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Wednesday, 17 March, 2010 10:48 PM
Stamps to the Rescue!
Adopt a Shelter Pet Stamps Revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Photo
credit: USPS.gov
Adopt
a Shelter Pet Stamps are now available at all USPS locations.
WASHINGTON
-- Postmaster General John E. Potter today unveiled the Animal
Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps and announced
the Stamps to the Rescue promotional campaign.
"These stamps continue
a Postal Service tradition of bringing attention to serious social
issues of the day ... one letter at a time," said Potter. "This
campaign will increase public awareness about sheltered pets and
our hope is that it will encourage pet adoption and promote humane
and responsible pet care."
The stamps were introduced
to the public on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The Postal Service is
working with DeGeneres and Halo, Purely for Pets, a holistic pet
care company she co-owns, to promote the campaign and to bring greater
attention to the cause.
"This is a subject
that I am extremely passionate about. By working together, we can
find good homes for millions of adoptable, homeless and abandoned
pets," said DeGeneres. "And until they get adopted, I'm
happy to say that Halo and I are giving one million meals to shelter
pets that are waiting for you."
Stamps to the Rescue
is the name of the promotional campaign created by the Postal Service
to provide additional information about the stamps and pet adoption.
This campaign includes posters featuring DeGeneres placed in post
office across the nation and a new website -- stampstotherescue.com.
The stamps can be pre-ordered
beginning today at usps.com/shop,
stampstotherescue.com, or by calling 1.800.STAMP.24 (1.800.782.6724).
The Animal Rescue: Adopt
a Shelter Pet commemorative stamps feature photographs of five cats
and five dogs taken by veteran stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce.
All ten animals were adopted from a shelter in New Milford, CT.
Cats and dogs have been
featured on other U.S. postage stamps. A 13-cent stamp of a kitten
and puppy playing in the snow was issued in 1982 for use on holiday
postcards, in 1998, images of a cat and a dog were included in the
"Bright Eyes" set of five pets, and most recently, in
2002, photographs of a kitten and puppy were featured on the "Neuter
or Spay" stamps.
Every year, 6 to 8 million
cats and dogs enter animal shelters, and of that number, nearly
half are euthanized. Although the problem seems overwhelming, the
key to the solution is adopting a shelter pet when seeking a new
companion and ensuring that the animal is spayed or neutered.
On April 30, DeGeneres
will join Potter for the official stamp dedication ceremony at the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in Hollywood, when the
stamps will go on sale at post offices nationwide.
Animal Rescue: Adopt
a Shelter Pet is the Postal Service's 2010 social awareness stamp.
Past social awareness stamps have highlighted important issues such
as children's health, literacy, breast cancer awareness, organ and
tissue donation, philanthropy and Alzheimer's awareness.
A self-supporting government
enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service
that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences,
businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no
tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently
visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies
on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating
expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive
years and the third Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon
Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68
billion and delivers nearly half the world's mail. If it were a
private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th
in the 2009 Fortune 500.
Source: U.S. Postal
Service
Click
here for more information on the Stamps to the Rescue!
program.
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