Find
out how you can participate in the 15th
Annual Spay Day USA...
by Stephen M
(Last updated: 29 October 2008, 03:30am)
Spay Day USA takes place each year on the last
Tuesday of February and was originally created by
the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) in 1995.
The event subsequently became a program of The
Humane Society of the United States when the
DDAL combined operations with them in 2006.
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Spay Day USA
is America's first and only national day of action to
promote the spaying or neutering of pets. During Spay
Day USA, veterinarians and their staff, animal welfare
professionals, business owners and citizens join forces
nationwide to provide spay/neuter services and to
promote spay/neuter as an essential component of good
pet health care, as well as an effective and humane
means of decreasing the euthanasia of homeless animals
in shelters.
Spay Day
USA has run now for 14 years and as a direct result of
this program close to 1.5 million animals have now been
spayed or neutered.
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Cover Artwork for the 2009 calendar |
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When
you consider that each year an unspayed cat can give
birth to 18 kittens and an unspayed dog can give
birth to 20 puppies it's clear from these impressive
figures that Spay Day USA participants have,
potentially, prevented millions of surplus births
and saved the shelters which would have likely had
to home many of the abandoned animals millions
of American taxpayers' dollars.
The
Humane Society is currently looking for people who
would like to participate in the 15th annual Spay
Day USA which takes place on Tuesday, February 24,
2009. The roles open to people who would like to get
involved range from event organisers, volunteers,
online fundraisers, spay/neuter sponsors or
corporate sponsors.
Please do visit the HSUS's website (linked below)
where you will find lots of information which will
help you decide how best you can assist this truly
admirable and worthwhile program.
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DDAF provides grant to search dog foundation to
provide lifetime care...
by
the DDAF
(Last updated: 10 July 2008, 06:54pm)

The
Doris Day Animal Foundation
(DDAF) has provided a grant to the Search Dog
Foundation (SDF), the
organisation that rescues dogs and then trains the
canines to be partnered
with fire-fighters to find people buried during
disasters.
The DDAF grant has been designated to provide
Lifetime Care to dogs who
need to be released from the comprehensive search
dog training program,
assuring that these previously-rescued dogs will
never need to be rescued
again. SDF will be able to offset the costs of
identifying and screening
future Lifetime Care homes, boarding and obedience
training, housing, vet
care and other costs to assure that the former
search dog trainees are
cared for during their entire lives.
"We knew we wanted to help the Search Dog
Foundation with its terrific
work," said Doris Day from her home in Carmel,
California. "The difficult
choice was deciding which of the great programs to
fund with our grant.
"We learned that very few of the dogs are
actually able to complete the
rigorous training program, so SDF provides Lifetime
Care for all the dogs,
no matter how far they went. There are currently 94
dogs in the program,
and we're delighted that we are going to help SDF
provide for their
well-being now and in the future when they find
their own permanent loving
homes."
SDF recruits rescued dogs, gives them
professional training and partners
them with firefighters and other first responders to
find people trapped
in the wreckage following disasters. Established in
1996, the non-profit
is dedicated to strengthening America's emergency
preparedness network by
providing the most highly trained canine search dogs
in the nation for
this purpose. They go to great lengths to find
canines with the
exceptional characteristics required in a search
dog, including intensive
drive, athleticism, energy and focus. SDF works with
shelters, breed
rescue groups and service dog agencies to recruit
these outstanding
canines.
SDF Founder Wilma Melville: "We are very grateful
to the Doris Day Animal
Foundation for its generosity, and for its deep
understanding of the work
we do. This grant goes far toward fulfilling a
cornerstone of our program
- making sure that once rescued, these dogs will
never need to be rescued
again. Doris Day is a partner in every way to our
firefighter-handlers,
to the Search Dog Foundation, and to the communities
we serve."
"Let me get in a plug," Day adds. "Search Dog
Rescue needs to find good
homes for former students such as 'Smokey,'
'Calvin,' 'Bill,' 'Reggie,'
'Bella,' 'Lexi,' 'Jackie,' 'Brandi' and 'Nova.' They
are also looking for
special dogs to train to become search dogs. Call
them at (888)
459-4376."
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Doris establishes an annual scholarship in memory of
her son, Terry Melcher...
by Stephen M
(Last updated: 31 May 2007, 10:10am)
In May 2007, the first veterinary student was
honoured with a new scholarship founded by Doris.
The annually presented veterinary scholarship in shelter
medicine was set-up this year in memory of Doris’s son
(Terry Melcher) who passed away in 2004. The first “Doris Day & Terry Melcher Scholarship" was
created with funds donated by Doris's non-profit organisation
the Doris Day Animal Foundation and from monies left to a
Terry Melcher memorial fund. The star is said to have wanted
to make this donation to the University of California, Davis as
a way of acknowledging the wonderful care that their professionals
had provided for her animals.
"The veterinarians and staff are miracle workers, and I'm
delighted that our gift will help train future veterinarians..."
- Doris Day.
News story thanks to Norman Bamford (UK)
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DDAL
to merge with America's largest animal protection
organisation...
by Stephen M
(Last updated: 15 September 2006, 8:15pm)
Doris's Animal League
(DDAL) has been working on animal welfare legislation at
federal, state and local level since it was founded in
1987 and now has 180,000 members and supporters....
On the 1
September 2006, it announced that it will be joining forces
with The
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). For
those who don't know the HSUS is America's largest
animal protection organisation with more than 9.5
million members and constituents. In a nutshell, it is
the largest mainstream voice for animals protecting them
through education, investigation, litigation,
legislation, advocacy and field work. The merger of the
two Washington based [non-profit] organisations will further
enhance the good work both have striven to do.
"There is
no other group like The Humane Society of the United
States...We are very enthusiastic about being part of
this organisation and combining our resources to help
the animals." - Doris Day
Doris and
Wayne Pacelle (HSUS president and CEO) met recently at
her home in Carmel to discuss the above plans. Both
recognised that they can achieve more by combining their
operations, in order to eliminate duplicative programs
and to create a more powerful force for animal
protection.
"I have been
an admirer of Doris Day and her organization for many years, and
it is a privilege now to be able to work so closely with her and
the organisation." -Wayne Pacelle
Click
HERE to make a donation that will help the Doris Day
Animal League continue with its projects.
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Doris Day's
Animal Foundation airlifts dogs and cats from
the US region devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
by Stephen M
(Last updated: 31 October 2005, 06:10pm)
Another consequence to the devastation caused by
Katrina is that evacuees of hurricane-torn
Louisiana were not allowed to take their beloved
pets when they fled their homes.
Many
were lost, abandoned and nearly starved.
However, on the evening of 3 October 2005, 130 four-legged
survivors were rescued thanks to the kindness of
Doris's Washington based foundation that funded
$20,000 towards a chartered airlift.
This
project helped deliver the animals from rural New
Iberia, La., to the
Santa Cruz SPCA which are now working to find
loving homes for them all in the California area.
"There are no words to express the overwhelming joy
and gratitude I feel in my heart right now. In
cooperation with the Santa Cruz SPCA, the Doris Day
Animal Foundation has been given the opportunity to
airlift 130 dogs and cats out of several overcrowded
Louisiana shelters. Our rescue mission is called
OPERATION JUST PAWS. These precious angels are the
silent victims of Hurricane Katrina and I’m so
grateful that we can contribute to this humanitarian
effort." - Doris Day (Oct '05)
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