Our January 7 meeting will begin at 6:30 and will be held at the St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 2325 S. 24th Street, Lincoln (the Church is between Sewell St and Park Ave).

From 6:30 to about 7:00, the Lincoln Animal Ambassadors will provide an update of our accomplishments and future plans. As always, everyone is invited to discuss their concerns, inform everyone of happenings, etc. At the conclusion of our discussions, we will turn the meeting over to our guest speaker, Dennis Mathias of The Cat House.

We have recently received a number of questions about feral cats (a “feral” cat is typically defined as an undomesticated, wild cat or a house cat that has strayed and reverted to a wild state). Dennis Mathias has extensive experience working with feral cats and manages The Cat House’s feral cat TNR (trap-neuter-return) program.

The weather has put the TNR program on hold and while we are patiently waiting for spring to return, Dennis will share tips and tricks on how to keep our feral cat colony populations warm, happy, and healthy. Dennis will also demonstrate how to construct a low cost shelter.

Our other information: If you happen to go to the State Capitol, please swing through the cafeteria and check out our Giving Tree. The tree is loaded with snowflakes and colorful fleece rope toys (from Kaywin Sohl of Big Dogs Huge Paws). Choose a snowflake with an item you would like to purchase and donate. Select the fleece rope toy you like and leave a check donation.

As always, our meetings are open to the public. Please repost this for anyone who may be interested. Thank you and we are looking forward to seeing you on January 7! Happy Holidays!

Charlene Kjelland
Webmaster
www.LincolnAnimalAmbassadors.org

Charlene Kjelland from Lincoln Animal Ambassadors has sent out some important updates we wanted to share!

From Scott, IG Rescue, and Molly Hoffman:  The first-ever Ad Council campaign to focus on pets launches Thursday, Sept 24th and promotes pet ADOPTION from shelters and rescue groups - featuring YOUR adoptable pets.   The Shelter Pet Project is a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign including ads on television, radio, in print, outdoors and on the Web.  The ads direct audiences to visit a new Website, http://www.theshelterpetproject.org/, to find out more information about how to adopt a pet from a shelter. The Website includes a Pet Personals section, where visitors are asked questions about themselves and are then matched with potential pets from a local shelter or rescue group using the Petfinder.com database.  The Shelter Pet Project is a joint venture between The Humane Society of the United States, Maddie’s Fun, and The Ad Council.

We will have a table at the VegFest on Saturday, October 3, from 2 - 6 p.m. in Havelock Park.  Havelock Park is at 63rd and Ballard, two blocks south of Havelock Avenue on 63rd or 64th Street.  Please come and join us!!  If you would like more information about the VegFest, their website is http://www.communitycrops.org/vegfest 

At our meeting on October 8, Scott, IG Rescue, will talk about the way that the state laws in Nebraska are being interpreted for Animal Shelters now, compared to the way they were last year.  This is a change that has caused many organizations to get state licensed, but is being applied tougher on animal rescues than breeders. 

Everyone is invited to the St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (where we are having our meeting on October for their Animal Blessing on October 11, at 4:00 PM.  St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church is located at 2325 S. 24th Street.  They are planning a simple service and are not going to have booths for rescue groups, etc.  They are suggesting that attendees bring a donation of dog or cat food, toys, cat litter, etc., when attending the blessing.  A portion of these donations will be given to us, for our Pet Food Bank.

The Cornhusker Kennel Club and the Greater Lincoln Obedience Club will hold their all-breed dog show, obedience, rally and agility trials on Saturday and Sunday, October 3-4, at the Lancaster Event Center.

Here is a link to the judging program:
http://www.onofrio.com/jp/CORH1JP.pdf

Did you find your favorite breed listed there?

Dog shows are a great family-friendly event, and the entries are big this year so the competition should be pretty intense. FYI, dog show judging is a process of elimination, and as dogs are defeated in competition, many head home or back to their hotel to relax. So the earlier you arrive at the shows, the more you’ll be able to see.

What to bring:
Friends, family and well-behaved children Your wallet. (lots of great vendors and plenty of items to pick up for yourself, your dog, or as Christmas presents for dog-loving friends)

What not to bring:
Your own dog (unentered dogs are not permitted on the show grounds — it’s an insurance issue and will be strictly enforced) Baby strollers (the superintendent’s rule, also strictly enforced)

Lincoln Animal Ambassador meeting on September 8 will be held at the St. Paul United Methodist Church, located at 1144 M Street in Lincoln.  The meeting will begin at 6:30PM (with some mingle time starting at 6pm) and will end at 8:30 PM. 

Our speaker is Melody Kelso from the Pet Connection in Kansas City.  Here is a little background information on Melody:

“In January 2009, the Humane Society of Greater Kansas City (HSGKC) began a partnership, called the Ray of Hope, with the KCK Animal Control to reduce the euthanasia rate in the city shelter. The results in the first 6 months have been amazing: 1,000 pets have been saved and the KCK Animal Control’s euthanasia rate has decreased from 56% to 4%.”   

You can read all the details here:  http://www.hsgkc.org/rayofhopepage.html

The Pet Connection was very involved in the Ray of Hope.  Melody Kelso is one of the original founders of the Pet Connection and is the Pet Connection’s Executive Director / Behavioral Consultant / Animal Caretaker.  

You can view the Pet Connection’s website:  http://www.thepetconnection.net/

Please pass along this information to anyone who might be interested in coming to this meeting.  As always, our meetings are open to the public.