There has been a lot going on in the world of animals and pet owners! Everytime I open the newspaper or log onto a news website there is an article about a brave little animal that survived euthanasia or a change in animal rights legislation! It is so good to see the growing interest in preventing animal abuse and animal activism!!! (shown at right is "Andrea" the cat who's story is mentioned further into the blog)

The new animal shelter on west fulton st in fulton county that received donations in 2007 has finished it's contruction and has been insulated. Great news for fulton county! It will definitely help with the over abundance of animals on the street and the spaying and neutering problem.

One of the things I am most excited about is that it is actually possible to become A KILL SHELTER FREE NATION by 2015!!!! Corporate funds have increasingly gone towards animal causes and have contributed 30 million so far. By 2015 we will have an estimated 70 million. Most of that money will go to spaying and nuetering due to the costs of this procedure most often being too expensive for pet owners. This will then serve as an alternative to euthanization and we will no longer use that method for population control! I cannot stress this piece of advice enough to new pet owners..please do whatever you can to make sure your pet is spayed and neutered so that we can prevent further killings of innocent animals!

I'm not sure how many have heard the inspiring story about a cat named "Andrea" who survived two euthanization attempts in a Utah shelter but if you haven't it is likely to break your heart. Andrea had such a will to live that she survived two attempts of the shelter taking her life. The second time the shelter thought they had succeeded and put her in a bag in a freezer. They soon found that she had thrown up on herself and was still alive. It is sad to think that they would put this innocent animal through two attempts or any attempts at all. Her story grew rapidly and had a happy ending! she was adopted. :) It is stories like hers that should open America's eyes to the need to eliminate kill shelters. They are hideous options to controlling populations and our society is too civil to partake in it. Let her be an inspiration to be a voice for these animals and to join organizations that fight the concept of kill shelters!!

I will be competing in the Miss Fulton County pageant which is a preliminary to the Miss America pageant and throughout my entire pageant career my platform has been preventing animal abuse and neglect. People will often ask me why my platform is not "preventing child abuse" or " preventing abusive relationships". My answer is always that my platform already includes all of that. If we can recognize the relationship between animal abuse and violence in general we are protecting all. One of my major goals is to help my community and beyond to understand the correlation between animal abuse and all other kinds of violence. Ninety- nine percet of criminals in our jails have abused an animal before commiting a crime of another nature that landed them in prison. Anti- social personality disorder is usually to blame for animal abuse ad all crimes against humanity. Some of the most important traits to recognize in this disorder is disregard to all lawful regulations and having no remorse towards the violent crimes they have committed. It really is a scary disorder that exists in the world and our communities need to be aware of it's dangers. The famous "Buster's Law" was named after a tabby cat that was set on fire by a 16 yearold named chester williamson. In Chester's life since, there has been a lengthy list of crimes and in his past before hurting "Buster" a lengthy list of animal abuse incidents. :/ This is just one of many examples!

Lastly I'd just like to say that if you ever see an animal being abused or are suspicious please do not be afraid to be their voice! It is important to report anonomously for your own safety because people who abuse animals intentionally are usually dangerous. Some animals will never know love, kindness, comfort or companionship but you may be the only reason they do.

SPREAD THE WORD! We can accomplish both a kill shelter free nation and preventing violence in our communities! Thanks so much for reading!

Danielle <3

There is an organization I think every animal lover and animal rights activist should be aware of and its called the "Best friends animal society". This shelter/animal rights organization has made significant progress already in one of their main goals to reduce the numbers of animals killed in shelters annually. They have succeeded in bringing that number down to five million but that number is still terrible. More ideas and initiatives are going to need to be brought to attention and put into action so that this organization and anyone wishing to help can bring this ugly number of 5 million down to 0. :)

It will continue to show through that anyone who abuses an animal or is not kind to them will most definitely be willing to commit a violent crime against humanity. We need to identify this correlation and make a difference not only for the animals affected but for our communities. This is not only about one kind of abuse or danger. This is about protecting every living breathing thing that should never have to endure such torture and disfortune. We are protecting our communities in ways we never have before with this concept. If you ate curious about getting involved here is the website explaining any question you could possibly have!http://www.bestfriends.org/aboutus/

I'll leave you with the philosophy of the best friends animal society: "Kindness to animals creates a better world" I could never say it better myself!

Here is a picture of some of the food I collected. Im trying to get the picture of the group who held the contest as well but my phone confuses me a little lol. So that will be up on here by the weekend hopefully. I have the cute little pink hair strand in for breast cancer awareness! October is a good month :p I have delivered the food to Helping Paws and I now need to find time to get out to the animal shelter in Herkimer :p I am joining a sorority on campus called sigma delta tau. Theyre pretty awesome! No hazing and no nonsense! We just volunteer and make new friendships. :) its a really nice group. I cant wait to see what our next projects are going to be. This weekend Ill be going home to see my cousin in albany and then next weekend is the veterans day parade and the informational mixer for Miss Fulton County! It's gaining on us! I have pretty much everything I need and now Im just putting the last touches on my application.

We are just starting the food vs fuel project which is an effort to provide the elderly with food for the winter so that they don't have to choose between being warm and being fed. So many of our elderly in communities cannot afford to heat their homes and buy groceries at the same time. so we are going to change that for 16 families this winter :) Ill have an article update up by tonight. Stay warm!

http://thepageantplanet.com/blog/how-to-reduce-pageant-interview-anxiety.html
if anyone has anxieties in pageants during the interview portion this might help you out! I know a lot of my friends have trouble not being nervous and I certainly do. But I love this article. It is very helpful and very true.

I have finally got some supporters and it looks like the food/supply drive is going to be a huge success! Tomorrow I will be going to the Reslife meeting on campus to propose putting bins in all of the residence halls. I explained to them already what I am planning to do and what I am asking and they seem very open minded and welcoming :) Only one bin is out so far. Now I need to get the rest out and ask the grocery stores to donate if possible.
I have my animal rights group meeting at 5:30. They should be able to help me with some new ideas! Ill be volunteering at the animal shelter in Delhi on october 15th and we might start a dog walking service! All of it is right up my alley lol

Im starting my interview studies early. But I dont even like to call it studying. It gets so interesting and involved lol. As I'm going through articles online I get led to another interesting article and then I'm just on the computer forever :p Pageant Planet on facebook is my new addiction! Later on I will list some of the articles I loved today if anyone is interested :)

Updates yay!

I went to wal-mart today and got all of the supplies I need to start the food/supply drive. I got permission to conduct the drive in Alumni Hall at SUNY oneonta and asked permission to attend the resident life meeting at 9am tomorrow morning to make a proposal to place bins in the residence halls. I hope they say yes! I think a lot of students will pay attention and want to help these animals have food. Apparently the dry dog food goes bad quickly so they have asked for canned dog and cat food, treats, purina kitten and puppy chow, and the nonexpensive/nonclumping cat litter. Anything is welcome though. EVERYTHING helps. I am also planning on donating to "Helping Paws" in Broadalbin because they run their shelter out of their home. They can probably definitely use dry dog food so if you want to donate it that will still be extremely helpful! The next step is notifying them that I want to help them haha thats what I'm going to attend to now :)

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene has not only affected the citizens of our communities. The damage and hardship has been extended onto our pets and companions. The Humane Society is taking in any displaced animals that have been seperated from their families as a result of Hurricane Irene.
http://www.globalanimal.org/2011/09/02/hsus-havens-for-irene-displaced-pets/50374/
here is an article that explains in depth

There are contributions that can be made big or small! Buy a case of water for 6 dollars and leave it at a collection site for a family that may have lost power, water and are not in posession of other supplies they may need. You can make this easier for someone else AND their animals.

I will be conducting a supply drive at my college campus as well as a couple other places in the town of oneonta. Food for both people and pets are welcome. Animal shelters and The Humane Society will greatly appreciate the supplies due to taking in more animals that have been dislocated. Any kind of blankets, canned goods, and other accessories that may be necessary are welcome as well! We will take everything! I will update the locations of these drives when I get it all set up. Thank you!