The Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport, Miss., Wins 2nd Place & Tops Southeast Region in ASPCA $100K Challenge

NEW YORK-- The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that the Humane Society of South Mississippi (HSSM) in Gulfport, Miss., has both won second place and topped the Southeast region in the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge. HSSM will receive a $25,000 grant for its second place win and an additional $20,000 for topping the Southeast region, for a total of $45,000. HSSM found homes for 2,183 pets during the three-month competition, an increase of 835 animals saved over the same period last year and the second biggest increase of any contestant.

"The staff and volunteers at HSSM implemented so many smart strategies and promotions that it comes as no surprise that they were able to place more than 2,000 animals in three months," said Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA. "The staff at HSSM has said that the $100K Challenge has completely changed their way of thinking, working and saving animals, and we believe it."

During the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge, contestants competed to save at least 300 more animals during the months of August, September, and October 2011--either by adoption or being reunited with their owners--than they did over the same three-month period in 2010. Forty-nine shelters from 33 states and territories across the United States worked to increase the number of animals saved in order to win a portion of the $300,000 in ASPCA prize grants, including the grand prize of $100,000.

In addition to HSSM's second place win, the ASPCA today is awarding the following prizes in the 2011 ASPCA $100K Challenge:

• $100K Grand Prize and Southwest Regional Prize: Austin Pets Alive! in Austin, Texas, for having the biggest increase in lives saved;
• $25K Community Engagement Award: Humane Society for Greater Savannah in Savannah, Ga., for doing the best job of getting its community involved in saving more animals;
• $20K Northeast Regional Prize: Greater Androscoggin Humane Society in Lewiston, Maine, for having the biggest increase in lives saved in the Northeast region;
• $20K Midwest Regional Prize: City of Independence Animal Services in Independence, Mo., for having the biggest increase in lives saved in the Midwest region; and
• $20K West Regional Prize: Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto, Calif., for having the biggest increase in lives saved in the West region.

This year, ASPCA $100K Challenge contestants saved a total of 8,977 more animals as compared to the same three-month period in 2010. In total, 2011 $100K Challenge contestants saved 52,484 lives in just three months.

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.