ASPCA $100K Challenge Contestants Save More than 52,000 Animals in Three Months

NEW YORK--The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that a total of 52,484 pets found homes during the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, a three-month competition where 49 shelters from 33 states and territories across the United States worked to increase the number of animals saved--either by adoption, alternative placements or being reunited with their owners--in order to win a portion of the $300,000 in ASPCA prize grants, including a grand prize of $100,000. When compared to the same three-month period in 2010, this year's contestants increased lives saved by a total of 8,977 more animals.

"We thought last year's first-ever $100K Challenge was amazing, and we really had nothing to compare it to in the field; it was uncharted territory for everyone," said Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA. "Well, the 2011 contest has left us astounded. In just three months time, contestants have given second chances to more than 52,000 dogs and cats, reinvigorated their communities and inspired their staff, volunteers and supporters. They are an inspiration to all of us."

During the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, contestants competed 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 ASPCA today awarded the following prizes in the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge:

• $100K Grand Prize and Southwest Regional Prize: Austin Pets Alive! in Austin, Texas, which sent 1,673 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 850 lives saved over the same period last year and more than any other contestant;

• $25K 2nd Place Prize and $20K Southeast Regional Prize: Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport, Miss., which sent 2,183 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 835 lives saved over the same period last year and the second biggest increase of any contestant;

• $25K Community Engagement Award: Humane Society for Greater Savannah in Savannah, Ga., which sent 739 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 414 animals over the same three months last year, and did the best job of getting its community involved in saving more animals;

• $20K Northeast Regional Prize: Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, Maine, which sent 1,303 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 629 lives saved over the same month last year and more than any other contestant in the Northeast region;

• $20K Midwest Regional Prize: City of Independence Animal Services in Independence, Mo., which sent 964 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 400 lives saved over the same period last year and more than any other contestant in the Midwest region; and

• $20K West Regional Prize: Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto, Calif., which sent 1,403 pets home during the three-month competition, an increase of 476 lives saved over the same month last year and more than any other contestant in the West region.

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 2012 ASPCA $100K Challenge, please stay tuned to http://challenge.aspcapro.org.