Gwinnett County Girl Scout Troop Finds Success in Placing Their First Sponsored Pet 

Girl Scout Troop 1343 Homeless Pet Club had their first sponsored animal adopted on March 6th! Noah, a 2-year old lab/pitbull mix, was being cared for by the Gwinnett County Animal Shelter but now has a fantastic, loving home. The club has been in existence less than two months and has undertaken a number of activities to support our sponsored pet. These activities included:

• Designing flyers and distributing them at local schools, grocery stores, Girl Scout cookie booth sales, the Girl Scout World Thinking Day event, and the Girl Scout Apalachee Service Unit meeting.
• Writing a blog which was placed in the Dacula Patch.
• Decorating Noah's pen at the animal shelter.
• Designing a website to bring awareness to the issue of homeless pets in our community.
• Designing a Facebook page to get the word out and to find a loving home for Noah.
• Making several gifts for Noah including sock toys, a bandana, and a blanket. Noah was able to leave the shelter with the bandana and blanket.
• Making donation boxes and setting up donation drives (in partnership with the Alcova Elementary PTA) to collect items the animal shelter is in desperate need of right now.

Tenasity - Business Pet Club

  Khalvin Kuczynski and Gabe Reinlieb, up-and-coming dog trainers in the Atlanta area were first introduced to Homeless Pet Clubs at a fundraising event for Homeless Pets Foundation (HPF). They started a business pet club and chose a pet to sponsor. Through their connections with many dog lovers, they networked to help place several pets into loving forever-homes. But their love of dogs does not stop with sponsoring! Wanting to do more, the Tenasity trainers started working with HPF's dogs that were having a hard time finding a home. They evaluated several behavioral issues that some dogs had and started working with them several times a week. They even worked with other HPF volunteers so that the training could be reinforced. Going even further to help HPF dogs find permanent homes, Tenasity is offering free sessions and discounted training packages to anyone who adopts through HPF. They even go as far as following up with adopters who might be experiencing behavior issues to prevent the dog from being returned. Tenasity has been HPF's dream come true!

http://www.tenasity.com/

Khalvin Kuczynski was recently interviewed: Web Radio Interview

Paideia Homeless Pets Club - Georgia Teenager Donates $100 She Earned From Tutoring to a Worthy Cause

So when does a teenager give up her hard earned tutoring money at time when we are all shopping for the holidays?
Jessica has only been tutoring for a year and half and knows how long it takes to earn $100 dollars. But she has always been passionate about helping others less fortunate. One day an announcement came during a high school meeting ..."If you want to join the Homeless Pet Clubs (HPC), please sign up". She knew immediately, this is the kind of club she wanted to be a part of. She has always been passionate about animals and the HPC club was perfect because it connects students with their local animal shelter and allows them to be super heroes when it comes to finding loving homes for dogs and cats sitting in cages.

"I just knew I had to join. So far, the club has been great. I've learned so much about animals, pet ownership responsibility, why it is important to be a part of the community and to do something to make it a better place. We get to sponsor a pet from our local DeKalb County Shelter. Once we sponsor the pet, we know he/she will get adopted through our efforts. Then we pick a new pet and so on. I've also had a lot of fun working together with the rest of the club members. Earlier in the fall, we visited the DeKalb County Animal Shelter which is partnered with our HPC club. Seeing the animals there truly moved me. After the visit, I acknowledged everything that I have and how privileged I am, which led me to want to make the donation. When I played with the dog we sponsored and saw the other animals at the shelter, I knew I had to do something. My entire experience since I have joined the HPC Club has been very rewarding because it has helped me become more aware of what happens to animals in the world. I'm working really hard to give my all because helping animals find loving homes is very close to my heart. Not only do we sponsor pets for adoption, we get to do fun projects every time we meet, sometimes we have presenters, and we learn a lot about animals. Along with the help of my amazing club mates and my wonderful club faculty sponsor, Catharine A. Tipton, I am privileged to work for what I believe in" said Jessica.

Homeless Pet Clubs are popping up everywhere... in schools, community clubs, scouting troops and businesses. Children & adults are educated about the status of animals, the significance of spay/neuter and most importantly it allows them to have a part in finding a shelter pet a forever home. Club members make a difference in the number of pets that are euthanized across the county each year. It is free, fun and effective and anyone can participate in it. The only thing that our pets need is the voices of the members to speak loudly for them and find them a home.

"We are moved by Jessica's noble decision to give her tutoring money to a wonderful cause benefiting the DeKalb Animal Shelter. There are not many young people in today's world who think like her and we are sincerely struck by her mature and generous act. These altruistic actions are many in the Homeless Pet Clubs, but this one makes our Christmas wish come true" said Claudine Wilkins, Esq. Executive Shelter Director of Homeless Pet Clubs.

Students Making A Difference!

Megan McCurry, a senior at Pace Academy, has been volunteering with us for several months now. She started a Homeless Pet School Club in her school, which she leads, until a teacher sponsor is willing to step in. Her club recently held a donations drive for Homeless Pets Foundation. Below are photos of the girls at pet adoption sites and a picture of Megan dropping off donations from their drive. Thank you Megan and the members of Pace Academy's school club for all that you do to help animals in need!