March Toy Drive A Success!

Our March toy drive at the Humane Society of Williamson County ended Saturday (March 27th). I wasn't sure what to expect when I drove out to Cedar Park (a suburb of Austin), as it's a more out of the way location than we've ever had before. Clearly, the patrons of the HSWC are as kind & generous as the employees/volunteers - we had quite a load of toys and treats! The toy drive benefitted them as well, so I hope all the animals out there enjoy the new goodies!

April Toy Drive Information!

Our April toy drive is going to be held at Gallery of Pets, located at 11689 Research Boulevard, Austin, Tx 78759. I'm so excited that they have so generously agreed to host; the Gallery of Pets is a pet store I've been wanting an excuse to check out for quite some time now. They have just about anything & everything pet related you could ever need or want: high-quality pet food, pet-sitting services, aquarium services, exotic birds, and decorative animal-themed items. We'll be heading there to set up on Saturday, April 10th and the toy drive will end Saturday, April 24th. You know the drill, so stop by, donate a toy to a needy dog & check out some great pet goods at the same time!

Letter Response to Haiti Toy Drive!

We received a very sweet letter from the World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), who formed the Animal Rights Coalition for Haiti (ARCH) along with the Internation Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Whew- got all that? Our February toy drive benefited the animals of Haiti, and we shipped the box off a couple of weeks ago. Last night we received this letter, from Cecily West, the executive director of the WSPA, in response to our donations. I wanted to share this letter with all of your guys, as you are the ones that made this happen with all your donations! The letter says:

"Dear Katy & Teeny,

What an amazing response to your toy drive. It's clearly a testament to the passion and caring of your community of supporters. We will most definitely make sure the toys go to animals in need. Thank you so much for your contribution.

Warmly, Cecily"

Teeny and I Featured on 'Dogs Without Blogs'

Our friends at River Dog Prints have started a new feature on their furry friend Scout's official blog, called Scout's Dog Blog. It's called Dogs Without Blogs. They wanted to learn more about all of us, so for each post they interview a dog and his owner. Isn't that a great idea? Check out our posting (as well as the others) here.
On an unrelated note, Teeny is ready for St. Patrick's Day ~ are you?

New Teeny's Friends 1-Fur-1 Toy!

You told us and we listened! The new Teeny's Friends toy will be colorful, plushy squeaky, and has some tug capability. You can purchase this toy for $4.99 (that price includes shipping!) right on our blog by using the PayPal link in the right-hand column. Just to remind everyone, when you purchase one of our 1-fur-1 toys, we donate one to a needy dog in a shelter or low-income neighborhood.

Toys For Joseph

Last week, my Twitter friend Natalie (a champion for dog's rights if there ever was one!) heard about a dog named Joseph. He had been neglected, malnourished, and abandoned. Police found him tied up on a beach in Far Rockaway (I'm not sure where this is, but my guess is somewhere in New England). Sweet Joseph was taken in by the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and here is a photo of him at that time.

Doesn't that just break your heart? The online animal community rallied, and by the time I heard about him, he was in good hands with the Mayor's Alliance and his ailments were being treated. There was nothing left for me to do but send him a toy! So send him a toy I did, and corresponded a bit with one of his caregivers, Melissa (sweetest lady ever, by the way!). Today I received a wonderful surprise in my inbox - Melissa had taken some pictures of a MUCH healthier looking Joseph (or Joey, as he is now being referred to - TOO CUTE!) playing with the toy I sent him. It's not much, and I wish that I could have contributed more, but if the least I can do is provide a needy dog like Joey with a bit of fun then I am happy and will be able to sleep at night. I have posted the new pictures of Joey with his toy below. Oh, and Melissa- if you are reading this, THANK YOU for everything that you do. I imagine you don't hear that often enough but there are those of us out there who are amazed and humbled and inspired by people like you and more appreciative than you will ever know.

Austin City Council Approves "No-Kill" Policy At Shelter

via KVUE.com

"Austin City Council Thursday approved a plan that will begin to turn the Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC) into a no-kill shelter.
The vote was months in the making. In November, the council agreed to create a city animal advisory committee. Thursday morning, council members met again to approve the plan that committee developed.
Dozens of people showed up at Austin City Hall to support the plan. It gives the Town Lake Animal Center two years to ensure that 90 percent of the animals at the shelter leave the shelter alive.
It's a process advocates say is long overdue.
“We should not be so behind in the nation we should be leading the nation in no-kill. We have so many animals that can get homes and we have the homes available -- there absolutely are,” said Idette Quintana.
Last year, shelter officials say they euthanized 32 percent of the more than 2,200 animals at TLAC. Twenty-two percent of the animals were adopted.
The proposed plan the council approved Thursday morning does not include budget details.
The committee will meet again to determine the exact costs and savings that the program will provide.
Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Martinez also requested a regular update from the shelter in the implementation process."

While my primary goal with Teeny's Friends is not rescue, I strongly support rescue efforts and contribute/help whenever possible. We have contacted the Town Lake Animal Shelter in the past and attempted to work with them on toy drives but have always been turned down. That is the extent of my experience with them, so that is all that I have to form my opinion of them on. While I respect that not everyone wishes to participate in our toy drives (even though they are the only ones who have turned me down!) I never fully understand why an animal-centric organization wouldn't participate. In any case, it sounds like the animals of Austin will soon be much better off, which is the most important thing. Austin Pets Alive is an organization who wants to take of the City's adoption program at the Town Lake Animal Shelter. They claim they can do it for less than it costs the City, and will focus on 100% adoption rates. We think that sounds a good deal for everyone!

Teeny's Friends Products Now For Sale!

You can now buy Teeny's Friends products, including t-shirts and coffee mugs, in our Zazzle store! All proceeds from sales will be used to help further our cause of providing needy dogs with toys. You can "customize" your t-shirt by choosing your favorite style, size, and color. Show your support for our mission by sipping your latte from an "I'm a Friend of Teeny" coffee mug! Prices range from $15 - $20. It's socially responsible shopping! You know you want to... so go ahead! Buy a t-shirt and help a needy dog at the same time!

Dog Org Of The Month & March Toy Drive Info!

Our March toy drive has been set up and will be hosted by the Humane Society of Williamson County! They are located at 10930 E. Crystal Falls Parkway in Leander, Tx. Our bins will be there from 3/13 to 3/27 and all toys donated will benefit the Humane Society themselves! We all know that in times of economic hardship, donations tend to thin out a bit, so we wanted to give the pooches at the HSWC a boost and help them out by raising a bunch of toys for them to play with! They are a great organization and we are excited at the prospect of working with them. Besides, their tag line is "Finding Forever Homes and Saving Lives Every Day" - what's not to love about that?

I also wanted to mention that in our March newsletter chose our friends DogTipper.com for our pet organization of the month. They were fantastic in helping us out in our February toy drive benefitting ARCH and even donated some toys themselves! We are so appreciative of their friendship and everything they have done to help us on our mission!

February Toy Drive Benefitting ARCH A Success!

This afternoon I shipped off the care package to ARCH (Animal Relief Coalition of Haiti), who were the beneficiaries of our February toy drive. So exciting! I couldn't believe how big the box was! It was our first national toy drive and you guys all really came through. All of the toys were REALLY nice, too - our dogs went CRAZY each time a box came in. I posted a couple of pictures of the box for you guys to see!

Teeny's Friends Tribune March Edition!

It's that time again! Time for the monthly edition of the Teeny's Friends Tribune. Click on the newsletter to open up a larger version!