October 29, 2015, Washington, D.C. – Best in Shelter (www.bestinshelter.org), a nonprofit organization created to encourage pet adoption from local shelters and rescue organizations, is pleased to announce its 2015 virtual show, this time focusing attention on farm animal sanctuaries. The competition begins on Sunday, November 1, 2015 and will continue through November 14, 2015.
Created in 2011 by mystery writer Martha Grimes, Best in Shelter’s first online pet adoption competition in 2012 celebrated dog adoption and caused a media sensation with 51,000 votes cast for 16 dogs and distributed $110,000 to four deserving shelters and rescue organizations. The organization followed with a virtual cat show in 2014 which earned participating organizations a total of $103,000.
“In the present competition, we are shifting focus and turning what we hope is the same bright beam on the conditions of farm animals and farm sanctuaries,” said Martha Grimes.
The seven participating sanctuaries are: Animal Place (Grass Valley, CA); The Barnyard Sanctuary (Columbia, NJ); Catskill Animal Sanctuary (Saugerties, NY); The Cow Sanctuary (Bridgeton, NJ); Kindred Spirits Sanctuary (Ocala, FL); Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary (Poolesville, MD); and The Pig Preserve (Jamestown, TN.)
There are two simultaneous parts to the competition: Best Sanctuary and Favorite Farm Animal. There will be a first and second place prize awarded in both categories. No sanctuary goes home empty handed since there will be “Honorable Mention” grants to organizations finishing “out of the money.” The sanctuaries submitted videos and still photos of the animals they nominated for Favorite Farm Animal (or animal pair) to Best in Shelter and they are available for viewing on the website. In addition, one of the shelters and the work they do will be featured each day. The videos and still photos can be found at www.bestinshelter.org by scrolling down to the sanctuary and clicking on the logo.
The first place winner in the Best Sanctuary category will be awarded $50,000 while the second place winner gets $30,000. In the Farm Animal category, first and second places are awarded $25,000 and $15,000, respectively for their organizations. Each sanctuary is limited to one prize and those organizations not finishing with an award will be granted an honorable mention grant of $2,000.
Voting will take place on the Best in Shelter website via Facebook and animal lovers and farm animal activists are asked to cast their votes for their favorite sanctuary and their favorite farm animal. One vote per day in each category is permitted.
“Farm sanctuaries, such as the ones taking part in this competition, are often the last hope for mistreated and neglected farm animals. Sanctuaries expend enormous amounts of effort and time in rescue and rehabilitation of animals, some that quite literally drop off the backs of trucks headed for the slaughterhouse,” noted Martha Grimes.
“Sanctuaries offer these animals a lifetime home of shelter, food and care. Farm sanctuaries and the people who run them are to me the unsung heroes of the animal world.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2015
Contact: Victoria Van Son
202-544-1346
vvs_bis@verizon.net
Addendum (added November 11, 2015)
Best in Shelter experienced some technical problems on day one of the voting and has decided to extend the voting by an additional day so everyone who wants to vote gets the opportunity to do so.
The voting will now end at 12:59 p.m. on Sunday, November 15, 2015.