Betty White, Dr. Phil, and Kim Basinger top list of celebrities donating pet's collar for charity auction
"Celebrity Collars for Dollars" Fundraising Auction
Benefits Dogs Deserve Better; Begins June 22nd
June 18, 2010, Tipton, PA—Betty White, Dr. Phil, and Kim Basinger top the list of celebrities donating their dog's used collars for a "Celebrity Collars for Dollars" auction benefiting Dogs Deserve Better, a nonprofit bringing dogs from backyards into the home and family. Each celebrity donated an autographed photo and a signed dog collar with both their name and the name of their companion.
The group also received collars from Terry Bradshaw, Kate Bosworth, Kelly Hu, and Richard Simmons. All have been framed in shadow boxes with a photo of the celebrity, any personal notes, and a Dogs Deserve Better "Celebrity Collars for Dollars" inscription label specifying the celebrity name, his/her companion's name (if known), and the date of the auction.
Ashton Kutcher, Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Jeff Bridges, Tony Hawk, and Troy Aikman were among the celebrities who donated autographed photos. The photos were framed and will be sold during the ten-day eBay auction.
Matthew Broderick donated an autographed photo and a signed copy of "The Producers" playbill. Also donating photos or other signed items to the auction were Bob Barker, Carol Burnett, Chris Cagle, Dan Akroyd, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Eric McCormack, Fabio, Faith Ford, Greg Biffle, Jack Hanna, Jenna Elfman, Jimmy Buffett, Stefanie Powers, and Ted Kerasote.
Tamira Thayne, founder of Dogs Deserve Better, states "We're excited by our list of celebrity participants this year! Not every celebrity who donates sends a collar, but those who do make our celebrity auction really special and one of a kind. America's chained and penned dogs deserve so much more, and we're thrilled celebrities are joining with us in encouraging society to make dogs part of their pack and not leave them chained, isolated and alone, in the backyard."
Dogs Deserve Better is pairing the celebrity auction with their annual Chain Off Event, taking place from June 26th through July 4th. During this year's event, the group seeks Freedom for Chained Dogs in every state in the nation. 62 volunteers in 21 states plus Guam and British Columbia will live chained to doghouses for 8-24 hours to call attention to those who are still not free—dogs who spend their entire lives at the end of a chain, ostracised from what they long for most: family, love, and attention—a "pack" in which to belong.
The Dogs Deserve Better "Celebrity Collars for Dollars" auction will run 10 days through July 2nd, and can be found through the website at http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/collarsfordollars10.html starting June 22. Details on the group's Chain Off 2010 can be found at http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Chainoff2010before/chainoff2010.html.
Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Tipton, Pennsylvania, is the 2003 First Place Winner of the ASPCA Pet Protector Award, and currently has over 150 area reps in 38 states as well as in Canada, the UK, Bahamas, and Canada.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Why Chain Off Matters
I remember the moment eight years ago when I first thought of chaining myself to a doghouse. I was filled with a sense of rightness and excitement at the notion, yet fear and trepidation dogged my every mental step.
I tucked the idea away and ruminated.
The image wouldn’t budge, however, no matter how often I told myself it was impossible, it would be too embarrassing, people would laugh, etc., etc., etc.
What would they think of me?
But in the end the fear and uncertainty didn’t sway me from my vision. On July 3-4, 2004, I chained myself to a doghouse for the first time, facing my own inner demons about social acceptance and the prejudice of others—others who either chain their own dogs, love their own dogs but don’t extend that compassion to others, or know in their guts that chaining is wrong but aren’t willing to stand against it.
I chained myself to make a statement about chaining a dog for life.
I.e., it’s morally wrong.
And, it's ethically indefensible.
It should be the same no-brainer for the ‘Absolutely Immoral List’ as kicking a puppy or molesting a child.
Sticking a dog on a CHAIN despite the fact that he’s the absolute most-social of animals, affixing him to a doghouse or tree, ignoring his pleas for help, and watching him die ten years later—a mere shell of the glorious creature he was intended to be—IS a criminal act.
Yet, inexplicably, it doesn’t make the list for a large percentage of Americans.
I was raised on a 100-acre farm, and I grew up with a beagle chained to her doghouse behind the honeysuckle bush at the top of the lane. Granted, perhaps on the surface Maggie’s lifelong chaining didn’t top the list of abuses in my household, but looking back I can see that what we did to Maggie was absolutely WRONG.
I just didn’t have the power to stop it.
But don’t you see?
NOW WE DO! Now We DO!
When enough of us burst forth from the fear bubble we’ve put ourselves in, we CAN make things right for America’s chained dogs.
This IS a no-brainer, but we have to be willing to stop tolerating the abuse.
Are we ready yet? Will you work with me to put an end to the abuse?
When I take my place in front of my doghouse on the hot and humid grass of an Alachua, Florida shopping center this July 3rd, it will be my seventh year living chained for 24 hours or longer—suffering one day in comparison to their 365.
I’ve yet to die of embarrassment for doing it. When I spend those 24 miserable hours chained on behalf of chained dogs, what I’m doing matters to me, and it matters to the world we live in—a world which needs to see people strong enough in their belief of the wrongness of an act that they are willing to look stupid on behalf of a creature who has no voice. I’m depriving myself of comfort, adequate food, enough water, a nice soft bed, and protection from the elements because I know that they DO DESERVE BETTER.
Please join me in chaining yourself for them, or in supporting our Chain Off fundraising efforts so we may continue to be their voice.
When you see your dog on the couch tonight, give him or her a hug. And realize, no matter purebred or mutt, there are thousands more dogs who look just like yours living chained at this very moment, needing someone to be a voice for them.
Will you be that voice?
Tamira Ci Thayne,
Founder, CEO, Dogs Deserve Better
To register for Chain Off:
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Chainoff2010before/chainoff2010.html
To sponsor me as I chain myself:
http://www.firstgiving.com/TamiraThayne
To sponsor others who are chaining on behalf of the dogs:
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Chainoff2010before/chainoff2010locations.html
I tucked the idea away and ruminated.
The image wouldn’t budge, however, no matter how often I told myself it was impossible, it would be too embarrassing, people would laugh, etc., etc., etc.
What would they think of me?
But in the end the fear and uncertainty didn’t sway me from my vision. On July 3-4, 2004, I chained myself to a doghouse for the first time, facing my own inner demons about social acceptance and the prejudice of others—others who either chain their own dogs, love their own dogs but don’t extend that compassion to others, or know in their guts that chaining is wrong but aren’t willing to stand against it.
I chained myself to make a statement about chaining a dog for life.
I.e., it’s morally wrong.
And, it's ethically indefensible.
It should be the same no-brainer for the ‘Absolutely Immoral List’ as kicking a puppy or molesting a child.
Sticking a dog on a CHAIN despite the fact that he’s the absolute most-social of animals, affixing him to a doghouse or tree, ignoring his pleas for help, and watching him die ten years later—a mere shell of the glorious creature he was intended to be—IS a criminal act.
Yet, inexplicably, it doesn’t make the list for a large percentage of Americans.
I was raised on a 100-acre farm, and I grew up with a beagle chained to her doghouse behind the honeysuckle bush at the top of the lane. Granted, perhaps on the surface Maggie’s lifelong chaining didn’t top the list of abuses in my household, but looking back I can see that what we did to Maggie was absolutely WRONG.
I just didn’t have the power to stop it.
But don’t you see?
NOW WE DO! Now We DO!
When enough of us burst forth from the fear bubble we’ve put ourselves in, we CAN make things right for America’s chained dogs.
This IS a no-brainer, but we have to be willing to stop tolerating the abuse.
Are we ready yet? Will you work with me to put an end to the abuse?
When I take my place in front of my doghouse on the hot and humid grass of an Alachua, Florida shopping center this July 3rd, it will be my seventh year living chained for 24 hours or longer—suffering one day in comparison to their 365.
I’ve yet to die of embarrassment for doing it. When I spend those 24 miserable hours chained on behalf of chained dogs, what I’m doing matters to me, and it matters to the world we live in—a world which needs to see people strong enough in their belief of the wrongness of an act that they are willing to look stupid on behalf of a creature who has no voice. I’m depriving myself of comfort, adequate food, enough water, a nice soft bed, and protection from the elements because I know that they DO DESERVE BETTER.
Please join me in chaining yourself for them, or in supporting our Chain Off fundraising efforts so we may continue to be their voice.
When you see your dog on the couch tonight, give him or her a hug. And realize, no matter purebred or mutt, there are thousands more dogs who look just like yours living chained at this very moment, needing someone to be a voice for them.
Will you be that voice?
Tamira Ci Thayne,
Founder, CEO, Dogs Deserve Better
To register for Chain Off:
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Chainoff2010before/chainoff2010.html
To sponsor me as I chain myself:
http://www.firstgiving.com/TamiraThayne
To sponsor others who are chaining on behalf of the dogs:
http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/Chainoff2010before/chainoff2010locations.html
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Dog Caretakers who charge animal advocate with trespassing later release dogs to her organization
Cite Desire for Dogs to be a Success Story
June 6, 2010, Altoona, PA — In January 2010, Dogs Deserve Better Founder Tamira Thayne was charged with trespassing for providing food, water, and straw to two underweight chained dogs in Lilly, PA. Thayne lost the case in magisterial court, but the charges were not prosecuted on appeal.
In a twist that is being described as miraculous, dog caretakers Jason and Krystal Cann came to her and Dogs Deserve Better in June with the willingness to release the dogs to her organization. On June 6, 2010, everyone got their miracle.
Says Thayne: "I have renewed faith in miracles today! When Jason called me and expressed a desire to relinquish ownership of the dogs to DDB, I admit I was suspicious there was some kind of trick. But both he and wife Krystal desired a better life for the dogs, and they wanted their dogs to be a Dogs Deserve Better success story.
"I commend them for their courage in doing the right thing. That's a first for me, and I'm happy to say that tonight these two dogs have gotten their miracle. They will spend tonight sleeping in the home and will now learn how to live inside as part of the family."
Video of the rescue can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzyIjIY4m8.
Dogs Deserve Better is a national 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania, and asks all Pennsylvania residents to stand against this form of abuse by joining the coalition to Unchain Pennsylvania Dogs. The coalition seeks to pass a bill setting time limits on chaining, and creating better conditions for Pennsylvania's dogs. Sign up today at Unchainpadogs.com.
Please visit the website at DogsDeserveBetter.org to learn more about dog chaining, the reasons it is cruel to dogs and dangerous to humans, and to find a local area representative or other areas that have laws in place.
Contact:
Tamira Ci Thayne • CEO, Dogs Deserve Better
Dogs Deserve Better • P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684 • 814.941.7447 • www.dogsdeservebetter.org
June 6, 2010, Altoona, PA — In January 2010, Dogs Deserve Better Founder Tamira Thayne was charged with trespassing for providing food, water, and straw to two underweight chained dogs in Lilly, PA. Thayne lost the case in magisterial court, but the charges were not prosecuted on appeal.
In a twist that is being described as miraculous, dog caretakers Jason and Krystal Cann came to her and Dogs Deserve Better in June with the willingness to release the dogs to her organization. On June 6, 2010, everyone got their miracle.
Says Thayne: "I have renewed faith in miracles today! When Jason called me and expressed a desire to relinquish ownership of the dogs to DDB, I admit I was suspicious there was some kind of trick. But both he and wife Krystal desired a better life for the dogs, and they wanted their dogs to be a Dogs Deserve Better success story.
"I commend them for their courage in doing the right thing. That's a first for me, and I'm happy to say that tonight these two dogs have gotten their miracle. They will spend tonight sleeping in the home and will now learn how to live inside as part of the family."
Video of the rescue can be seen on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuzyIjIY4m8.
Dogs Deserve Better is a national 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania, and asks all Pennsylvania residents to stand against this form of abuse by joining the coalition to Unchain Pennsylvania Dogs. The coalition seeks to pass a bill setting time limits on chaining, and creating better conditions for Pennsylvania's dogs. Sign up today at Unchainpadogs.com.
Please visit the website at DogsDeserveBetter.org to learn more about dog chaining, the reasons it is cruel to dogs and dangerous to humans, and to find a local area representative or other areas that have laws in place.
Contact:
Tamira Ci Thayne • CEO, Dogs Deserve Better
Dogs Deserve Better • P.O. Box 23, Tipton, PA 16684 • 814.941.7447 • www.dogsdeservebetter.org
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