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You can get to Zootoo through the Liberty Humane Society Web site: www.libertyhumaneshelter.com
Or you can go directly to Zootoo.com
Staff writer
pleon@coastalcourier.com
They started at the bottom of the totem pole — No. 1,700 — but the Liberty Humane Shelter staffers and supporters blogged, posted photos and invited enough friends to earn the shelter nearly 500,000 points in the 2009 Zootoo.com million dollar makeover contest, keeping them in the No. 16 spot as phase one drew to a close.
“We were so excited,” Liberty Humane Shelter President Sandra Frye said. “We sat at Vann’s on Friday night and we watched the clock turn over. And we watched the link go away because they take them down and then they [update them and] post them again and we were all hooping and hollering.”
She said there were about 10-15 shelter volunteers and staffers celebrating and as the news spread throughout the restaurant, the patrons joined the celebration.
“Everyone was really excited,” she said.
Frye said the group received an e-mail Saturday morning confirming they were among the top 20 semi-finalists.
In phase two of the contest, Zootoo advisers and evaluators will visit each of the semi-finalists and take a one-hour tour of their facilities. Frye said they have made arrangements to welcome the Zootoo committee, which is scheduled to arrive at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
Once the committee tours all 20 sites they will announce the 10 finalist at the 2009 Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo at Bally’s Las Vegas’ Grand Ballroom on April 7.
Frye and shelter employee Michelle Schramm will be attending as shelter representatives. Frye said many supporters are planning to join them, at their own expense, as a sign of support.
On Zootoo, the Liberty Humane Shelter was able to establish 1,252 affiliates and Frye said the shelter will need those and more if they make it to the top 10.
“The point accumulation phase is over, but we will still need those votes,” she said. “Folks need to continue to log on to www.libertyhumaneshelter.com and click on the Zootoo banner and continue to join. This way, if we make it into the top 10 then they will have a chance to vote for us.”
There are several people and an entire community to thank, but Frye said one person in particular really took the project on and owned it from beginning to end.
“Dawn Stykr,” she said. “She is the one who started with it. She is our volunteer coordinator and is the one who took it on and said ‘look I want to start this,’ so I would like to thank her and Mr. Thompson, who founded Zootoo.”
Frye said the county and community deserve the makeover to improve the facility for the dogs and cats that call it home — if only for a short time.
“We definitely deserve this and our shelter is in desperate need, and I’ve got my fingers crossed for that,” she said. “After that, it will all depend on America voting and that is where the community needs to rally and vote for us as many times a day as they are allowed.
If the shelter makes the top 10 on April 7, voting by the community is tentatively scheduled to start around April 14.
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