While Maine’s Bangor Humane Society did not win the $25,000 Community Engagement Award as part of the 2012 ASPCA (American Society for the Protection of Cruelty Against Animals) Rachael Ray $100K Challenge, they did save pet 1,209 lives in 91 days.

Bangor Humane Society was one of the three finalists for the award. They thank their staff, volunteers, media partners, donors, adopters and every other individual who supported them during the challenge on their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/BangorHumane. Entering the contest does reap its rewards, through grants, publicity and community involvement.

Bangor Humane Society also was honored for increasing adoptions by 300 more than last year. For that they won $5,000.

In November, they surpassed their adoption goal, with 260 adoptions, a 42 percent increase over last November. Their original goal had been 225. In December, their goal is to save 283 lives, a 25 percent increase over last year. Hopefully, this paradigm will continue into the future.
The $100K Challenge is the ASPCA’s annual, three-month-long shelter contest to come up with new ways to get more homeless cats and dogs into loving homes. This year’s 50 contestants saved 56,232 animals’ lives.

The $25K Community Engagement Award winner was the Animal Rescue League Shelter & Wildlife Center in Pittsburg, Pa., saving 2.176 cats and dogs in just three months, an increase of 533 over last year. For being over 300, they won an additional $5,000.

According to the ASPCA website,  the ASPCA Community Engagement Award is awarded to the contestant that did the best job of getting its community involved in saving more animals during the ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge. The three finalists were determined based on which received the most online votes on the $100K Challenge website.

Being in the contest does have its perks. Bangor Humane Society was one of 55 around the nation to receive a $10,000 grant from the ASPCA to participate in what was scheduled to be a three-day event, mega adoption event in November. The grant allowed Bangor Humane to lower adoption fees and streamline the process so potential adoptees were matched with pets more quickly. The result: all 110 pets at the shelter were adopted on one day. It was the first time it is 164-year history that the shelter ran out of adoptable pets.

who saved more than 4,054 animals in three months—1,384 more animals than it saved during the same three-months last year.

The $100K Challenge contest works to save more cats and dogs during the months of August, September and October than they did during the same period the previous year. Shelters need to apply and be accepted in order to participate. Next year’s applications will be open as of January 2013. For more information about the 2013 ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge, stay tuned to www.aspca.org/100kchallenge for announcements in January 2013.

Rachael Ray is a lifelong advocate for animals and a supporter of animal welfare groups. Her love for animals and for her pit bull, Isaboo, inspired her to create a pet food called Nutrish® to raise money for animals in need. Ray donates 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale of Nutrish® to organizations like the ASPCA so they can implement programs like the $100K Challenge and support shelters and animal organizations around the country.

The Bangor Humane Society’s Animal Care and Adoption Centre is located at 693 Mt. Hope Ave., Bangor, ME 04401. Their hours are Monday – Friday, noon to 6 pm, Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, and closed on Sundays. For more information, visit their website at www.bangorhumane.org.