The Numbers Are In! Iams Home 4 The Holidays helps more than 1 Million pets during 2011 campaign

Thanks to pet lovers everywhere, Iams Home 4 the Holidays found forever homes for more than 1.2 million animals during this season's pet adoption drive.  In addition, pets in need will benefit from the 5 million bowls of food that pet lovers helped to donate through efforts on Facebook, Twitter and blogs... including To Dog With Love!

Since the program began 13 years ago, Iams and founding partner Helen Woodward Animal Center, along with more than 4,000 animal organizations from across the globe have helped more than 7 million pets find forever homes.

2011 Iams Home 4 the Holidays milestones:

• Dogs win by a nose –This year, more dogs were adopted, with 651,224 finding new families, compared to 595,000 cats and 21,317 other pets (including rabbits, reptiles, horses, birds and more)
• Millions of pets now have homes – Since 1999, a total of 7,034,989 animals have been adopted through the program
• Cards for a cause – More than 1,000 cards were created and shared from the Iams Facebook page, generating thousands of meals donated

The 2012 program will begin in October. 

Help Feed Shelter Pets with Iams Home 4 the Holidays

Each year from October  through January, the Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption campaign seeks to place orphaned pets into loving homes. And since it began 13 years ago, the program  -- along with more than 3,500 pet adoption centers and rescue organizations -- has helped 5.8 million families experience the joy of pet adoption, including 1.1 million pet adoptions from last year's campaign alone.

This year, the goal is to adopt out 1.5 million orphaned pets and also to donate 5 million meals through the Iams Home 4 the Holiday Bags 4 Bowls program.

Here's how you can help feed the shelter animals

From now until 11:59 p.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 15:

• For each comment on this blog post, Iams will donate 10 bowls of food to shelter pets. So  please leave a comment and share this post so we can get lots of food donated!
• For each holiday card shared from Iams new e-card collection on Facebook, Iams is donating a meal to shelter pets. However, if you share the card with To Dog With Love  via email at diane(at) todogwithlove(dot) com, Iams will donate  25 bowls!
• For each tweet stating: Help Feed Shelter Pets with Iams Home 4 the Holidays http://bit.ly/vyJYoy #CosmoIH4TH Iams will donate 10 bowls of food.

Iams holiday e-card from its Petmail collection

To Thank You for Helping Feed the Shelter Animals

Iams will give away an Iams Home 4 the Holidays New Pet Parent basket to one lucky To Dog With Love reader. To enter, please leave a comment on this blog post stating you'd like to be entered in the drawing by 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 15. Winner will be picked at random using random.org. Shipping to U.S. and Canada only.

Gift Basket Details:

• Warm snuggly pet bed
• Iams ProActive food -- One month supply
• Toys to engage and entertain
•  Collar/leash -- safety first!
• Bounce Dryer Bar -- did you know that four out of 10 Americans say that if they have a 'pet peeve' about their four-legged friends it's the shedding. One trick is to use the Bounce Dryer Bar or Bounce dryer sheets when doing laundry -- they actually help repel pet hair so owners can hug their furry friends.

Good luck and let's go feed some animals!

Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award Goes to Austin Humane Society

Frances Jonon with Euka, VP of Canine
Communications at P&G Pet Care

Yesterday, our pals at Iams kicked off the 2011 Iams Home 4 the Holidays program at their Pet Care office's in Ohio in a big way! Mike Arms, president of Helen Woodward Animal Center and Founder of the Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption program, was on hand to present the first annual Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award. And the winner is ...

                  (drum roll please >>>>>>>>>>>)

... the Austin Humane Society for its extraordinary relief effort in the Austin/Bastrop wildfires in September, 2011.  Austin Humane Society took the lead in coordinating the disaster relief efforts for the animals displaced in the Austin/Bastrop counties as a result of the recent Texas wildfires. This widespread disaster destroyed over 1,400 homes in the Central Texas area.

The Austin Humane Society helped create a temporary triage unit in the Austin and Bastrop areas providing food, refuge, and medical care for the displaced animals. 

Accepting the award on behalf of Austin Humane was Frances Jonon, Executive Director. The shelter will be receiving a plaque for their wall and a check for $5,000 from Iams.

From left to right, Mike Arms, President, Helen Woodward

Animal Center; Frances Jonon, Executive Director, Austin Humane

Society; Michel Brousset, Marketing Director, Iams North America

Iams gives out the Mike Arms/Iams Hero Award to a person or animal organization that exemplifies the commitment and passion for the lives of orphaned animals similar to what Mike Arms has been doing for so many years.

For the past 12 years, Iams has joined forces with Mike Arms and the Helen Woodward Animal Center for the annual adoption campaign to help raise awareness of orphaned animals in shelters and rescues around the world. The program has created new ways to increase public awareness about orphaned animals, increase the number of pet adoptions, lower euthanasia rates, and set records for the number of people that are receiving humane education.

Animal shelters and pet rescue groups can still register for the 13th annual IH4TH campaign. 

The Final Count is in for #CosmoIH4TH and Iams Food Donation!

Last week, tons of our Twitter pals helped spread the word about Iams Home 4 The Holidays program and its food drive for shelter animals. By tweeting with the hashtag #CosmoIH4TH, each tweet garnered a 50-meal donation from Iams for a shelter pet.

And now for the grand total........DRUM ROLL please!! ......rat-a-tat-a-tat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat....


We collectively sent out 5,952 tweets with #CosmoIH4TH to raise a total of 297,600 meals donated to shelters in need!!! Whoo hoooo!! Way to go!! The way I figure it, that will feed more than 400 animals, two meals a day, for an entire year!!! 


We're thankful for the food, and we really hope that lots of the anipals get adopted. Iams goal for the program is to adopt out 1.5 million pets and give 5 million meals to homeless animals. We explained more about the program here.


Thanks again to all our pals for helping feed the anipals who need it most. The pet community ROCKS!

Join us at Harry Pawter #PawPawty today!

The theme is Harry Pawter -- or Hairy Pawter --  for this month's PawPawty on Twitter and Cosmo is flying high!! So what's new?!


Pawty goes until 2 p.m. ET today... so hurry up and stop by -- use hastag #PawPawty. This month we're raising money for The Last Resort animal rescue in West Milford, NJ. More about PawPawty and how to donate here!


Our playlist was a bit eclectic for this month... a little something for everyone on this list:

And don't forget, from now until Thanksgiving day at Midnight ET, Iams will donate 50 meals to shelter pets for every tweet using the hashtag #CosmoIH4TH! It's all part of Iams Home 4 The Holidays to help shelter pets everywhere! We've already tweeted a gazillion times so let's make it a gazillion more! That's a lot of food for the anipals who need it most!

Special Announcement: Iams will donate 50 bowls of food for every tweet with #CosmoIH4TH from now till Thanksgiving!

I'm lucky I have a wonderful home and lots of good
meals during the holidays. Please help me help
 the anipals who need it most-- your pal, Cosmo

It's Cosmo Havanese here, with a special announcement! Because it's exactly a week before Thanksgiving here in the U.S., I wanted to find a special way to help the anipals who need it most and might not have the chance to have a nice turkey and stuffing dinner.


So Iams is teaming up with me and LISTEN TO THIS!!! For every tweet that goes out with the hashtag #CosmoIH4TH from NOW until midnight on THANKSGIVING, Iams will donate 50 BOWLS OF FOOD to its Iams Home 4 the Holiday program. WOW! We can collect A LOT of food this week and it'll sure feel good to know the less fortunate anipals will be getting nice Thanksgiving meals. 


Just think how many anipals you can feed by adding #CosmoIH4TH to every tweet you send through next Thursday. I hope you'll all help and let's see how many bowls we can get donated!!!! Wheeeeee!

Iams Home 4 the Holidays currently has 3,800 animal shelters enrolled in 21 countries, and its goal is to donate 5 millions meals to shelter pets this season AND help adopt out 1.5 million pets. We explained the program earlier this season here. 


Already this season, 318,370 pets have been adopted and 493,245 meals have been donated. We've got a ways to go, so let's get tweeting!!! 

IH4TH: Help a Pet Find a Furrever Home 4 the Holidays

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... and it’s not even Halloween yet! But if you’re like us and getting into the holiday giving mood already, here’s a great program from Iams and the Helen Woodward Animal Center. 

Since 1999, Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH) has partnered with thousands of animal organizations dedicated to finding forever homes for orphaned pets.

I met these cute pups Kurt and Friedrich at a

Mostly Mutts Pet Adoption. Pups like these
can make  your hills come alive with the
Sound of Music, ah ah ah ah! Join us for another

Mostly Mutt's adoption event this weekend
at Woody's Cheesesteaks in Atlanta. Yum!

Founded by Helen Woodward Animal Center and supported by Iams, IH4TH has helped 4.6 million families experience the joy of pet adoption.


Currently there are more than 3,700 animal shelters enrolled in the program, including Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue, who have adorable pups like Kurt and Friedrich (at left) for adoption every weekend. 

Since IH4TH kicked off just three weeks ago, more than 152,000 pets have been adopted and 78,519 bowls of food have been donated.

You can add another 100 bowls to that total right now, because this week only, for every adoption-oriented blog post entered into this blog hop, Iams will contribute 100 bowls of food to an Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter in need!

The Facts

• Iams Home 4 the Holidays runs from Oct.1, 2010 to Jan. 4, 2011
• This year’s goal is to adopt 1.5 million pets
• 1.3 million pets were adopted last year alone
• Information on how to get involved, how to find a participating shelter in your area and other important tips for new parents can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/iams or on IamsHome4theHolidays.com

New This Year: Bags 4 Bowls Food Drive

Reducing pet homelessness through adoption is Iams core mission, but if adoption isn’t in your plan this year, here’s another way to help.

Adoption Angel Meaghan's pup

Beryllium (pronounced Brrr-ill-EE-um)

• Follow the Adoption Angel’s stories on Facebook.com/Iams and “LIKE” photos, videos and posts. For every like received, Iams will donate a meal to a homeless animal.
• Purchase specially marked packages of Iams dog or cat food during the campaign and Iams will donate one bowl of food.

The Iams goal is to give 5 million meals to homeless animals. 

And since Cosmo Havanese is an overachiever, stayed tuned for a special Cosmo will be offering for every pal who tweets a special hashtag to support the Iams Home 4 the Holidays Bags 4 Bowls food drive!  Cosmo’s anipals Boris Kitty and Teenys Friends just finished a similar program and raised 70,000 bowls of food between them in just one week. WOW!

And remember, bloggers who write a post about animal adoption and link up to this week’s blog hop, will help donate an additional 100 bowls of food!!

Check out our pal Pet Care Bev for the details.