Right after the New Year, Helen Woodward Animal Center received a little treasure of a kitten named Captain Jack. Why the pirate name? This little bundle of energy and love had only one eye and squinted just like a pirate! He also had something else special, he was polydactyl, too! (Meaning he had extra toes on his front and back feet, which is very rare for cats!)

Within minutes of his arrival, Captain Jack could be found cradled in the arms of already-adoring staff members. Even though his cute little face was a little lop-sided, that didn’t stop him from finding a new home: Captain Jack was adopted just last week after he won the hearts of his new family by literally melting in their arms.

Check out some photos of our own Captain Jack!

Did you read about Rocky? He’s our favorite, recent success story!

When Rocky was born, he was frail and weak. His mother refused to nurse him so Helen Woodward Animal Center medical staff took matters into their own hands and placed him in 24/7 infant care. While his condition was stable, it was still very serious. It was up to Rocky if he would pull through.

We are happy to say that Rocky grew and grew and became a healthy kitten! Just last week he finally reached his target weight so he could receive his surgery and begin looking for his forever family. Rocky was placed for adoption with his sibling on Saturday, January 14, and was adopted in only a couple hours! Wow! That’s almost a record!

Check out some photos of Rocky make sure to let friends, family, co-workers or anyone know that there are some amazing cats and kittens looking for homes at Helen Woodward Animal Center and other local animal centers near you.

This week’s winner comes from CSRA  Happy Tails Rescue, located in Appling, Georgia.

“This puppy was given away in the Walmart parking lot to a young couple.  The couple had no fenced yard and left the puppy out to roam the neighborhood, dodging cars in the road.

Luckily a Good Samaritan offered the couple to find the puppy a home through a rescue organization and they agreed.

Only three days before Christmas, most rescues are already overloaded due to foster homes on vacation or having visiting relatives, so finding someone to foster an 8-week-old puppy at the last minute is not easy. Someone was surely looking out for this little guy, Ben, because we found a foster willing to take him in.  And after posting his adorable photo on the website, we had many interested adopters.

This grateful family who adopted Ben also had a Golden Retriever before, so they were well aware of house training and dog hair that would adorn their home.

Little Ben will be a well loved part of their family!”

Thank you, CSRA Happy Tails Rescue!

Remember: each week we choose a heartwarming story and that organization or rescue will be in the running for a $500 prize at the end of the campaign!

If you are an animal welfare facility or rescue, you can join Iams Home 4 the Holidays, too! Click here to find more information.

Update! January 16, 2012: Iams Home 4 the Holidays adoption total this year is 1,267,541 lives saved! 

On December 23, 2011, Helen Woodward Animal Center representatives went to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell to celebrate the 924,932 lives saved to date and to promote animal adoption through Iams Home 4 the Holidays, an animal adoption campaign that supports animal welfare facilities worldwide.

This week’s winner comes from the Home Fur-Ever, located in Detroit, Michigan.

“Our handsome Rusty was one lucky guy.

We received a call from an Animal Control Officer who said he needed our help. His facility was closing and he needed our help saving dogs or he would be forced to put them down. He was most concerned about a certain handsome pit bull. He said that this pitbull, who we named Rusty, just wasn’t acting right.

We immediately went to the pound to take pictures of the dogs and gather information about them. Our volunteer saw Rusty and discovered that he was badly injured.  He was in shock and very lethargic. She examined Rusty more closely and discovered why. She made a call to our director pleading for help.

Rusty’s hind leg was badly damaged. He had a tear from his scrotum to his knee and the bone was showing.  We pulled Rusty right then and there and drove him an hour and a half to our vet even though we did not yet have a foster home for him.  The vet did surgery immediately to save Rusty and his leg.

After Rusty was released, we were able to find a wonderful foster home for him. We learned that he is great with other dogs and cats!  We were thrilled to learn that he is a true ambassador for the pit bull breed!

After Rusty recovered, he was able to come to our adoption events and show everyone what a good boy he truly is. A wonderful family saw Rusty and after a couple of days, they knew Rusty was a perfect fit. He was adopted on December 17, 2011.

We couldn’t be happier for our handsome boy! Congratulations to Rusty and his new family!”

Thank you, Home Fur-Ever!

Remember: each week we choose a heartwarming story and that organization or rescue will be in the running for a $500 prize at the end of the campaign!

If you are an animal welfare facility or rescue, you can join Iams Home 4 the Holidays, too! Click here to find more information.

By guest blogger: Jennifer Chang

This month, the Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) traded in rubber balls for silver bells for the first annual Sunny and Angel Save Christmas holiday event.

Taking place over the span of two weekends, Dec. 3-4 and Dec. 10-11, Sunny and Angel Save Christmas was introduced this year as an activity for families to learn more about the Center—and to spread holiday cheer, of course.

The hour-long event began at the pavilion, where parents could watch their kids play with hula hoops and bales of hay while they waited for the tour to begin.

They were then ushered into a curtained room, complete with pillows and blankets, to hear an HWAC volunteer read “Sunny and Angel Save Christmas,” a poem about the animals at HWAC preparing for Christmas, and Sunny and Angel, the center’s twin foals, helping Santa when two of his reindeer are injured.

The two foals, mixes between Arabian and quarter horses, have gained widespread attention for their rarity; there is only a one in 10,000 chance that a mother horse will give birth to twins and a one in 15,000 chance that both the babies and the mother will survive the births.

Now just short of 2-years-old, Sunny (the male) and Angel (the female), have gained quite the following online and in the media. The two were recently covered by CBS 8 News and were watched by a 24/7 live camera feed for an entire year. They rapidly gained fame and even a fan base, colloquially known at HWAC as the “miracle foals.”

After story time, the kids were invited to meet and feed some of the animals mentioned in the story, like Sunny and Angel and others like the center’s sheep, goats and therapy horses.

When the tour of the stables had concluded, the kids and parents were provided cookies, coffee and hot chocolate while they waited for their turn to meet Santa. There were various activities to shorten the wait, including coloring, making instant snow and even leaving a special Christmas message for Sunny and Angel.

Each child was given the opportunity to sit with Santa and take a picture with him. After they had told him what was on their wish lists, they were each given a special toy and a personalized letter from the North Pole.

The event was also publicized on the internet, on blogs specific to San Diego and in several newspapers and magazines.

“One of my friends has a website, travelmamas.com. There was a contest, where you had to post a response [to a question] and our response won,” Holly Chisholm, mother of Macy (7) and Emme (5), said.

According to Macy, her favorite part was “meeting Santa [and] making snow” and she and her sister are considering participating again next year.

Jessica Reed-Cancel heard about the program through the email list, but had been to the Center before for First Friends children’s classes and a birthday party for her daughter Emma (2) last year.

“We like to do things that support the shelter,” Reed-Cancel said. “[Emma] loves animals…she’s just innately gentle with them.”

While this is the first year that HWAC has hosted the event, the staff at the Center hopes that it will become a regular occurrence, with people returning next year.

Here is this week’s ‘Most Heartwarming Story’ from Iams Home 4 the Holidays! Each Thursday Helen Woodward Animal Center announces the weekly winner of that week’s ‘Most Heartwarming Story’ from Iams Home 4 the Holidays! Animal welfare organizations from around the world are working together to find loving homes for 1.5 million orphaned animals this holiday season.

This week’s winner comes from the Humane Society of McCormick County, located in South Carolina.

“It takes a village…

Thank goodness a caring couple was around when Pumpkin narrowing missed being run over by a large truck in the rural town of McCormick. The couple stopped right away and scooped Pumpkin up. She was just a little puppy, sweet and scared. Unfortunately, they were not able to take her home so they did the next best thing: they brought Pumpkin to a friend’s house that was involved with the Humane Society of McCormick County.

Even though Pumpkin was being cared for, she was still scared. It just so happened that the Humane Society of McCormick County had a young terrier named Koko that had recently helped a shy puppy become more confident. So Pumpkin was moved to a new foster home so that she could be in the same house with Koko. The two dogs instantly became friends and started to play.

Pumpkin soon went to PetSmart for her first adoption event. The store atmosphere was just too much for Pumpkin and she curled up in the corner of her pen. Several of the volunteers took turns holding Pumpkin and she started to relax.

Her second visit to PetSmart was not quite so scary because her playmate Koko was there to help her. That is when she was first spotted by Mary. Pumpkin was still a little shy and this tugged at Mary’s heart. Mary had a golden retriever at home that was shy when she was first adopted at 8 months old. Mary had been looking for a friend for her dog so she went home and brought her golden retriever back to the store so they could meet.

The two dogs started to play and got along great. Unfortunately, her husband and three boys were not home and Mary did not feel right bringing home Pumpkin without talking to the whole family. Mary called her family that night about Pumpkin and her husband said, ‘You should call right now. Pumpkin might still be available.’

Mary adopted Pumpkin the following Saturday. Pumpkin found her forever home and it took a village of friends to make it happen!”

Thank you, Humane Society of McCormick County! Please take a moment and “like” them on Facebook!

Remember: each week we choose a heartwarming story and that organization or rescue will be in the running for a $500 prize at the end of the campaign!

If you are an animal welfare facility or rescue, you can join Iams Home 4 the Holidays, too! Click here to find more information.

Just two days before Thanksgiving, John Mevi awoke to find five hungry, flea ridden kittens abandoned in a urine soaked box in his yard in Lakeside. Mevi who had adopted pets from Helen Woodward Animal Center in the past, called the Center for help. The kittens, who are now about 10 weeks old, have recovered from their ordeal and are ready to find their forever families. In honor of Mevi and his good deed, the kittens have been named after the virtues of the holiday season – Faith, Hope, Joy, Charity and Peace.

“First, I was shocked,” said Mevi of finding five kittens in a ratty box at the end of his long driveway. “Second I thought how cute they were and third, I knew that if my daughter saw them, she would think Santa had come a little early and would want to keep them, so I took them to Helen Woodward Animal Center where I knew they would be able to find homes.”

Mevi doesn’t hold it against the people who abandoned the kittens, “In this economy, people just don’t know what to do. I am glad they left the kittens at my house and we were able to do the right thing.”

Four of the kittens, 3 males and 1 female, are grey with big green eyes, while one lone female is black with green eyes and a white tuft of fur on its chin. They are sweet and playful and ready to find their forever homes this holiday season.

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