Santa Paws Drive

Eleven Eleven Rescue in Canada gets their Santa Paws visit!

2009-12-25T16:17:00.003Z

Eleven Eleven Animal Rescue in Canada received their Santa Paws Drive presents on Christmas Eve -- just in time for Christmas! (Santa had perfect timing!)

They posted a great blog post full of pictures and videos of the kitties and doggies enjoying their new toys. Check it out here!

Here are just a few of the happy pictures:

See more of pictures and videos of Eleven Eleven's babies enjoying their Santa Paws Drive gifts on their blog post!

Santa Paws visits the Animal Welfare League in Australia!

2009-12-25T16:03:00.003Z

The doggies and kitties at Animal Welfare League of Queensland in Australia got their Santa Paws Drive gift package just in time for Christmas!

Nothing makes us happier than seeing all the happiness and Christmas joy we were able to send these beautiful animals' way. Look at all the cute pictures! (You can click on it to biggify.)

Thanks to @PepiSmartDog for nominating such a great organization, and thanks to everyone who donated for making this great drive possible!

Santa Paws Visits Cats Exclusive!

2009-12-23T03:36:00.007Z

Go to the official Santa Paws Drive site >>

Santa Paws (a.k.a. @YourDailyCute) visited Cats Exclusive in Florida today to drop off their package of toys and treats everyone donated! It was so, so great getting to give all the kitties their Christmas presents -- they were so happy!

One great story to go with this: They said they had gone online and tried to buy their cats some Christmas mice, but they were sold out everywhere. Well... guess what there was a ton of in their Santa Paws package? Christmas mice! Yay! :)

Check out some great pictures and videos of the kitties and their new toys!

This is me handing out some stinky NIP fishes!

Black Jack LOVED his! He just chewed and licked and loved it until it was all soggy. Then he rested his head on it.

Otis wants the Christmas mousie! See a video of him playing with it below!

A whole bunch of kitties getting toys!

Check out this kitty going CRAZY with his catnip fishy!

I haz a Christmas mouse.

I'm hogging all the toys!

The Cats Exclusive "mommies" and me... and some kitties, of course.

This is Richard. He is one of the most amazing, cat-loving, heart-filled people I've ever met.

More kitties and toys...

Hope you enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I enjoyed being Santa Paws and bringing all the kitties their presents! Look for more pictures of the other shelters getting their deliveries soon!

P.S. Special thanks to the official Santa Paws Drive photographer... my dad!

The Making of a Santa Paws Drive Gift Package!

2009-12-20T03:00:00.000Z

We thought it would be fun to share some pictures of how much GREAT stuff went into the gift packages we sent to the shelter dogs and cats. It was so much!

This is the making of a Santa Paws Drive package that we sent to one of the shelters with both dogs and cats...

Layer 1: Tons of dog treats!

Layer 2: Oodles of dog toys!

Layer 3: Bunches of cat treats!

Layer 4: Piles of cat toys!

It's like a lasagna of goodies for all the animals! Thank you all again for all your donations! We can't wait to hear from the shelters after they get their Christmas presents!

Announcing the Winners of the Year of Greenies Raffle...

2009-12-14T22:43:00.005Z

As many of you know (we hope!), Santa Paws Drive has been selling tickets to raffle of two HUGE baskets of goodies, courtesy of Greenies.

We sold tickets for just $1, with all proceeds going to Santa Paws Drive cash goal of $3,600. Greenies generously donated a whole year's worth of treats for cats and dogs -- and we sold almost $400 in tickets!!! THANK YOU, everyone!

The cat raffle basket included 36 packs of your favorite flavor Greenies ($108 value!) and the dog raffle included 12 packs ($208 value!) Now that's a prize we can really chew on!

Now, without further ado, we are excited to announce the winners of each of these raffle prizes.

Drumroll please...

The winner of a YEAR worth of Feline Greenies is... Julie Fox, a.k.a. @LadyGreyFox! (She needs more followers, so let's show her some anipal love and follow her!)

And the winner of the YEAR worth of Canine Greenies is... Monica Wilson, a.k.a. @kyba!

Congrats to both our winners! We'll be contacting you soon to see what flavors you like and any other info we might need to get your yummies on the way ASAP!

Thank you to everyone who supported Santa Paws Drive by buying raffle tickets, and a HUGE thank you to Greenies for their generous support. The raffle was a huge success!

Everyone please don't forget that the last day to donate is FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18th! We're only $349 away from our goal right now, and we know we can do it! Every single dollar helps, so if you can spare anything, we'd love to be able to give as much as we can to the shelters!

Please click here to donate!

Year of Greenies Raffle Extended!

2009-12-10T22:25:00.004Z

We've had such a great response to our raffle of a year's worth of Greenies treats that we're extending the raffle through MONDAY so all of our friends have time to participate!

This way, those who don't have to much "play" time on the computer during the week can get their raffle tickets over the weekend! And this way, even more of our friends will have a chance to win.

Every single penny collected from the raffle goes to the Santa Paws Drive shelters. HUGE thanks to Greenies for donating these huge and delicious prize packages!

Raffle Basket #1: Feline GREENIES® Dental Treats

Give the gift of healthy teeth with a 36 pack supply of Feline GREENIES® Dental Treats. The #1 veterinarian recommended feline dental treat, Feline GREENIES® are available in five delicious flavors that help reduce plaque and tartar build-up. Feline GREENIES® are 100% nutritionally complete and balanced,* fortified with vitamins, minerals, and taurine for optimum feline health. (Approximate retail value is $108.)
*For adult maintenance

Click here to buy CAT raffle tickets!

Raffle Basket #2: Canine GREENIES® Dental Chews Treat-PakTM

Give the gift of healthy teeth with a 12 pack supply of Canine GREENIES® Dental Chews Treat-PakTM. Veterinarian-recommended for at-home care,* Canine GREENIES® carry the Veterinary Oral Health Council Seal of Acceptance for plaque and tartar control. With antioxidants naturally sourced from fruits and vegetables, Canine GREENIES® clean teeth and freshen breath with the great taste dogs love. (Approximate retail value is $216.)
* Among veterinarians who recommend dental chews for at-home oral care.

Click here to buy DOG raffle tickets!

Decorate Twitter for the Holidays! #santapawty Tues, Dec 8th

2009-12-07T00:06:00.007Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site >>

It's that time of year, everyone! Time to dress up for the holidays, put up our festive pictures and share our Santa and other funny holiday photos!

Santa Paws Drive is hosting a special #santapawty on Tuesday 7 p.m. ET to get everyone in the holiday spirit! Join us for 2 pawsome hours of festive fun, complete with dancing, music, eggnog, holiday cookies and even a special HAM and TOONA feast! (see timezone schedule below)

This special Anipal Holiday Party is going to be a great way to kick off the holiday season! We'll also have some great giveaways and a SUPER raffle worth over $300!

Greenies has donated a whole year worth of Greenies treats for dogs and a whole year worth of Greenies treats for cats! That's A LOT of treats -- and you can win them all!

Some fun ways to join in:

Upload your Santa pictures to Twitpic and share them!
Share your crazy holiday dress-up pictures!
Make some pawsome pictures online! (You can use Blingee, Piknik, PikiPimp or any others you know of.)
Create a funny video using ElfYourself from JibJab! (see an example below!)
You can create a picture of you on Santa's lap with this cool Santa's Lap facebook app! (If you have Facebook, this one is pretty funny).

And don't forget to add the Santa Paws Drive twibbon to your avatar, too! You can get it here: http://twibbon.com/cause/Santa-Paws-Drive.

Here are just a few of our friends who have already added theirs!

Also, Tuesday will be the LAST DAY to donate toys for Santa Paws Drive. We will still be collecting cash donations, but we need to close off the toys on Tuesday so we have time to ship out to our international shelters in time for Christmas!

So if you've been wanting to donate, please be sure you do by Tuesday, Dec. 8th. And please tell anyone you think might want help out as well. We're close to goal, but we've got quite a bit to go...

#santapawty start times:
EDST -- 19:00
PST -- 4:00 p.m.
EST -- 7:00 p.m.
BST -- 12:00 a.m.
Aussie time -- 9:00 a.m.

Here's a little inspiration for you. It's an ElfYourself video starring @YourDailyCute's two cats, Pimp and Moo!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

'Twas the Night Before Christmas at the Animal Shelter

2009-12-06T00:39:00.003Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site >>

'Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
Every shelter is full. We are lost but not found.
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
We hope every minute that someone will care.

They'll come to adopt us and give us the call,
"Come here, Max and Sparkie ~ come fetch your new ball!"
But now we just sit here and think of the days.....
We were treated so fondly ~ we had baby ways.

Once we were little, then we grew and we grew ~
Now we're no longer young, and we're no longer new.
So out the back door we were thrown like trash,
They reacted so quickly ~ why were they so rash?

We "jump on the children," "don't come when they call",
We "bark when they leave us," "climb over the wall."
We should have been neutered, we should have been spayed,
Wow we suffer the consequence of the error they made.

If only they'd trained us, if only we knew...
We'd have done what they asked us and worshipped them, too.
We were left in back yard, or worse ~ left to roam...
Now we're tired and lonely and out of a home.

They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-by....
"Maybe someone else will give you a try."
So now here we are, all confused and alone....
In a shelter with others who long for a home.

The kind workers come through with a meal and a pat,
With so many to care for, they can't stay to chat.
They move to the next kennel, giving each of us cheer....
We know that they wonder how long we'll be here.

We lay down to sleep and sweet dreams fill our heads....
Of a home filled with love and our own cozy beds.
Then we wake to see sad eyes, brimming with tears ~
Our friends filled with emptiness, worry and fear.

If you can't adopt us and there's no room at your inn ~
Could you help with the bills and fill our food bin?
We count on your kindness each day of the year ~
Can you give more than hope to everyone here?

Santa Paws Drive mission is to bring these lonely shelter animals a little cheer, a little love and a few gifts this holiday season. If you can spare a few dollars to donate or toy or donate some money, the animals will surely appreciate it.

Donate toys or money to Santa Paws Drive.

See the shelters Santa Paws Drive supports.

SuppliesJust4Pets.com is Matching Dog Toy Donations!

2009-11-29T23:05:00.005Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official main site >>

Great news, everyone! SuppliesJust4Pets.com (one of Santa Paws Drive team members and @BabyPatches momma!) is matching single dog toy donations now through the midnight Monday!

This can be a huge boost in our donations! For every single dog toy you donate to Santa Paws Drive, she'll match it -- which means dog toy donations are basically 2-4-1 right now!

As a Santa Paws Drive team member, she's super dedicated to make sure that our drive to bring holiday cheer to shelter animals is super successful, and this is a super generous offer she's made.

To see the dog toys that qualify for her matching donations, see the dog toy items in the Santa Paws Gift shop. There is NO SHIPPING on any of these items!

You can choose any of the single dog toys -- Bad Cuz Tough Toy, HOWLiday Bungee Reindeer and the Naughty & Nice Tug -- (bundles are not up for matching) and she'll automatically donate one for every one you donate! You won't see it in your cart, but she will add it to our list behind the scenes.

Let's help give as many gifts as we can to our furry friends in shelters this season! Please spread the word about this great and generous matching donations she's doing!

P.S. Why just dog toys, you ask? Well, the doggies need a little extra help here! Looks like the cats are going to get more toys so far, and we want to make sure that we have plenty of doggie gifts to give, too!

Winners of the THANKATHON Giveaway!

2009-11-29T00:38:00.001Z

Wow! We had so many comments on our Thankathon post about what people were thankful for this year! As promised, we have TONS of prizes to give away to people who shared with us!

Santa Paws Drive own @BabyPatches has picked our winners! Check out the pawsome video below of her picking them -- she did a great job!

And now on to the winners!

Grand prize winner of an amazing toy bear all the way from HARRODS in London is...
Henry (aka @Quadpawd)

Runner-up #1 and winner of a Deluxe Santa Suit (coat and all!) is...
Huntyr (aka @kyba)

Runner-up #2 and winner of a snazzy Santa Hat is...
Coco (aka @moviestarcoco)

And the random winners of some nommy TURKEY TREATS are...

The TURKEY cat treat winners!
@ellabellakitty
@kealoha_kitty
@samthecatrocks
@petiethecat
@BrewskieButt

The TURKEY dog treat winners!
@moviestarcoco
@fergusthedog
@health4uandpets
@MadLabM
@Ri_Guy

Congrats to ALL our winners! As always, thank you so much for supporting Santa Paws Drive. These prizes are our gifts to YOU, as our way of showing our appreciation for all you do, and all you've done to help!

We will be contacting the winners within the next 2 days to get addresses. If you don't hear from us, please DM @SantaPawsDrive!

Furry Film Giveaway

2009-11-24T12:08:00.002Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site! >>

The guys at @furminator_inc are supporting our SantaPawsDrive with some great giveaways and you could still get your paws on one of these fantastic new tools before the hit the stores.

We want to have some furry film fun so all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to tweet your furry film title title to @furminator_inc with the hash tag #santapawsdrive.

To get you in the Furry Film Mood here are some suggestions of James Bond Film's with Fur in the title.

The man with the golden fur - ( The man with the Golden Gun)
Fur your Eyes Only - (For your eyes only)
Tomorrow NevFUR Dies ( Tomorrow never dies)
From RussFUR with love (From Russia with Love)
Dr Fur (Doctor No).

You can tweet as many titles as you want to up until the end of the Draw on the 25th November at the following times:

PST 04:00pm 25th
EST 07:00pm 25th
GMT Midnight 25th
NZ 01:00pm 25th

We will then ask @furminator_inc to draw the Funniest Furry Film Title from the messages they get. Go on you know you want a chance to win one of these great new tools.

Remember if you want to help the anipals in shelters have a happier holiday season please consider donating to our santapaws charities, you can donate cash or presents the choice is up to you.

-- The Santa Paws Team
@YourDailyCute, @frugaldougal and @BabyPatches

CONTEST: What Are YOU Thankful For? (Win Santa prizes and TURKEY treats!)

2009-11-21T17:48:00.011Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site >>

Thanksgiving is a time for being thankful for what we have: for our wonderful family, our fabulous pets, our amazing friends... and TURKEY!

Santa Paws Drive is thankful for everyone's support so far. Together we're getting closer to our goal of money, toys and treats to help bring holiday cheer to the less fortunate shelter animals this Christmas.

For our latest Santa Paws Drive event, we want to know what you're thankful for! From all the answers, Santa Paws' own Baby Patches is going to pick some random winners.

How to Enter

WIn a Brand New FURminator Tool

2009-11-17T16:33:00.003Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site >>

The guys at @furminator_inc are supporting our SantaPawsDrive with some great giveaways and you could get your paws on one of these fantastic new tools before the hit the stores. All you have to do is to look out for the message on twitter that will be posted today 17th and Retweet (RT) the message to be included in the Draw.

You can RT the message up until the end of the Draw on the 18th November at the following times:

PST 04:00pm 18th
EST 07:00pm 18th
GMT Midnight 18th
NZ Noon 19th

We will then ask @furminator_inc to draw a name at random from the pals who had retweeted the message. Go on you know you want a chance to win one of these great new tools.

Remember if you want to help the anipals in shelters have a happier holiday season please consider donating to our santapaws charities, you can donate cash or presents the choice is up to you.

-- The Santa Paws Team
@YourDailyCute, @frugaldougal and @BabyPatches

Pet Prize "Power Hour" Monday at 9:30 pm EST!

2009-11-14T15:01:00.007Z

Go to Santa Paws Drive official site >>

Santa Paws Drive is happy to announce our next fun event -- a Pet Prize POWER HOUR!

What is a "power hour," you ask? It's an fun-filled, fast-paced toy giveaway we're doing for all those who are supporting Santa Paws Drive! A winner every 5 minutes!

All you have to do is follow @SantaPawDrive on Twitter and tune in at 9:30 p.m. Monday night EST. (See below for what time that is in your time zone.)

EDST -- 21:30
PST -- 6:30 p.m.
EST -- 9:30 p.m.
BST -- 2:30 a.m.
Aussie time -- 11:30 a.m.

We'll be asking a fun holiday or pet-related question every 5 minutes. First one to DM with the correct answer wins!

It's going to get crazy, and it's going to be lots of fun! We hope you'll come by and participate -- the more the merrier!

Don't forget to follow @SantaPawsDrive to participate! A prize every 5 minutes is a lot of prizes!

Please spread the word and tell your friends about this fun event. See you there!

--The Santa Paws Team
@YourDailyCute, @frugaldougal and @BabyPatches

How Santa Paws Drive Came to Be...

2009-11-07T17:14:00.007Z

It's amazing what a little idea can turn in to if you find the right people to help...

A few months ago, a had an idea to have a "virtual toy drive" for shelter animals around the holidays. Thinking about the Marines' Toys 4 Tots and the Salvation Army's Angel Tree programs, I thought it would be so great to do something similar, but for animals.

I know my pets at home get gifts and treats for Christmas -- wrapped and under the tree, of course! -- but my heart went out to the shelter animals who aren't lucky enough to have forever homes and families to love them and shower them with gifts and attention during the holidays.

And the more I thought about it, the more excited I got! There was just one (or a bagillion) little problem... I had no idea how to do it, or where to even start.

Enter the amazing pet-loving community on Twitter!

Through tweeting for my blog as @YourDailyCute (my blog is YourDailyCute.com), I've meet some truly amazing people all over the world, with incredible unique skills, knowledge and niches -- so I reached out to two Twitter friends to help make Santa Paws Drive a reality!

On Twitter, @frugaldougal is the mastermind behind all hugely successful "pawpawty" fundraisers... so I knew he and his mom, Lynn, would be a GREAT one to have on the Santa Paws Drive team.

And @BabyPatches is the Chief Kit for SuppliesJust4Pets.com online store... which would be a GREAT way to facilitate the toy donations, so she and her mom, Salina, joined up on the team, too!

Together, the three of us from all around the world -- @YourDailyCute from Florida, @frugaldougal in the UK, and @BabyPatches from California -- to make the Santa Paws Drive project a dream come true!

I've said it before and I'll say it a million more times before all this is over probably, but it is absolutely incredible how many fantastic people I've met through Twitter and the anipal community. (Anipals are pets who "tweet" on Twitter; they are the nicest bunch you could ever hope to meet.)

Together we decided to reach out to 6 non-profit, no-kill shelters worldwide to benefit from Santa Paws Drive. We each chose a local rescue, and then the other three were recommended from other friends on Twitter.

Lynn created the SantaPawsDrive.com site, Salina chose the special toys for everyone to donate and built a custom-dedicated store for Santa Paws Drive on her shop site and Dorian coordinated with both of them and a couple other friends, plus launched and promoted Santa Paws Drive on Twitter (@SantaPawsDrive and Facebook (be a fan!)!

And so, long story short, we worked together for many, many hours over email, chat an Twitter to get all the little details together.

We sincerely hope our Santa Paws Drive can be a HUGE success and we can bring some much-needed holiday cheer to our furry friends who aren't lucky enough to have forever homes during the holidays.

To donate a toy or money and for more information, please visit the Santa Paws Drive official site at www. SantaPawsDrive.com!

Thank you in advance for helping us put some smiles on some lucky animals cute little faces this holiday season!

Badges and Widgets to Use on Your Blog

2009-11-07T17:13:00.002Z

Back to Santa Paws Drive HOME >>

Please help support Santa Paws Drive by posting some of our goodies on your blogs. The more we can spread the word, the more good we can do for shelter animals this holiday!

Simply choose one badges or the widget below, copy the code, paste in on your blog and voila! It will magically appear! Thank you!

HUGE Special Thanks To...

2009-11-07T15:56:00.004Z

Santa Paws Drive couldn't be what it is without the huge help and support from some amazing people -- and we want to make sure we recognize and give an extra special thank you to each one of them!

Austin and Kerri Schlack
A dynamic duo! Austin created the Santa Paws Drive logo, all the badges you see on other blogs and the extra little touches that made our site what it is, like the paw Twitter and Facebook icons.

Lenisse Komatsu
Our graphic genius! Lenisse drew up the official Santa Paws Drive image you see on SantaPawsDrive.com, our Facebook page, our Twitter page and on the badges Austin put together! Lenisse also hand drew all the cash donation images for the official Santa Paws store.

All our friends who helped spread the word
Before our launch day, it was incredible to see all our friends on Twitter and Facebook come together to spread the word. We wish we could name them all individually, but the list would be too long! To each and every one of you: Thank you!

Watch This Space

2009-10-16T01:23:00.000+01:00

Some exciting news coming very soon...........

Stay Tuned

Frugal Dougal