More Than 56,000 Pets Saved During 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge

Contestants saved 14,376 more lives during contest over same period last year

NEW YORK, Nov. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that a total of 56,232 pets found homes during the 2012 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge, a three-month competition where 50 shelters from across the United States worked to increase the number of animals saved--either by adoption, alternative placements or being reunited with their owners--in order to win a portion of the more than $500,000 in prize grants from the ASPCA and Rachael Ray. Contestants saved 14,376 more cats and dogs in August, September and October than they saved in the same three-month period in 2011.

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"When we started this contest in 2010, we wanted to help shelters save more lives," said Bert Troughton, vice president of community outreach for the ASPCA. "In the first year of the $100K Challenge, contestants saved 7,362 more lives. And this year, contestants nearly doubled that-- saving 14,376 more lives over the same period last year. Each year, these shelters are raising the bar of what's possible."