The Ashtabula County Animal Protective League is part of the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge and is now in the running to win $100,000.

From the Ashtabula County APL:

Thanks to over 3,000 local animal lovers who took time to vote, Ashtabula County Animal Protective League won a spot in the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge and will now compete for a chance at more than $500,000 in grant funding, including a grand prize of $100,000.

The 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge is a nationwide competition for animal shelters (and their communities) aimed at getting more animals adopted or returned to their owners than ever before. From August 1st to October 31st 2012, Ashtabula County Animal Protective League will compete to find homes for more cats and dogs than during the same period in 2011. Competing against 49 other shelters nationwide, the goal is to save at least 300 more animals.

“It's wonderful to see how the community of Ashtabula as well as the volunteers come together for a common cause—saving more lives. We have a lot of wonderful people who are working very hard preparing and planning for the months ahead—it will be tough to save 300 more lives, but we are up for the challenge,” said Tammy Dondorfer, Animal Welfare Director for the Ashtabula County APL. “Everyone who is committed to working hard to save more lives will not only help the dogs and cats of Ashtabula County, we'll also have a shot at the $100,000 grant which would fund an ICU unit at our shelter to help save more sick and injured animals who enter our facility.”

Throughout the challenge months (Aug-Oct) the ACAPL will be:
--planning events to help increase adoption rates
--running lots of promotions and discounts on adoptions
--asking for more volunteers and foster families to help us increase our adoption rates
--needing individuals or businesses to help sponsor the APL through this challenge: 300 additional saved lives will mean additional costs in vetting and spay and neuters

For more information about Ashtabula County APL, please visit www.acapl.org.

Sounds like a great cause, and something to look into if you're planning to adopt in August, September or October.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl