The Shelter Shack

Want to win some cash for yourself and your favorite charity? Here’s your chance! All you have to do to enter the contest is follow any of the Twitter accounts in the Rafflecopter below. The more accounts you follow, the more entries you get into the contest.

The cash prize is as follows: $112 will go to the winner and $213 will go to the winner’s animal charity of choice (must be a 501(c)(3) organization). You and the charity will also need to have a PayPal account in order to accept the prize. If you do not have one, you can easily set one up should you win the contest. The winner will be selected at random from all entries over the course of the contest.

Don’t have a Twitter account? That’s okay, because there are a few other ways you can enter to win. Hop on over to our “Social Media for Social Good – Follow Us on Facebook” post to enter by “Liking” the Facebook pages listed in the Rafflecopter there. You’re next chance to enter the contest will be December 22nd. Look for a new post then which will focus on Google+. If you don’t have an account for any of these social media platforms, you can still enter by posting a comment to any or all of the 3 blog posts for the contest. Not sure what to say in the comment section? Go ahead and tell us what charity you want to win the cash for.

This “Social Media for Social Good” contest is being put on by Two Little Cavailers and Pamper Yourself in Pink. Since they’re running the contest, the participating bloggers are also eligible to win. If the Shelter Shack wins, our charity of choice is Canine Lifeline. If you would like to follow them, it won’t get you an entry into the contest but they’ll definitely appreciate the support! They can be found on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/caninelifeline) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/caninelifeline).

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The Shelter Shack is participating in a holiday blogging event for pets in need that is being put on by Two Little Cavaliers. This is a two week event which has a cash prize attached to it. The prize will be divied up between the winner and the winner’s 501(c)(3) animal charity of choice. The cash pot is at $112 to the winner and $213 to the winner’s charity of choice. This event is also a way for bloggers to build their fan base on various social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

The charity I am hoping to win the money for is Canine Lifeline. I am a co-founder of the organization and also a Board member. Canine Lifeline has been rescuing dogs from death row for a little over 2 years now. So far in 2011 we have rescued over 350 dogs from euthanasia. We regularly take on dogs with medical needs such as heartworm, demodectic mange, cherry eye, broken bones, etc. We affectionately refer to these dogs as our “Mended Mutts”.

Pictured at left is one of our Mended Mutts, Toby, who came to us with a six pound tumor on his leg. We were able to get him the surgery needed to remove it and I’m happy to say it was not cancer. I’m also happy to say he has found his forever home. Canine Lifeline is an all volunteer organization that relies soley on donations for the care of our dogs, so winning this contest would be a big help.

If you would like to enter this contest, all you have to do is “Like” various Facebook pages listed in the Rafflecopter below. You’ll receive an entry for each Facebook page you like. You’ll also receive an entry if you add a comment below to this post. The winner will be chosen at random at the end of the two weeks. Stay tuned for your next chance to enter to win on December 18th! Next up we will be following Twitter accounts!

I, along with several other bloggers, are participating in “A Holiday Blogging Event for Pets in Need”. The purpose of this event is to raise money for our favorite animal charity and in the process give bloggers a chance to promote their blogs. The event is being put on by Two Little Cavaliers.

Here’s the jist: bloggers sign up to promote their Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages by contributing $10. The $10 will be split by sending $6 to the winner’s 501(c)(3) charity of choice and $4 to the winner. The winner will be chosen at random. The only thing a participating blogger needs to do is to add three separate posts during the 2 week contest. The html code for the posts will be provided by Two Little Cavaliers.

If you are a blogger reading this and would like to participate, hop on over to the Two Little Cavaliers website to sign up. When you fill out the form, tell them that The Shelter Shack sent you. Be sure to sign up before December 13th!

You can contribute to the ChipIn even if you’re not participating in the event. 100% of your donation will go to the charity – nothing to the winner. You can make a donation through the ChipIn widget below. Should The Shelter Shack win, our charity of choice is Canine Lifeline. Check back beginning December 14th for more details.

Times are tough and money is tight right now. We are all feeling the pinch. Things you would normally buy without hesitation in the past are now things you think twice about. Chances are the thought of sending anymore of your hard earned cash to a charity right now are just not in the cards.

What if you could send money to your favorite charity without spending a dime of your own money? What if you could shop for things you already need, and a percentage of your purchase will be donated to your selected charity? Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? Well, it is true, and a company by the name of GoodSearch is paving the way. Here are a few services that GoodSearch provides:

GoodSearch: How many of you use Google or Bing to conduct online searches? Well it’s time to switch search providers to GoodSearch. Just go to the GoodSearch*website, select the charity you want to raise money for, and then use GoodSearch for your searches. The search results are powered by Yahoo! so you will receive quality search returns, and approximately one penny per search is donated to your selected charity.

GoodShop: Do you do any of your shopping online? Use GoodShop* the next time you need to buy something, and a portion of your purchase will be donated to your selected charity. The amount that is donated is different from retailer to retailer, but there’s a wealth of retailers to choose from. Here is just a sampling of some of the participating retailers: Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Expedia, Lowe’s, Petco, Staples and many more!

GoodToolbar: This is an application that you can download and install on your computer. It will add a Toolbar to your web browser so that you don’t need to go to the GoodSearch website every time you want to conduct a search. It will also automatically tell you if the website you are visiting is a GoodShop participant, the percentage they will donate, and a listing of any available coupons. You are free to change to a different charity at any time.

GoodDine: The GoodDining program allows you to earn donations for your charity at thousands of participating restaurants, bars and clubs. You must register for this service and then after that a percentage of your restaurant bill will be donated to the charity of your choice. The registration process will require you to create a login account and register the credit card you will be using for dining purchases. This is how they track your spending so they know how much money to donate. Please visit GoodSearch for more information about their services and a listing of frequently asked questions.

GoodSearch isn’t the only organization that is giving back to charity based on your online usage. There is another organization similar to GoodShop, but it focuses specifically on animal shelters and rescue organizations. That organization is called Adopt A Shelter*. There are other organizations out there that offer similar services, but most of them donate to the charities that they personally support, and don’t allow you to choose the charity you want the donation to go.

*The links above to GoodSearch, Goodshop and Adopt A Shelter are set up for donations to be made to Canine Lifeline, which is my charity of choice. I would be grateful, as would Canine Lifeline, if you sent a few searches/purchases in their direction, but you can easily change it out to your charity of choice. Thanks!

It’s the time of year that snow starts flying, the temperature plummets and holiday chaos ensues. Check out this video for some helpful tips on what to watch for and how to protect your pets from the elements and holiday dangers.

Image courtesy of http://www.heartwormsociety.org

Heartworm Disease is transmitted to dogs and cats by mosquitoes. It’s a very treatable medical condition. That is…as long as the drug used to treat it is available in the marketplace. It seems Immiticide, the only FDA approved drug used to treat the disease, is in short supply.

Merial, the only manufacturer of Immiticide in the US, is temporarily not making it because of technical difficulties in manufacturing. Merial informed vets nationwide in early August about the shortage. No word as to when it will be back in production.

The FDA recently announced that they will allow Merial to import limited quantities of Immiticide from their European supplier, which is the approved source of the product for international markets. The approval is temporary while Merial works out technical issues in the plant.

The European supplier has a limited amount of Immiticide available for importation – a quantity that will only satisfy a small percentage of U.S. demand. As a result, veterinarians are being asked to conserve this limited supply by using it only for dogs in most urgent need of treatment.

In the meantime, the American Heartworm Society has posted an alternate treatment method for heartworm positive dogs. This method is not a fast one as it could take up to 16 months to kill off the adult heartworms in this fashion. One can only hope that Immiticide will be back in the marketplace long before that.

It also requires owners to comply with a rigorous schedule of administering different drugs: heartworm preventative once a month, along with Doxycycline daily for 1 month and then 2 months off and then start that cycle all over again. There are even other drugs the dog will need if the dog also has immature heartworms in their system called microfilaria.

Oh and one more thing, your dog has to be kept inactive during the entire treatment process. That means no playing or running around. You take the dog outside on a leash for potty breaks, and while inside the dog should remain in a relaxed and calm state. If your dog likes to dart through the house, then you should be prepared to crate him even when you’re home.

Countless dogs show up in the shelter system with this disease. Dogs in shelters don’t have the luxury of being treated for 16 months. If a shelter is hurting for space and there aren’t any available foster homes, or people willing to adopt a heartworm positive dog, then these dogs will be first up on the euthanasia list. Oh, and while cats seem to be somewhat immune to the disease, they can get it, and there is no approved treatment option for them.

This is so sad on many levels. The worst part of it all is that this disease is very preventable. All you have to do is give your pet a monthly preventative tablet like Interceptor. Most pets view it as a treat and chew them up readily. So dear readers, if you don’t already have your pet on preventative, call up your vet and get them started on it today! It’s much cheaper to prevent the disease than it is to treat it.

There is a video news story on this topic, but for some reason I can’t get it to embed into this post. If you would like to view it, please click here: Euthanizations Due to Heartworm Medicine Shortage.