282,803 orphaned pets adopted! Iams Home 4 the Holidays drive ends Monday!

 

Rancho Santa Fe, CA - Nearly 283,000 orphaned pets have been adopted worldwide during the first 7 weeks of the 2005, San Diego-based, "Iams Home 4 the Holidays" pet adoption drive. That includes the 1-millionth Home 4 the Holidays adoption since the program began in 1999.  

"The 1,000,000th adoption took place at the Kirkham Kattery Rescue in Milton, Florida," says Helen Woodward Animal Center spokesman John Van Zante. "We congratulate them and all of the other participating shelters and rescue groups across the USA, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Guam, Iran, Nigeria, Puerto Rico, and Ukraine."

Iams Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999 when Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California organized 14 San Diego area animal shelters to work together, finding homes for 2,563 pets during the 8-week program. This year Iams Home 4 the Holidays is expected to find homes for 350,000 orphaned animals.

Families that adopted dogs and cats from participating animal shelters or rescue groups received free Iams Starter Kits including the pet's "holiday meal" as well as information on building lifelong relationships with the new pets.

"More families bring new pets into their homes during the holidays than any other time of year," says Van Zante. "Working in partnership with the news media, we remind the public to visit local animal shelters rather than supporting the puppy mill industry. We've made Iams Home 4 the Holidays the most successful pet adoption drive in history."

Iams Home 4 the Holidays continues through Monday, January 2. To locate participating animal shelters worldwide log on to www.home4theholidays.com, visit Helen Woodward Animal Center at 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe, or call 858-756-4117.

Adoptions during the first 7 weeks of IH4TH 2005:         Dogs    121,381             43%

Cats     139,586             49%

Other      21,836             8%

 

2005 Worldwide Total:                    282,803

Total since H4TH began:          1,160,320