Richmond SPCA Blog

Midas of Central Virginia offering a cool car deal to benefit homeless animals

It’s almost summertime. We’re driving more. Now is a great time to think about car care. And because of the great folks at Midas of Central Virginia, great car care will also mean more lifesaving for homeless animals like Juan and Benji (pictured) who are currently awaiting homes. Midas is offering a creative way for animal lovers all across the area to help us raise money for our homeless pets and get a pretty cool deal for your car in the process.

Midas owner Mark Smith has given us 200 gift packages – each of which contains an oil change certificate and state inspection certificate – to offer our supporters. Each is a $54 value, but you can purchase it for just $25, and all the proceeds come to the Richmond SPCA. The certificates are separate, so you if you are not due for your state inspection yet, get the oil change now and save the inspection for later. Certificates do not expire for a year, so you have plenty of time!

To take advantage of this special offer to benefit our homeless cats and dogs, visit www.richmondspca.org/midas or call Susan Nelson at 804-521-1308. We are extremely grateful to Mark Smith and his team at Midas for their generosity and to you – our dear friends and supporters – for making this effort a success.

Thanks! Meow! And woof!

Liz Bryant is the manager of major gifts at the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

Dog Jog and 5K Run proved to be a bright day for homeless pets in spite of rain clouds

The great success of our Tenth Annual Dog Jog and 5K Run, presented by Car Pool, is a testament to our supporters' dedication to the homeless animals who rely on our help no matter the conditions. Undaunted by the rain, they came to run in the 5K and brought their dogs, whose expressions seemed to say that a wet jog is just as well by them. We are pleased to share that we surpassed our fundraising goal – $131,000 – and raised nearly $143,000 for the animals in our care!

The Richmond community's devotion to saving the lives of orphaned pets was celebrated as part of the 10th anniversary of the Dog Jog and 5K Run. Staff, volunteers, board members and other friends of the Richmond SPCA surprised the crowd with a flash mob, choreographed by Catherine Noack of the Richmond Ballet, that took place in the midst of the Holiday Barn Pet Resorts Vendor Fair. Greatly exceeding the event's fundraising goal provides extra meaning to the song that was chosen, Hall and Oates' "You Make My Dreams Come True." 

The participants who work in the weeks and months leading up to the Dog Jog and 5K Run to solicit contributions from friends, family and co-workers ensure the success of this lifesaving event. Their work has helped to save the lives of thousands of orphaned dogs and cats in need. 

Top individual and team fundraisers

• Top Fundraising Individual: Sarah Sinsabaugh, $3,588 raised
• Second Highest Fundraising Individual: Brenda Birkitt, $2,900 raised
• Third Highest Fundraising Individual: Whitney Kelliher, $1,993 raised 
• Top Fundraising Youth: Stephanie Story, $840 raised
• Top Fundraising Team: Team Birkitt, $8,805 raised 
• Second Highest Fundraising Team: Team Bank of America, $4,182 raised
• Third Highest Fundraising Team: Team Running Buddies, $2,275 raised

Richmond Road Runners Club is the official timekeeper for the 5K Run, and 388 runners crossed the finish line last Saturday.  Full race results can be found at www.rrrc.org/page/rrrc-race-results. Select "SPCA Dog Jog 5K" from the drop down menu. 

Top 5K Finishers

• First overall female:
  Maureen Ackerly 18:49
• First overall male:
  Chris Carrier 15:59
• Second overall female:
  Allison Hazlett 21:14
• Second overall male:
  Sean Killeen 18:27
• Third overall female:
  Ariel McGuire 21:32
• Third overall male:
  Erich Fritz 19:03

Our volunteer Rich Terrell has shared a terrific set of photos from Saturday's event on Flickr. We'll post additional photos on the Richmond SPCA Facebook page, and you can share your own photos on the wall of our Dog Jog and 5K Run page on Facebook. 

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Tabitha Frizzell Hanes is the director of communications at the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

Win prizes and support homeless pets through the Dog Jog and 5K Run Raffle

My favorite part of a raffle is the opportunity to win awesome prizes while helping a great cause. The Dog Jog and 5K Run raffle, sponsored by The HelpDesk Company, is no different. Each ticket purchased brings you that much closer to winning a great prize and each ticket purchased is lifesaving for the homeless pets who depend on us every day.

You could take your friends or family along on a one-week vacation for eight at Cypress Point Resort in Orlando, Fla., courtesy of Land’Or International. Another great prize is one that will ensure your pet is pampered; it’s a one-week stay at Holiday Barn Pet Resorts and a fun-filled gift basket. Our restaurant package gives you the opportunity to eat at a local Richmond restaurant once a month, or for 14 days straight if you prefer. Calling all Rams’ fans! You’ll get to show your Ram pride with one other person if you win 2012-2013 season tickets to VCU men’s basketball games. And for those of you who know your pet is the fairest of them all, our picture perfect raffle package will capture that beauty. The winner will receive a professional pet photo session with two 8x10 in. prints courtesy of Saved Images Photography.

So many great prizes and the more tickets you buy, the better your chances at winning! Visit www.richmondspca.org/dogjograffle to view the complete list and to purchase your raffle tickets! We thank you and so do our four-legged friends. Be sure to visit all of us this Saturday, March 24 for the Dog Jog and 5K Run!

Online raffle ticket sales close at Midnight Sunday, March 25. Winners will be drawn Monday, March 26 at the Richmond SPCA and immediately posted online. 

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Lisa Clarke is the manager of community development for the Richmond SPCA. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that a first and last name must be used as your screen name for comments to be posted. 

This Saturday, adopters look forward to returning with their pets to be part of the Dog Jog and 5K Run

My Cairn Terrier, Skye, has been eagerly anticipating the 10th Annual Dog Jog and 5K Run presented by Car Pool for almost a year! We adopted her from the Richmond SPCA in January 2008, and she had not been back for a visit until last year's event. I admit, I was apprehensive that she'd take a step backwards in her adjustment to life with us - that she'd think we were returning her to the Richmond SPCA.

All of those fears washed away once we arrived at the Robins-Starr Humane Center, and we bolted out of the starting block for the 1-mile Dog Jog. She has never been so full of excitement and joy as she was that day running furiously down the street with the other dogs and their people.

When we finished the race, we cooled down with a tasty Frosty Paws treat (or two). Not only was I no longer apprehensive, but I knew that the Dog Jog was an event that I had to be more involved with to help more dogs and their people experience the same kind of excitement and joy that Skye and I had. The Dog Jog and 5K Run Committee has been tirelessly working to make the 10th anniversary of this very special and lifesaving event better than ever. If you've attended the Dog Jog and 5K Run in the past, I hope you will register and join us again this year. If you haven’t participated before, then I’m here to tell you that you don’t want to miss all the fun that is in store for you and your four-legged best friend.

There are activities for the entire family to enjoy, including the Holiday Barn Pet Resorts Vendor Fair, which features the PETCO Foundation pet fun zone, activities for kids, music, food from the Boka Truck, the Veternary Emergency & Specialty Center pet wellness tent and microchip clinic, giveaways from local businesses and so much more. If you haven't yet registered, you can sign up in person for the 5K Run, the Dog Jog or both events by visiting the Richmond SPCA on Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., on Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on Saturday as early as 8:15 a.m. You can raise donations ahead of time that will benefit our homeless pets, and you can compete against other participants for cool prizes like a vacation getaway and more.

Grab your friends – with two and four legs – and head over to the Richmond SPCA’s Robins-Starr Humane Center on March 24. Your participation is lifesaving to homeless animals in our community, and I thank you for your support!

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Christie Bieber is a Co-Chair of the Tenth Annual Richmond SPCA Dog Jog and 5K Run with Donna Beames. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

Mascot Lottie leads the way at Dog Jog as shining example of animal lives saved by the Richmond SPCA

I love to jog! And on Saturday, March 24, I am going to put my passion to a wonderful cause. I am going to the Richmond SPCA’s Tenth Annual Dog Jog and 5K Run, where you’ll see me strut my stuff in the Dog Jog.

Not only am I going to jog that day; I am going to be the leader — the drum majorette of the big parade!

At the stroke of 11 a.m., I will prance forth proudly on my lovely long legs (long for my size at least), leading all of my fellow lucky dogs who will be there to enjoy some quality time with their human companions while we march down the street.

We march to honor the work of the Richmond SPCA and all the work it does to save companion animals like me. You see, I am the product of a puppy mill. I was the pick of the litter, a big healthy girl, selected to be a breeder dog for profit. I was rescued after having several litters in one of the first and largest puppy mill raids in Virginia. Over 900 dogs were saved from a life of misery that day. I was transported to the Richmond SPCA with 28 other dogs with various medical problems. After we were evaluated (the veterinary team discovered I have a heart murmur and suffer from IBS), the Green Team training volunteers were given the project of socializing us. We had never known what it was like to be touched by a caring human. I personally was so terrified that I mostly wanted to huddle against one of those warm humans and stare at a wall. Then one of those “Greenies” chose me to take home, and my life changed forever.

It took me a long, long time to believe and trust my new life. But now I want to share my good fortune and all the love I feel with all the guys at the Richmond SPCA, present and future.

I walk and jog for life, for hope for all those hundreds still trapped in puppy mills who hope someday to find their way here where they will then find a wonderful, forever home the way I did. Let’s bring them all — lost, surrendered, abused — out into the sun and wind to walk, run and play. I love to jog. I am a lucky dog!

As the captain of Team Lottie, which includes Richmond SPCA alumni participating in this event, I’m helping raise donations for homeless pets. You can visit our team’s page at www.richmondspca.org/teamlottie to make a donation in support of our lifesaving efforts. Do you have an adoptee who would like to join our team? Register online today, and we’ll see you on March 24. 

Lottie Dula is the 2011-2012 Richmond SPCA Mascot. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

"Teamwork" is the name of the game at the 10th annual Dog Jog and 5k Run

My family and I have been participating in the Richmond SPCA Dog Jog for several years now.  It is one of our favorite events. What could be better than hundreds of dogs and their humans proudly taking to the streets of Richmond?  While this event is always a blast, it is even more fun when you join a team!  We formed our team “Nemo’s Brat Pack” in 2008, and it has been going strong ever since.

I know creating a team sounds daunting, but it is not!  Not only is it easy, but you can put your creativity and passion for animal welfare to good use. There are groups that have drawn inspiration from the Richmond SPCA itself, such as Team Lottie, which is made up of Richmond SPCA alumni. Teams formed by employees of a single organization like Team Bank of America are a great way to get your coworkers involved. There are also teams dedicated to the memory of a loved one, like Team Johnny Birkitt.  Teams don’t have to be animal related either. Sports teams and social clubs can also put together a group, like the River City Roller Girls has done for the second time this year.

Once you have created your team, it’s vital that you begin recruiting members and fundraising. While it may seem difficult, social media and email make it easy for you to spread the word about your team and recruit like-minded members. Your team’s website can also be customized to draw people in and get them excited about the event. Check out our team website here.

The Richmond SPCA’s race registration pages make it easy for you to send professional emails for recruitment or for fundraising. As a team captain, you will be alerted when someone joins your team or you receive a donation. It’s always a good idea to send out a thank-you email to anyone who joins or donates. Other great fundraising ideas include hosting bake sales and car washes. But don’t get bogged down with the usual fundraising techniques. Get creative!

It gets even better! Top team fundraisers can win some great prizes including 25 tickets to a Flying Squirrels game!  There is also the coveted Johnny Birkitt Award, which is the highest honor presented annually at the Dog Jog and 5K Run to the person or team that shows the most spirit and dedication to the cause. This award is accompanied by a special certificate, recognition at the awards ceremony and an engraved plaque in the lobby of the Robins-Starr Humane Center.

One question remains: Why join a team if you can just participate as an individual? While we welcome individual participants, this event is a celebration of the dog-lovers in our community and the Richmond SPCA's lifesaving mission. What better way to celebrate than with friends, family, coworkers, teammates and pets? 

On behalf of Nemo’s Brat Pack, I hope we see all of you at this wonderful event!

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Allison Drezek is a member of the Dog Jog and 5K Run committee. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name.

Help homeless animals by shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue

Do you like to shop? Of course you do. And if you’re like me, you look forward to the new styles arriving at the stores in the spring and fall. This year is special because you can shop and help the animals here at the Richmond SPCA all at the same time!

Our good friends at Saks Fifth Avenue have designated the Richmond SPCA to receive a donation of 5% of all purchases made with registered Saks credit cards by our supporters during the month of February. So, if you’re thinking of sprucing up your wardrobe (fabulous spring and summer clothes are hitting the racks as we speak) or freshening up your look with new cosmetics (who doesn’t love a make-over?), please go to Saks at Stony Point Fashion Park and choose us as the beneficiary of your purchases. You only have to make the designation once at the register when you check out and it will apply to all of your purchases for the entire month of February.

Don’t have a Saks card? Apply for one when you go to the store. If you qualify – and I’d be shocked if you didn’t – you also get 10% off your purchases for that one day.

So this month, shop at Saks, have fun, look fabulous and help the orphaned animals awaiting homes here at the Richmond SPCA. If you use Facebook, you can also join the event "Shop at Saks in February to benefit the Richmond SPCA" and invite your friends, share the event on your wall and let others know you'll be shopping to benefit homelesss pets this month.

My Saks card is burning a hole in my wallet, so I’ll be headed to Stony Point very soon. I hope to see you there!

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Liz Bryant is the manager of major gifts at the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or those of our other regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be  used as your screen name. 

T’is the season for…threats? Our CEO receives tidings from Rick Berman

Last week, I got all kinds of lovely correspondence: holiday cards from friends, invitations to a couple of parties, messages from adopters with cute pictures of their adopted pets in holiday regalia and then there was what could only be described as a lump of coal. And, then this week, I got another one. Rick Berman of Berman and Company sent me not one but two letters expressing unhappiness with what I wrote in my blog post last week about Humane Society for Shelter Pets (HSSP). Mr. Berman threatened to sue us if we did not remove this offending post.

So, I removed that post as he requested (well, his actual word was “demand”) and am replacing it with this one.

I have no desire or intention to say anything that is not true but I will not be intimidated from speaking truthfully about something that I find deeply disturbing in its disingenuousness and in the threat it poses to the future well-being of animals. The Humane Society for Shelter Pets is attempting to drive a wedge between organizations that are dedicated to protecting animals by attacking the Humane Society of the United States on grounds that are without basis. Berman acknowledges that a “managed non-profit” of his own firm protects agribusiness corporations (which he calls “farmers” as if they are Mr. Green Jeans). The HSUS is very effective in its work to protect farm animals and to pressure these corporations to agree to progressive changes.

The main focus of HSSP seems to be making the claim that the public is being misled into believing that local humane organizations are all under the umbrella of the HSUS and so the HSUS is getting contributions from this supposedly hoodwinked public that it should be turning over to local humane groups. Never mind that the HSUS has never once claimed to be a parent organization for local humane groups. Never mind that the donors, to whom I give credit for some intelligence, gave their own money quite intentionally to the HSUS. Never mind that the HSUS provides crucially important services that local organizations for the most part do not and cannot provide. The HSSP website does a lot of talking about how many people with local humane groups believe that the public mistakenly thinks that the HSUS is a parent organization. But there is not one shred of empirical data provided on the HSSP site indicating that donors to the HSUS are actually confused in their giving intentions. It is unlikely that they are.

Local humane organizations like ours do wonderful and essential work for animals and I know that HSUS understands and appreciates that. The HSUS gives substantial help and support to local organizations and does great things for companion animals through programs such as the effort to stop puppy mills. But, the HSUS also does vitally important work for other categories of animals that are generally not the focus of the work of local humane organizations. I care deeply for all animals and I believe they suffer great deprivations at the hands of large corporations and human abusers. I want to see farm animals and exotic animals protected but I recognize that what any of us in local humane organizations can do for these animals is pretty limited.

This new entity HSSP is supposed to be an organization intended to look out for the interests of local humane organizations such as ours. I find it telling, but not surprising, that instead of being helped or supported, we are being threatened with a law suit. I have never had the HSUS do that to me.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name. 

Donations of dog and cat food at local PETCO stores stock the Pet Pantry and keep families together

Editor's note: PETCO's National Pet Food Drive began Oct. 30 and continues through Nov. 12. All pet food donated in Richmond-area stores benefits our Pet Pantry and helps pets remain with their families and be well fed even during times of financial hardship. Today's guest blog is by Anita Zacher, general manager of PETCO store 1882 in Midlothian.

About 2 years ago a friend of mine fell on hard financial times. Her husband lost his job, her daughter and grand child had moved back in with her and she has an adult handicapped son. She also had a house full of cats and dogs and other small pets she had adopted/rescued from her neighborhood. Being the only working member of the household, my friend felt there was no way she could feed her human family and her furry family too.

The day after she told me her husband lost his job and she was considering giving up her pets, I was on my way to work and heard an interview on Lite 98. Kat Simons was talking with someone at the Richmond SPCA about the Pet Pantry. When I got to work I called my friend and told her about this program. To this day I don't know if she ever came to see you, but it did inspire me to help everyone I can who is facing that horrible decision. I can't imagine having to give my precious babies up, and it was breaking my heart to think people had to make that horrible choice.

The very day I heard the program I told my team at work about it, and we made our own collection bin. Soon the bin was full! The community was fully behind us and has continued to be very generous. The food collection bins are now a permanent fixture in every PETCO store. I want to thank the Richmond SPCA for helping those in need, PETCO for seeing the need and helping pet food banks all over the country, and I especially want to thank those in the community who keep filling the bins and helping the furry family members stay home where they belong.

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name. 

Third-place finish in the Amazing Raise secures nearly $24,000 for the Cinderella Fund!

The Amazing Raise, an online fundraising campaign sponsored by The Community Foundation, wrapped up yesterday at 6 p.m. For 36 hours, we received overwhelming support from devoted animal lovers, which assured our success as a grand prize winner and raised close to $24,000 for our Cinderella Fund – the special pool of resources that pays to treat our sick, injured and neonatal homeless pets. The Richmond SPCA moved into the top five on the leaderboard during our very successful Latenight @ Lemaire fundraising event on Wednesday, and we moved into third place Thursday thanks to your outpouring of support and generosity. 

Finishing in third place made the Richmond SPCA a grand prize winner which meant we earned an additional $5,000 grant from The Community Foundation. On behalf of our homeless animals, we thank each and every person who donated to us through this special effort. In promoting our participation in the Amazing Raise, we shared with you the stories of animals like Sam, Jackson and Lois, who all benefited from our Cinderella Fund. Your support of us through the Amazing Raise was lifesaving and will guarantee a future to thousands more pets just like them in desperate need. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Before posting a comment, please review our comment guidelines. Please note that our comment policy requires a first and last name to be used as your screen name. 

Related: 
Amazing Raise brings in $631,470, Richmond-Times Dispatch