5:44pm
Shelter Makeover
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(This is a copy of a letter I sent to my many, many friends to support the candidacy of the Humane Society of the Mid-Ohio Valley Shelter. Scores of people voted, bringing an overcrowded shelter in a small town a chance and a 13th place finish!)
Hello friends,
I've just returned from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio for a Sigma Kappa Mother-Daughter Day. As part of the weekend, we volunteered to walk and play with the dogs at the local chapter of the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley. While there, I discovered just how awful the facility is, but I also learned of a way to help.
While the staff is incredible, the facility is decrepit and dogs are crammed into way too small cages. It smells horribly even though staff is constantly cleaning (it's just to difficult to remove the many, many years of waste accumulation.) They're always at capacity and have to turn away animals leaving them to who know what kind of fate. It's just a terrible, terrible place. And incredibly sad and depressing.
Because Marietta is in the heart of Appalachia and many people hunt, most of the dogs have some kind of hound in them---we didn't see any pitbulls or rottweillers---just lovable, sweet dogs who hadn't been trained in their "manners," like walking on a leash. And, so many of them were just rambunctious, good-natured, young adolescents. Being in Appalachia also means poverty. While Marietta College may be an oasis, the reality is that this area struggles just to feed its people, leaving little funding for unwanted animals.
But we can do something! An organization called Zootoo has started a contest to give ONE MILLION DOLLARS away to a deserving shelter for a make-over! And you can help the Humane Society of the Ohio Valley win! The winning shelter will be chosen from the top ten, based upon need and points amassed from Zootoo's Internet site. You must enter by midnight tonight. The contest ends at 12:01 am.
Here's what you can do to earn an immediate 100 points for the Shelter:
Go to zootoo.com
Click on Shelter Makeover
Click on "Join Us"
Fill in your required information
Enter the zip code: 45750 under Shelter Designation
(If you wish, enter a choice for Rescue Group)
Agree to the terms and sign up
You're almost finished. You MUST be validated, so go immediately to your email account and click the sent link. That's it! You can add additional points by offering to volunteer or by referring a friend (each an additional 100 points!)
I think that by working together, we just might make this happen. In just the two days that the Sigma Kappas have started working on this, Marietta has jumped three places! And, even though we're just a very small shelter in a small, impoverished town---We're now number 16!!! Please if you can, copy and paste this email to a friend (or friends!) (You know, like that old Breck Shampoo commercial---"and I told two friends and they told two friends...") It might work!
Thank you so much for reading this email. I really appreciate your time!
Fondly,
Patty
