Iams Home 4 the Holidays Helps Nearly 1.3 Million Pets Find Forever Homes

Iams Home 4 the Holidays, one of the world's largest pet adoption drives, has announced that nearly 1.3 million pets were placed in forever homes between Oct. 1, 2012 and Jan. 2, 2013.

More than 8.3 million pets have been placed in forever homes since Iams and founding partner Helen Woodward Animal Center, along with thousands of animal organizations across the globe partnered to do something about shelter overpopulation when the program first started in 1999.

“We're celebrating the fact that in just three months we helped save the lives of almost 1.3 million animals,” said Mike Arms, founder of the adoption drive and president of Helen Woodward Animal Center. “We're proud of the work we've done and we're especially proud of the hard work the partner organizations continue to do every day. “

“Take the story of Wyatt, a tiny kitten who was abandoned and found near death. Wyatt was nursed back to health by dedicated cat rescue volunteers and has since found his forever home. Stories like these show us the importance of promoting pet adoption and how a program like Iams Home 4 the Holidays can make a huge difference in the life of a pet.”

Homes were found for:

• Dogs: 684,896 
• Cats: 553,550
• Other: 26,663 (includes rabbits, horses, birds, and more) 

Adoption wasn't the only way people got involved this year as the program also focused on providing proper nutrition for pets still awaiting families.

Consumers were able to share their passion for pets and help Iams donate food to participating animal shelters by buying specially marked bags of food, taking part in the Digital Dish Drive on the Iams Facebook page or joining the Iams Life Long Rewards program at local shelters or online. Meals donations were also triggered through the Iams YouTube page with every view, like or share of YouTube sensation Andrew Grantham's Singing Pets Holiday Video.

As part of the annual drive, Iams donated more meals than ever before, with 5.5 million bowls of food going to homeless pets, surpassing the original goal of 5 million donations.

"From the millions of families and pets who have been impacted over the years, to the more than 15.5 million bowls of food Iams has donated in the past three years alone, we're very proud of the work we've accomplished,” said Ondrea Francy, Iams general manager.