What is Home 4 The Holidays?

What is Home 4 the Holidays?

Home 4 the Holidays is a three-month adoption drive that saves the lives of orphaned pets and raises awareness about the importance of pet adoption during the holiday season. More families bring a new pet home during the holiday season than at any other time of the year. We want to be sure to educate the public about the importance of choosing pet adoption, as opposed to supporting puppy mills and backyard breeders. Through our collective group of over 3,500 pet adoption agencies, facilities and rescue-groups, this campaign has become the largest pet adoption campaign on record, saving over 8 million pets since its inception in 1999.

How did Home 4 the Holidays start?

Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999 when Helen Woodward Animal Center organized 14 San Diego area shelters, finding homes for 2,563 orphaned pets. Each pet "went home" with a holiday meal of pet food.

How did Home 4 the Holidays grow so large?

Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999 when Helen Woodward Animal Center organized 14 San Diego area shelters, finding homes for 2,563 orphaned pets.

In 2000, Home 4 the Holidays grew to include 130 groups in five states.  That second holiday season, we matched 19,998 orphaned pets with their new families. 

In 2001 spokesperson Diane Keaton lead 450 shelters across the USA, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico, finding homes for more than 100,000 pets.

Jump ahead to 2009 when 3,600 shelters and rescues in 17 countries completed more than 1,363,000 adoptions during the holiday season…saving lives while taking business away from puppy mills and backyard breeders and bringing the H4TH adoption total to 4.6-million!

With last year’s adoptions, we can now credit thousands of shelters and rescues in over 20 countries during the holiday season for a total number of 8 million orphaned pets saved since the program’s 1999 inception

Why is Home 4 the Holidays so successful?

Statistics don’t lie.  More families bring pets into their homes during the holidays than at any other time of year. What better gift can any of us give during the holiday season than to save the life of an orphan?

In the past some shelters have actually gone so far as to discourage families from adopting pets during the holidays – uncomfortable with the idea of a pet as a “gift.” This did not stop families from getting new pets. It just took away the adoption option and forced them to support the pet store and puppy mill industry. Participating Home 4 the Holidays rescue workers know that educating families about the value of orphan pets, and working with these families to match the perfect family with the ideal pet, means a better success for everyone involved.  Everyone wins. 

What benefits will my organization/rescue receive when I join Home 4 the Holidays?

There are many benefits to joining Home 4 the Holidays:

• An intensive guide with free adoptions marketing resources and media plans for the Holiday Season.
• International media coverage for the Home 4 the Holidays program, including articles, social media and press releases.
• A chance to win $500 in Helen Woodward Animal Center’s ‘Most Heartwarming Story’ Contest.
• 100% of any donations that specifies your organization. (We have distributed over $11,000 to participating organizations since 1999) These donations are elicited simply by having your organization listed on the Home 4 the Holidays site.

What is the ‘Most Heartwarming Story’ Contest?

Every week during the Home 4 the Holidays campaign, participating animal organizations are encouraged to enter heartwarming adoption success stories. Submissions can be made weekly by snail mail, fax or email, and at the end of each week Helen Woodward Animal Center selects a winning story to be featured on the Home 4 the Holidays blog! After the campaign ends, the best submissions of the year will be compiled and voted on by you, your fans and the public. The story with the most votes will win a $500 prize for their animal organization and will be announced on Helen Woodward Animal Center’s. Click here for more contest details.

How can people find out more about Home 4 the Holidays?

Call Helen Woodward Animal Center at 858-756-4117 x302. Better yet, sign up right now to be part of the largest and most successful pet adoption drive in history. To sign up, click here.