Happy New Year!

As our first year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect upon our accomplishments and consider how far we've come in just one year.
Together we have:

- Provided humane education workbooks for Send A Kid To Camp – a program of the City of Dallas Parks & Recreation Department that serves 1,300 low-income children in 19 under-served areas of the City

- Provided humane education videos and workbooks for the City of Dallas’ 44 after-school programs serving 3,000 elementary and middle school children in low-income areas

- Taught pregnant moms and dads how to prepare their pets for the arrival of a new baby

- Held a successful book drive to collect children’s books about animals for a planned humane education library at the City of Dallas new animal shelter scheduled to open in 2007

- Provided humane education workbooks, lesson plans and materials, as well as hundreds of brochures and promotional items for kids to the Humane Education Officer for the City of Dallas Animal Services

- Enlisted the help of a number of Metroplex businesses and individuals to provide monthly humane education messages to the public

- Created an online community where animal welfare volunteers and shelter staff can network and have access to a library of information they need

- Developed a monthly speaker series to bring experts in the field of animal welfare to speak to local rescuers and shelter staff on matters of concern to them

Thanks to all of you who have provided support and encouragement. We are changing the way our society views companion animals. There is still a lot to be done but with your continued support we will achieve our goals and elevate the role of companion animals in our society.

Amazing Pet Tributes

We're getting in some amazing photos and tributes for our Pet Tribute Trees and Starbucks.



Check out these copies of ornaments we're hanging now --

The Pet Tribute Trees Are Up!

Our Pet Tribute Trees are up and decorated and they look great! We've got a classic 9-foot tree at the Starbucks at Arapaho & Shiloh that no one can miss! It's adorned with red and white lights and Pet Tribute decorations featuring some wonderful pets - a Katrina survivor, sibling Chow mix puppies, homeless cats who now have permanent homes, long-lost but not forgotten pets, and more. Stop by and see all the wonderful tributes! And don't forget to send in your photo and tribute along with a small donation, too!

But that's not all! Thanks to the Christmas Tree Lady in Plano, we've got a bright white contemporary 6 1/2" tree at the Starbucks on Preston just south of Beltline! It's absolutey packed with glowing white and red lights, beautiful glass ornaments, and even more Pet Tribute decorations! You have to stop by and see this! The photos just don't do it justice! And while you're there, pick up an order form and add your cherished dog or cat to the Pet Tribute Tree. The trees will be on display for everyone to see all through the holiday season!



Find out more on our website at www.companionsforlife.org.

Pet Tribute Trees Debut Next Week!

This Holiday Season, Companions For Life is honoring the unconditional love and companionship our pets provide by establishing a Pet Tribute Tree in selected neighborhood Starbucks. Hundreds of twinkling red and white lights will adorn each tree.

With each $5 donation to our humane education programs, we will illuminate a white light in memory of a person or pet who has passed on, or a red light in honor of a person or pet who still graces our lives. We'll also fashion a beautiful holiday ornament using a tribute message you submit. Each ornament will be displayed on one of our Pet Tribute Trees, and you will receive an acknowledgement of your contribution.

With each $10 donation, pet lovers are invited to submit a photo of their pet along with their tribute message. A light will be lit, and your photo and Tribute Message will be used to create a unique ornament which we will hang on a Pet Tribute Tree for everyone to admire.

Tributes can also be made in honor of your own pets or pet, or as a unique holiday gift in honor of a friend or relative, or their pet. Gift tributes made in honor of others will include a personal note to the honoree letting them know of your gift in their name.

Pet Tribute Trees will be on display from the Friday after Thanksgiving through January 1, 2007 at the Preston/Beltline Starbucks in North Dallas and the Shiloh/Arapaho Starbucks in North Garland. Mail-In tribute forms can be picked up at participating Starbucks, or submit your tribute online at www.companionsforlife.org <http://www.companionsforlife.org/> . Please remember that all proceeds benefit our education and outreach programs aimed at elevating the role of companion animals in our society and creating a world where there are "no more disposable pets".

Project Hope Book Drive

Companions For Life and Animal Rescue of Texas are teaming up to fill the shelves at Dallas' soon-to-be opened animal shelter with books that encourage humane treatment of animals!

The Project Hope book drive is intended to build a children's classroom library at the shelter, which is slated to open in 2007. We're gathering donated books that hopefully will inspire compassion toward animals.

Teaching children respect, responsibility and kindness toward animals helps them become adults who practice caring and compassion toward not just animals, but also the people in their lives and society as a whole.

Donors are asked to contribute new or gently used books and are encouraged to choose books from humane education award winners listed on www.compa nionsforlife.org. Some of the well- known and beloved stories that are requested include: A Home For Nathan, A Friend Indeed, Forever Friends, Orville – A Dog Story, and Dog Blue.

The donations, which are tax deductible, can be dropped off at any Animal Rescue of Texas adoption event or Canine Commissary location.

Please consider donating! The book drive ends October 31, 2006!

Dog Bite Prevention In Frisco

This Saturday we've been invited to speak at the Toys R Us by Stonebriar Mall in Frisco. We'll teach kids and their parents how to be safe around dogs, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

Did you know that by age 14 about half of all children have been bitten by a dog? Knowledge and understanding of dog behavior can go a long way toward preventing bites! Come and join us and find out what you and your kids need to know!

Inspiration X 10!

I got this story recently from the co-worker of one of our volunteers. " My son had his 10th birthday party Saturday night and instead of getting gifts he collected donations for our local animal shelter. He collected $120 and we delivered the money yesterday. He wrote a letter to put in with the money. This is the funny part....he wrote "this money is for the dogs, please don't spend it on needles"!

Now there's a kid that understands! This is what it's all about - creating caring, compassionate human beings that understand the value of companion animals! This photo is of Joe and his dog Buddy, adopted from the shelter Joe donated his birthday money to!

Top Dog Update

Last Thursday nearly 20 local animal rescuers and shelter staff members attended our 4th Top Dog Speaker Series event. Jenny Womack, a family law attorney at Palmer & Womack, and co-chair of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyer's Animal Welfare Committee donated her time to discuss Texas' Charity Raffle Laws (not your ordinary state laws!) and recommended language for adoption contracts, foster contracts, and volunteer agreements. Afterward everyone headed home to review and update their documents and agreed to share the "best of" with others through our Rescue Resources forum!

At CFL we are very proud to be helping dedicated, compassionate, professional organizations continue to carry on the wonderful work they do - day in and day out!

Next month, Jerry Martin from the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management will be teaching rescuers the Incident Command System - a FEMA/DHS/NIMS management system used by first responders in disasters. This training will allow experienced animal handlers and group representatives to assist in future disasters in an effort to save pets as well as people!

The Videos Have Landed!

Today we received the videos for Parks & Recreation's after-school programs and the City of Dallas health clinics! There are a total of 38 videos! Funding was provided by the Erin Wylie Fund of The Dallas Foundation and private donations. Thank you to all of you who contributed! And thanks to the ASPCA for the significant discount they were able to arrange for us!

We'll be delivering the videos in the next few weeks and will update everyone then!

-Rebecca

Promises Kept

Today we ordered 30 humane education videos from the ASPCA! All 30 - some English/some Spanish, will be donated for use in the City of Dallas' Parks & Recreation Department's after school programs. It won't be long now before we can say that 44 after-school programs (36-37 elementary schools and 9 middle schools), serving approximately 3,000 kids, now have a chance to learn respect and responsibility toward companion animals! Our thanks to the Erin Wylie Fund of the Dallas Foundation, and a myriad of individual donors for making this possible!

Programs for Kids In The Works

This past weekend we trained four new teachers who will soon be able to go out and talk to elementary age kids about pet care and behavior, compassion, respect, and responsibility. There are two programs we're working on now - "Be Bite Free", which teaches children why dogs bite, to recognize the signals that a dog might bite, and how to properly approach a dog; and "Ten Acts Of Kindness" which teaches the ten things all pets deserve - shelter, water, food, exercise, grooming, training/socialization, safety, vet care, love, and respect. We hope to begin taking these programs out into the community very soon!

Top Dog Under Way!

Last month we kicked off our Top Dog Speaker Series for rescuers. Our first presenter was Kat Albrecht, former police officer turned pet detective, founder for Missing Pet Partnership, and author of Lost Pet Chronicles. Kat discussed cutting edge, search-and-rescue based pet recovery techniques and the results of her analysis of lost dog, and lost cat, behaviors. Find out more at www.lostapet.org.


Last week our Top Dog Speaker was Pam Burney, Senior Director, Regional Services, ASPCA National Shelter Outreach. Pam presented an interactive "Adoption Options" seminar based upon the findings of the PetsMart Charities sponsored Adoption Options Forum II. Rescuers were challenged to "think outside the box" when it comes to adopting out companion animals.




Here's what some folks had to say about Top Dog --

"Eye Opening"

"It proves that while we all try really hard we can do better."

"Very Insightful"

Very good info – some surprising!

CFL & Send A Kid To Camp - A Very Successful Partnership

Last week CFL Vice President Beth Hickman and I visited one of the 19 Parks & Rec Department's Send A Kid to Camp locations to see our humane education workbooks in action. It was awesome!
We met 15 minority 1st-3rd grade children from low- income families, their incredibe teacher, and two teen teaching assistants at a run-down apartment complex in Southeast Dallas. I have never seen such an enthusiastic group of children so clearly excited about what they were learning and so clearly eager to please their teacher!



Gathered around a long, portable table they studied different types of wildlife and their native habitats. They learned about desert wildlife, ocean creatures, rain forest inhabitants and more. They considered what the animals would feel if they were removed from those habitats and placed in cages in zoos or exhibted and exploited by humans. Then they laughed and screamed and smiled as one by one they each got to act out one of the animals they'd discussed while their classmates tried to guess the animal and it's natural habitat.



And I won't soon forget the rap song they'd made up and memorized to help them remember the animals and the importance of allowing them to remain in their natural habitats!



The plan for the next day? Making puppies out of paper bags. They could hardly wait!
It was an amazing payoff for only the $ 9.95 cost of one workbook. Absolutely amazing. My thanks to all of you who helped make our contribution to the Send A Kid To Camp program possible! We are making a difference!


-Rebecca

Less Than Bus Fare To Teach Compassion!

Today we received a grant from the Erin Wylie Fund of The Dallas Foundation. This generous contribution will help jump-start Phase II of the PetsMatter campaign. Phase II goals are to provide humane education videos and workbooks for the 44 Parks & Recreation Department's after-school programs - which reach approximately 3,000 children each year - and 47 Recreation Centers - which serve tens of thousands annually! It'll cost approximately $1,000 for the after school programs and $ 3,400 for the recreation centers. If the recreation centers see only about 100 kids per year - and we know they do many, many more - we're looking at less than .50 cents per child! That's less than bus fare to teach pet care and responsibility, respect, compassion, and awareness! We ARE shaping a new generation!

Welcome to the new CLF blog! Want to keep up with all the latest developments in our humane education and shelter outreach programs? This is the place to do it!