All they want for Christmas is a home.The BC SPCA's Squamish Valley Branch is playing Santa this holiday season and trying to find new, loving homes for more animals between Nov. 1and Dec. 31."Our goal is to adopt out 45 animals by the end of December including cats, kittens, puppies, rabbits and other small animals," said Squamish Valley Branch supervisor Marika Donnelly. "There is no wrong time of year to adopt a pet. In fact, the holidays are often an optimum time to bring an animal into a new home because families tend to take time off and spend more time with each other, and with their new companion animal."The Squamish Valley shelter is one of 19 SPCA branches across the province taking part in the Iams and Helen Woodward Animal Center's international Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, which aims to find homes for more than a million animals around the world. "More families bring pets into their homes during the holidays than at any other time of year so what better gift to give a homeless animal than a caring family and a warm home?" said Lorie Chortyk, general manager of community relations for the BC SPCA.By taking part in the campaign, the local shelter is able to provide pet adoption starter kits to all families who adopt an animal during the campaign. The kits include food and valuable pet care information to help families get off on the right paw with their new addition.The goal of this year's IH4TH is to find homes for one million pets during the two-month campaign."No one wants to think about an animal, through no fault of its own, spending the holidays at a shelter," said Donnelly. "If you are thinking about welcoming a dog, cat or other furry creature into your home at this time of year, come and meet some of the wonderful pets that we have available. It could change your life."Iams Home 4 the Holidays began in 1999 when the Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego, California organized 14 shelters in San Diego County during the holiday season to find homes for orphaned pets and to take business from the puppy mill industry. These shelters placed 2,563 dogs and cats in their new homes. In 2000, IH4TH expanded to 130 shelters in five states and completed more than 20,000 adoptions. In 2001, IH4TH became the largest pet adoption event in history when 450 participating groups in four countries completed more than 100,000 adoptions. Today, the campaign has placed more than 2,075,000 orphaned pets in loving, lifelong homes worldwide.For more information about Iams Home 4 the Holidays or to locate participating animal shelters and rescue groups, call 858-756-4117. The SPCA is also holding their annual Pet Pictures with Santa fundraiser at Bosley's Pet Food Plus on Saturday, Dec. 6 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
