ASPCA announces Adopt-a-Bull contest winner

The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that Elsie, a high energy American Pit Bull Terrier from Pittsburgh, has been chosen as the third quarter winner of the ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match™ “Adopt-a-Bull” Contest.

“We are extremely proud of Elsie and her family,” said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. “The strong bond that Elsie has developed with her family stresses the importance of making long-lasting matches between pets and adopters. “Elsie is a true ambassador to the American Pit Bull Terrier breed, and thanks to the shelter’s participation in the ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match™ program and ‘Adopt-a-Bull’ contest, she is proof that every animal has the potential to thrive in the right home.”

Elsie and her pet parents Becky and Herb Torbin will receive an ASPCA prize package, and the Western Pa. Humane Society will be awarded a $4,000 grant; both the winning pet-parent pair and the shelter will automatically be entered to win the grand prize in the “Vote for Your Favorite Match" online contest which will take place in February 2009.

“The Western Pennsylvania Humane Society actively promotes adoptions for our best pit bulls and pit mixes,” said Lee Nesler, Executive Director. “We feel confident that by using the ASPCA®’s Meet your MatchTM SAFERTM (MYM SAFER) behavior assessment that we are making sound adoptions, and that these breed ambassadors will remain in their new forever homes. The funds that we receive from this contest will be used to supply enrichment items for the dogs while they are in the shelter—and will also go home with them at the time of adoption.”

The “Adopt-a-Bull” Contest, sponsored by Animal Farm Foundation, seeks to recognize and celebrate American Pit Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and dogs that appear to be predominantly of that type living in loving homes that were matched with their owners through the ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match™ Canine-ality™ Adoption Program. The ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match™ program is a scientific, research-based adoption tool aimed at creating better matches between prospective pet parents and animals based on accurate behavior assessments for the animals and understanding an individual adopter’s lifestyle and expectations. The program has proven to be extremely successful in increasing adoptions and reducing returns at shelters.

“Pit Bulls make great partners, and the ASPCA®’s Meet Your Match™ program really gives them the chance they deserve,” said Jane Berkey, President of Animal Farm Foundation. “Hearty congratulations to the Western Pa. Humane Society for matching Elsie, the Pit Bull in need of a second chance, with the Torbins, who fell in love with Elsie’s affectionate and happy nature.”

The Adopt-a-Bull contest will run four times through the year, with one winner announced each quarter. Each winner will automatically be entered into a contest for the grand prize. The grand prize winner will then be selected in 2009 via an online public vote. The prize package for quarterly winners includes a $4,000 grant for the shelter, and an ASPCA Collection gift package for the winning pit-pet parent match. The grand prize shelter winner will receive an all expense paid trip to New York City in April 2009 to participate in the ASPCA’s annual 'Go Orange For Animals' celebration and a $5000 grant for their shelter. The grand prize pet-parent winner will receive a photoshoot with a professional photographer and a bronze of their pet.



About the ASPCA®

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first humane organization established in the Americas, and today has more than one million supporters throughout North America. A 501 [c] [3] not-for-profit corporation, the ASPCA’s mission is to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA provides local and national leadership in animal-assisted therapy, animal behavior, animal poison control, anti-cruelty, humane education, legislative services, and shelter outreach. The New York City headquarters houses a full-service, accredited, animal hospital, adoption center, and mobile clinic outreach program. The Humane Law Enforcement department enforces New York’s animal cruelty laws and is featured on the reality television series “Animal Precinct” on Animal Planet. For more information, please visit www.aspca.org