on a monthly basis?
Over the past year we have given out about 1,500-2,000 lbs per month. We are always scrambling for more food. We get a lot of that amount from broken bags or outdated bags from supermarkets and pet stores, though many are discontinuing this. In addition, Purina One bags particularly have been made much stronger and aren’t breaking like they used to .

Do you need cat food as well?
Yes. We have a feral (wild) colony and 5 cats that were ferals but are now suitable for adoption.

Are there any other supplies or items you are in need of?
Advantage or Frontline for low income people's dogs. $10/month is a lot of money for people who don't have enough for themselves.

Do you need dog treats, bones, toys, etc?
Sometimes. Right now we had a pile donated which will see us through 3 months. They were actually given to us by the feral cat rescue in Issaquah as people donate dog stuff to them that they can't use.

Is there anything else I should be aware of?
We do donation tables outside of supermarkets/pet stores to bring in food and also donations as we need those for medical care and spay/neuters for the low income. If anyone in your family would be interested in working with the low income for spay/neuters (e.g. getting them done), that would be a great help as well. Many of these people just don't get it done and so we have to take their hands and lead them to the vet, or, more realistically, do it ourselves. I probably right now have 30 dogs/cats that need to be hand-lead to the vet. Anyone who can foster a dog/cat would be great too.

Sincerely,
Linda

Linda Hunter, Executive Director
Humane Society @ HappyPaws Farm, Arlington, WA.
Directions at www.saveourdogs.com or call
Phone: (360) 652-5844 Fax: (360) 652-4252
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Following are some additional ideas on how to help animals in need and a PETA article providing some insight into the world of animal shelters.

1. Here’s a quick and simple way to help – use http://dogpile.com to conduct your web searches (rather than Google, etc) and dogpile.com will donate a portion of their revenue (each time you conduct a search revenue is generated) to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA®). Dogpile.com searches leading search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc,) and returns a comprehensive results list – it’s a very effective way to conduct web searches.
Details: http://www.dogpilesearchandrescue.com/search/?s_cid=

2. For those Facebook and MySpace users, here’s a widget you can add to your page(s) which shows pets available for adoption in your local area and allows you to send adoptable pet photos and descriptions to your friends. http://dogpilewidgetdownload.com/petfinder/

3. A great way to help a pet in need of adoption from a shelter - http://petfinder.org/

4. No-Kill Shelter Finder
http://www.saveourstrays.com/no-kill.htm

5. PETA.org article: Animal Shelters: Hope for the Homeless
http://www.peta.org/mc/factsheet_display.asp?ID=40
Lastly, please feel free to pass this e-mail on to others who may be interested in helping...

Thank you everyone for your time and consideration.

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