nootersclub.org

NOOTERS CLUB® is proud to support the seventh annual Wigglebutt Walk that will be held from
10 a.m. – 3 p.m., September 11, 2010, at Brighton Dale Park in Kansasville, WI, near Kenosha.

We met Shorewood Cocker Rescue Secretary and foster mom Karen Allness at the Chicagoland Family Pet show in March of 2010. Karen and her colleagues at SCR are working hard to put together what sounds like it will be a fabulous event.  Last year 162 Cockers were registered from five states including Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana and New Mexico. They walked with their families to raise money for Shorewood Cocker Rescue, Wisconsin Cocker Rescue and Illinois Cocker Rescue. This year’s activities include a silent auction, raffles, natural instinct testing, lure coursing, contests for Cockers, refreshments and bake sale. Photos of dogs and their families will be offered by a professional photographer and music will be provided by a DJ. Watch for additional info at www.cockerrescue.net/.

We  met a neat lady named Raven Hannah who runs a cool website for pet lovers called The Gifted Pet.  Her site says, “Cool Stuff for Cool Pets & Cool People” and she is right!  You will see a huge variety of interesting, playful, fun and unique items at a reasonable price.  The Gifted Pet recently began selling NOOTERS CLUB® items, so I guess this means that our stuff is now officially COOL too!

At The Gifted Pet, you will find many great information resources for pets and their people.   An added plus is that The Gifted Pet also supports animal rescue, nature conservancy & environmental preservation organizations, as well as select law enforcement & military causes. They donate proceeds from ALL of their sales (after minimal inventory & administrative costs) to the worthy causes that they support. Check them out at www.thegiftedpet.com.

Sand Hill Crane Vineyards, an award-winning, family-owned vineyard and winery in rural Jackson County, Michigan, hasn’t met a dog it didn’t like.  When you visit the winery for a tasting (go to www.sandhillcranevineyards.com for hours – open seven days a week), look for the labels dedicated to the family’s dogs. For example, the  Abrazo, a  2008 soft, off-dry red wine blend,  developed in honor of the Cascades Humane Society which rescued Rusty (pictured on the label) from the County animal pound on his last day. Rusty, one of the world’s great huggers, now lives with Holly, the Sand Hill Crane Vineyards winemaker.   Each purchase of Abrazo benefits the Cascades Humane Society.   Also look for 2007 Legacy, a limited edition dry blend of Chardonnay and Vignoles with $4 from the sale of each bottle going to Legacy Land Conservancy, a 37-year-old accredited land trust protecting local nature and farmland, and 2007 Blushing Crane, a cherry-berry wine with 50 cents from each bottle going to Haehnle Bird Sanctuary.  Next time I visit, I will wear one of my Nooters Club t-shirts – maybe our dog will be their next label!

This weekend, I got dozens of phone calls and emails to NOOTERS CLUB from people wanting to “unload” their cats.  The reason was that our local county daily newspaper, The Oakland Press, which covers Oakland County, Michigan,  ran a brief article on my work in running a trap-neuter-return program in my small town.  I am not sure where they picked up the information, perhaps from our local newsletter, but the response has been overwhelming – and not in a good way.  I have been fielding dozens of calls from people as far as 30 miles away who no longer want their cat or have a stray they do not want or cannot keep.  Even though I explained to them that I already have way too many pets of my own – plus three cats in foster care and being socialized for adoption – they could not understand that I could not take one more.  One lady asked me then why did I “place the article in the newspaper?”  Out of all the calls  there was one bright spot.  His name was David.  David called me, not to surrender a cat – but to help.  He thanked me for caring for the homeless cats in my community and said he wanted to send me money.  I explained that I was not a nonprofit organization and did not feel comfortable accepting cash.  He persisted, and told me about his four rescue cats.  So I asked him if he could gather some spare cat food, towels, blankets, that sort of thing – it would really help.  David, you made my day.  My weekend.  It is rough out there.

With three Pet Supplies Plus® stores to run in southeastern Michigan, you would think that store owner Addy Shattuck has enough to keep her hands full.  But when it comes to homeless cats and kittens, Addy opens her arms to help as many as possible find good homes.
Since she began adopting cats and kittens out of her Pet Supplies Plus® stores, Addy has found homes for more than 2,000 lucky pets.  Each of her stores features a front lobby adoption area where customers can choose from a variety of cats and kittens that come to her from Oakland Pet Adoption Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Bloomfield Twp. Animal Control and Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue in Waterford, Michigan.  In addition, Addy organizes large-scale adoption events each year.  The most recent was the Cat Days of Summer, co-sponsored by Nooters Club®, which featured more than 200 adoptable cats and kittens along with in-store promotions and perks for cat lovers.  Nooters Club® was on hand to help with the adoptions and sell its pet lover apparel and gifts.
Addy is also known to take any sick cats to her local vet and pay for them out of her own pocket. Her staff nurses motherless and sick kittens and takes them home with them at night.    If a rescue group needs food, she donates it.
If you are in Michigan, visit Addy at her Pet Supplies Plus® stores in Bloomfield Hills and two in White Lake Twp, Michigan.   You just might leave with a cat or two!

I spoke with Kristina Jones who is manager of the new Metro Detroit Pet Expo being held November 19-21, 2010 at the Rock Showplace in Novi, Michigan.  From what I learned from Kristina and what we saw on the new website for the expo, there are some substantial changes over prior pet-related expos that have been held at the same venue.  For example, nonprofit rescue organizations are being offered 50 tickets that they can sell as a fundraiser or pass along to their volunteers – or both.  Rescue groups are also being offered some very large spaces to make bringing in adoptable pets easier and to provide greater viewing areas for the prospective adopters.  The public can bring their pets – they must be spayed or neutered adult pets on a short leash (6 foot maximum, no retractable leashes) — and accompanied by a responsible guardian.  (Due to health concerns of birds in the show, pet birds will not be allowed.)  And, you can get $2 off admission to the show by bringing an unopened can or bag of pet food that will be donated to a local humane society.  Plus, they have a great new website – see it at www.metrodetroitpetexpo.com.

Because rescue groups work so hard at what they do – saving and caring for homeless pets — many do not have time – or resources – to spend on marketing and fundraising.  NOOTERS CLUB® wants to help.  NOOTERS CLUB® has developed a series of fundraising programs to provide rescue groups and shelters with ideas for some easy fundraising efforts.  One of these is the NOOTERS CLUB® ROOTERS program in which nonprofit organizations can earn 15% of proceeds simply by inserting a special link to the NOOTERS CLUB® website on their homepage.  There are even suggestions and templates for organizations to use in promoting this link in their local community.
NOOTERS CLUB® ROOTERS also receive monthly marketing and fundraising tips and wholesale DISCOUNTS on NOOTERS CLUB® merchandise. We are always looking for ways we can help spread the word about pet spay and neuter and raise money for rescues.  WE WOULD ALSO LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR MARKETING AND FUNDRAISING CHALLENGES.  WE WILL ANSWER THOSE THAT WE CAN  – MAYBE OTHER GROUPS ARE EXPERIENCING THE SAME THING.  Email to Lindaw@nootersclub.org.

NOOTERS CLUB® was a sponsor of the Cat Days of Summer 200-cat adoption event held at three Pet Supplies Plus® stores in southeastern Michigan July 9-11. We also handled promotion of the event (See how NOOTERS CLUB® developed the event campaign at www.nootersclub.org/CatDays.htm), which resulted in the adoption of 65 cats and kittens from Oakland Pet Adoption Center and Elizabeth Lake Animal Rescue.  While we would have liked to see all of them get adopted, we were happy to see so many go home, especially in this economy.

My favorite story from the event is of the lovely couple who came in with the goal of finding the cat with the roughest start in life.  One of their beloved cats had recently passed away and they wanted to give a good home to an adult cat that had less of a chance of getting adopted than the cute kittens.  They chose Antonio (since renamed), a lovely older cat who could not have gone to a better home. 

I also ended up adopting a second cat for my mother who was on vacation in Germany at the time.  My Mom said no to her first cat, Sadie, who is now her best friend.  So I conspired with Mom’s neighbor Elaine to get Sadie a much-needed friend.   We found 7-year-old Humphrey (renamed Hootie due to his large, beautiful owl-like eyes) and Elaine has spent the past two weeks making the introduction.  I think the two are getting used to each other.  My Mom – it may take a little time for her to get used to the idea – I left her a bottle of wine. 

In addition to the adoptions, NOOTERS CLUB® sold $20 spay and neuter certificates offered through Michigan Humane Society and Michigan Pet Fund Alliance for low-income families in Oakland County, Michigan. 

The real star of all this is Pet Supplies Plus® store owner Addy Shattuck.  Since she began adopting out cats and kittens from her stores about 4-5 years ago, Addy is responsible for the placement of more than 2,000 cats.  More on Addy in another of my blogs.

Make sure that you see the PSA featuring Glee actress Jane Lynch promoting pet spay and neuter as a way to help control pet overpopulation. This is the first time I have seen Lynch outside of her role as Glee’s bitchy and manipulative cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester. Lynch, who comes across as very warm and sincere, encourages more pet owners to do their part by getting their pets fixed and encourages them to search online for spay and neuter resources. (BTW if you’re looking for low-cost spay/neuter – there is a comprehensive directory at www.nootersclub.org/lowcostspayneuter.htm)
The PSA also raises awareness about the large number of shelter pets that never find homes and are euthanized. We wish that more shelters and humane societies would step forward with this message. Too many, in our opinion, mask the facts. For example, in our state of Michigan, people are shocked when I mention that not all animals make it out of the shelters. They usually say something like, “Where did you ever hear that?!” We love seeing celebrities coming out for the plight of homeless pets. Great casting, PETA and good show, Jane!
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/marc_malkin/b180553_glees_jane_lynch_wants_your_dog_stop.html

I live in a small community of 2,000.  When I moved here 9 years ago, every spring we had a lot of stray kittens that usually disappeared by the middle of summer only for a new “batch” to follow.  After several years of appealing to Sylvan Lake City Council, the City agreed to let me run a TNR (Trap and Release) program.  While 37 will sound like a very small number to many of you (a day’s work for some!), trapping and sterilizing this number of cats has greatly reduced the number of kittens being born.  Neighbors have been great, for the most part.  A local vet and our county animal control have been providing vaccinations and spay/neuter.  Neighbors and our local Pet Supplies Plus help with adoptions.  I would be happy to share info on our program if anyone is interested.