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FRISKIES® GIVES LOCAL SHELTER CATS MORE OUT OF LIFE
S.O.L.A.S. (Support Our Local Animal Shelter) Wins $10,000 Cat Habitat Makeover Thanks To Community Support
ST. LOUIS , Mo. , Sept. 1, 2004 – Cats at the Council Bluffs Animal Shelter can now enjoy happier and healthier lives while waiting to find permanent homes. Friskies® brand cat food, which is dedicated to giving all cats more out of life, is announcing the winners of the national Friskiesâ for Moreä Cat Habitat Shelter Program. The leading cat food brand rallied cat lovers across the nation to take a "paws for a cause" and vote online to select 10 in-need shelters that will receive a total of $100,000 to build the ultimate habitats for their cats. Friends of furry felines in Council Bluffs demonstrated their support of S.O.L.A.S. (Support Our Local Animal Shelter) which is one of the 10 grant winners.More than 68,000 votes were cast on www.friskies.com in one of the largest cause-related initiatives in Friskies’ over 50-year history. Twenty shelter finalists were featured on the Web site and cat lovers were invited to vote to select the 10 shelters that each will receive a $10,000 grant from Friskies to create a more stimulating living environment for their cats. The other nine shelters that are grant recipients in the Friskies For More Cat Habitat Shelter Program include: Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society ( Gloucester , VA )Human Society of Wichita County ( Wichita Falls , TX )Elkhart Co. Humane Society ( Bristol , IN )Pima Animal Care Center ( Tucson , AZ )Humane Society of North Texas ( Ft. Worth , TX )Table Mountain Animal Center (Golden, CO)Posey County Humane Society ( Mt. Vernon , IN )Wake County Animal Shelter ( Raleigh , NC )Manmouth County SPCA ( Eatontown , NJ )
"Friskies is committed to helping cats get more out of life," said Pam Johnson-Bennett, a national feline behaviorist and spokesperson for the Friskies shelter program. "In addition to proper nutrition, cats require playtime, exercise and bonding in order to get the mental and physical stimulation they need to be happy and healthy. Unfortunately, due to resource and space limitations, many shelters are unable to provide their cats with the ideal living environment to help them get the most out of life while they are waiting to find loving homes." The search for qualified and in-need shelters began in partnership with Petfinder.com, the largest online database of pets that are available for adoption at U.S. shelters. Over 4,000 shelters in the Petfinder.com network were invited to participate in the program that required them to submit an essay and photo of their current cat housing area. A team of outside judges narrowed the entries down to 20 finalists based on selection criteria that included the shelters’ annual cat intake, the current condition of their cat habitat, the last renovation and their annual budget, among others. From there, Friskies turned to consumers to make the difficult decision of deciding the final 10.In addition to the $10,000 grant, each shelter will receive an autographed sketch of the ultimate Friskies Cat Habitat design by Frank Bielec of TLC’s "Trading Spaces." Ideal cat habitats include areas to play, scratch, climb, socialize, stretch, explore, nap and enjoy mealtime fun. About Friskies For more information on how to help your cat get more out of life, including tips for building a customized cat habitat, visit www.friskies.com. Friskies brand cat food offers a complete line of great-tasting and highly nutritional foods that deliver more choices than any other cat food brand, including over 60 wet, dry and treat varieties. Friskies is manufactured by Nestlé Purina PetCare, one of the leading global players in the pet food industry. For further information contact: Carol Rozio/323.866.6009 Manning Selvage & Lee carol.rozio@mslpr.com Julie Kahn/314-982-1036 Nestlé Purina PetCare jkahn@purina.com |
