Adoption

Weather Update: Due to the blizzard, this event will be held Sunday, Feb. 10, only. Please watch ASPCA.org/onelove for the latest information.

When Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, the ASPCA’s Cruelty Intervention Advocacy (CIA) program was preparing to remove more than 30 cats from a New York City apartment. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, CIA realized that the cats’ situation could quickly develop into a full-scale crisis.

The team took swift action, rushing to the apartment to provide immediate relief. With the lives of the animals potentially at risk, the CIA team acted quickly to remove the cats and bring them to safety.

Ever since, these resilient kitties have been recovering at our wonderful partner One Love Animal Hospital in Downtown Brooklyn. Today, they’re all in tip-top shape. In fact, the only thing they need now is a loving home to call their own.

Special Adoption Event This Weekend!

Animal lovers of NYC, that’s where you come in! This Sunday, February10, at One Love, the ASPCA is hosting a pop-up adoption event for these very special cats, and we can’t wait for you to meet them! Each of the adoptable feline cuties is so cuddly, sweet and outgoing that you’d never suspect their lives haven’t been all catnip and stuffed mice.

You can change a life just in time for Valentine’s Day by giving a kitty a brand-new family to love. And if one isn’t enough for you, consider taking home a pair of BFFs! Some of the cats are available in bonded pairs.

Ready to take the plunge and fall in love with a new furry friend this weekend? Check out aspca.org/onelove for more details, including information about how New Yorkers can help us get the word out.

To learn more about how CIA helps hoarded animals and those who are overwhelmed by the number of animals in their care, please visit CIA’s page.

We hope to see you this weekend!

On the heels of last week’s guilty plea by Raul Sanchez for his involvement in a Bronx-based dog fighting operation, we are thrilled to report that many of the dogs are thriving in their new lives as beloved pets.

In November, we told you a very happy story about Ninja, one of the dogs we rescued and rehabilitated, who found a wonderful forever home. Now we have another heartwarming success story to share: Mona Lisa, who was one of 50 dogs we rescued in June from that dark, dingy Bronx basement, recently went home to a loving family.

Mona now lives with two loving pet parents in a spacious house overlooking 50 mountainside acres, where she takes frequent hikes with her new dog sister, Zelda. Her other favorite activities include snuggling with Zelda by the fireplace and lounging on the couch with her new pet parents.

Mona Lisa’s journey to adoption wasn’t easy. After her rescue, she was transferred to one of our partner shelters, The Animal Support Project, Inc. (TASP) in Cropseyville, New York.

“When Mona arrived at the shelter, she cried and whined like a hyena and was extremely anxious, usually sitting pitifully at the kennel door,” says Melinda Plasse of TASP. But after plenty of attention, care and time to recover, Mona made great progress. “She is outgoing,” Melinda reports, “loves belly rubs, and is kind as can be to children and other animals.”

When we picture Mona Lisa romping around in the woods with her new family, we can’t help but smile. We’re working to make sure that animals nationwide won’t continue to suffer due to the cruel practice of animal fighting. Last week, legislators reintroduced the Animal Fighting Spectator Prohibition Act, which would make attending an organized animal fight a federal offense and would impose additional penalties for bringing a minor to an animal fight.

Please join us in our efforts by asking your own House representative to support this important humane legislation.

If ever there was a dog whose prospects looked grim, it was Carson the Shih Tzu. Two years ago, when the three-year-old breeding dog was rescued from a puppy mill in central Minnesota, Carson’s face and underweight body were completely overwhelmed by huge mats of hair, urine and feces. When his rescuers bathed him, they discovered that his eyes had been eaten away by infection. There was nothing left to save: His eye sockets were cleaned out and his lids sewn shut.

Jessica Danielson was on Petfinder.com seeking a companion for her senior pooch Diesel, and although she wasn’t looking for a challenge, she was drawn to Carson’s posting. “I knew I could give him everything he needed. God put him right there and said ‘This is the one. He needs you.’ When I called the rescue to set up a meeting, Carson’s foster mom almost started crying because she thought he’d never find a home.”

“It took almost a year before he would trust me enough to cuddle me, kiss my face, and just feel safe enough to wander the house,” remembers Jessica. In spite of his rough start, Carson is now a very loving and affectionate boy who has taught his new mom, in her words, about “survival, trust, and the real meaning of love!”

Carson’s impact on Jessica doesn’t end there. Now in love with the breed, she went on to adopt two more rescued Shih Tzus—Ernie and Mr. Wiggles—and became a volunteer foster mom for special-needs dogs through Ruff Start Rescue.

Did you adopt a puppy mill dog? Tell us your story by emailing dogstory@aspca.org. And remember, never buy a puppy in a pet store or online—they almost always come from puppy mills. While a pet store puppy may be hard to resist, purchasing one dooms his parents, dogs like Carson, to lives of cruelty, filth and neglect.

Visit NoPetStorePuppies.com to learn more and take the pledge not to buy anything at pet stores or on websites that sell puppies.

We could not be more excited to announce and congratulate the contestants of the 2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge! From coast to coast, all 50 animal shelters are sure to engage in a friendly, fierce and exciting competition to save the most animals’ lives over the course of the Challenge. The shelters will compete to win prizes in the form of ASPCA grant funding, ranging from $5,000 to a grand prize of $100,000 for the Challenge’s top performing shelter.

The bar for these contestants has been set high: The 2012 Challenge contestants saved a collective total of 56,232 animals during the three-month competition.

Stay tuned for continuing coverage of this year’s Challenge. The participating shelters will host Challenge Kickoff Weekend events June 1-2. We know they’ll be hard at work preparing between now and then!

For a complete list of the 2013 contestants, please visit our Challenge site.