America's Animal Shelters Take on the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge

NEW YORK--The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today officially kicked off the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, a three-month competition where 49 shelters from 33 states and territories across the United States will work to increase adoptions in order to win some of the $300,000 in ASPCA prize grants, including a grand prize of $100,000.

Over the course of this week, contestants will hold special kick-off events around the country in an effort to get off to a strong start in the competition. Many contestants are planning 24-hour adoption events, unique promotions and discounts on adoption fees, and more. To find a contestant near you, please visit http://challenge.aspcapro.org/challenge/contestants. To see a complete list of 2011 $100K Challenge events as they are scheduled - including those scheduled for this week's kick-off - please stay tuned to http://challenge.aspcapro.org/shelter/events/all throughout the contest. Starting today, the ASPCA also will join the contestants and all of their supporters in tweeting with the unique hashtag #ASPCA100K. The organization encourages animal lovers to use #ASPCA100K on Facebook and Twitter to help spread the word about adopting animals from shelters in the contest.

"Based on the energy and buzz this year's contestants have already generated for kickoff, we fully anticipate that these shelters will save even more lives than last year's contestants because they've got their communities behind them 100 percent," said Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA.

During the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, contestants will compete to save at least 300 more animals--during the months of August, September, and October 2011--than they did over the same three-month period in 2010. The shelter with the biggest increase in animals saved will win a $100,000 grant. The agency that gets the most community members involved in saving animals will win a $25,000 grant, and those organizations that do the best in their regions will be eligible for between $5,000 and $25,000 in grants. In last year's first-ever ASPCA $100K Challenge, contestants saved a total of 48,779 lives over three months - an increase of 7,362 lives over the same three months in 2009.

It has long been a priority of the ASPCA to create a country of humane communities where there is no more euthanasia of homeless animals simply because of a lack of space or the resources to adequately care for them. The ASPCA $100K Challenge builds on that goal by inspiring shelters and their communities to innovate and act to save more animals. For more information about the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, please visit http://challenge.aspcapro.org.