Pawsitive Connection – Book Giveaway and Guest Post by Author Stacey Ritz!
Advocates 4 Animals, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Greene County, OH. Their mission is to help animals through a variety of programs such as the Pet Food Pantry, Spay It Forward Program, Feral Cat Program and the Rescue/Adoption Program.
One of the greatest pleasures of being an animal lover is getting to know other animal lovers and one such of these people is Stacey Ritz, the co-founder and Executive Director of Advocates 4 Animals, Inc. I have known Stacey for several years – primarily through our affiliation with the Cat Writer’s Association, but also because my beloved angel cat Harley was chosen as the cover cat for the Advocates 4 Animals 2013 calendar. Even though 2013 has come and gone, I proudly keep the calendar hung on my office wall so I can see my beautiful girl and I will forever be grateful to Stacey for giving me that keepsake.
Kizmet and Peanut hang out together with the picture of Harley as a calendar cat in the background.
Harley was a rescue cat and like so many other rescue animals in this world, she brought such joy into my life and that is why when Stacey reached out to me with the possibility of doing a guest post on Zee and Zoey’s blog to share details about her newest venture, a book she wrote called “Pawsitive Connection” – a collection of heartwarming stories about the rewards of adopting a rescue pet, I was more than happy to oblige for several reasons. First off, any endeavor that can help increase pet adoptions, is okay in my book. Secondly, a portion of the proceeds from this book’s sales will benefit life-saving animal rescue efforts and lastly, I love a giveaway opportunity for my readers and Stacey has been kind enough to offer one lucky reader a free e-book (PDF) copy of the book!
Pawsitive Connection, Volume I, is an easy, heartwarming read for animal lovers everywhere!
Lessons of Love – by Stacey Ritz
Adopting or saving the life of a pet in need brings great rewards. Often the rescued pets save us, when we thought we were really saving them. In more than a decade of helping rescue cats and dogs, Advocates 4 Animals has saved thousands of lives. In Pawsitive Connection (Rockville Publishing, October 2014) I share more than a dozen stories of rescue in an e-book you can call all your own. Pawsitive Connection is a collection of true stories demonstrating the mystical ways rescue animals find us when we need them the most.
When Sally met Harry, a little black and white stray dog, she didn’t know the impact he would have on her life. Without realizing it, Sally was entering an enormous transition in her own life. Her children were grown and the last one was moving out of the house and on with her own life. Sally was an empty-nester and unsure of her new territory. Longing to nurture, Harry walked into her life at just the right time. Not only that, but Harry saw Sally through a particularly difficult time in her life when the health of her own father suddenly took a turn for the worse. Sally and Harry’s story takes twists and turns that no one could have ever expected. Theirs is one of many stories shared that will leave you in awe.
Pawsitive Connection is filled with one-of-a-kind true stories from nursing home cats helping the elderly, funeral home dogs aiding the grieving to serendipitous rescues that will have your jaw dropping to the ground with amazement. The connecting theme of every short story included in the book is rooted in the astonishing way that animals find their way to us when we need them most- even when we don’t know it yet.
Polly and Portia, two rescued Bengal cats, were saved from cruel circumstances and written off by everyone but their rescue volunteer foster parents. With time, patience and a lot of love the two girls made a full physical, social and emotional recovery with one moving on in life to become a proud therapy cat. Their story along with others which are sure to bring happy tears to your eyes, are shared in Pawsitive Connection.
Pets can help us heal, they can change our perspective on a situation or circumstance, they can help us laugh when we need it the most too! The stories come from more than a decade of work in the animal rescue and welfare field and as my work continues, so will the stories. This is Volume I of the series. Volume II will make its debut in 2015 – stay tuned! Pawsitive Connection is available now on Amazon (Kindle) for just $2.99 – click here to order. A portion of all proceeds are donated to help life-saving rescue efforts. Purchase your copy today and tell a friend! The more copies that are sold, the more lives that can be saved.
Thank you so much to Stacey for that great guest post – to win a free copy of Pawsitive Connection (e-book/PDF format) for yourself or that special pet lover in your life, all you have to do is meet Stacey’s challenge by sharing your rescue story in the comments. Tell her about a pet that you saved and how they helped you in your own life. Or if you don’t have a special rescue story, just tell her why you love animals and how they have made your life better. The contest is open through Wednesday, October 15th and the winner will be announced on Saturday, October 18th. The only requirement is that you leave an email address within the comment form so that I can contact you if you win!
L to R – co-founders of Advocates 4 Animals, Inc. – Amy Beatty and Stacey Ritz. Also seen are “Lady” (poodle mix), “Grandma” (Senior Chihuahua), “Daisy” (black dog), and “Mama” (tabby cat).
AUTHOR BIO:
Stacey Ritz is a regular contributor to Chicken Soup for the Soul books and an award-winning freelance writer contributing to Cat Fancy, Dog Living, American Pet, Rescue Me Magazine and more. The co-founder and Executive Director of Advocates 4 Animals, Inc., Ritz uses her voice and her actions to make a positive impact on lives in need. An active supporter of the No Kill Movement, Ritz works tirelessly to establish life-saving programs, including shelter reform. She resides in Ohio with her family and always a handful of foster pets. She loves hearing from all readers! Stop by http://www.Advocates4Animals.com for all of her upcoming releases as well as ongoing updates on animal rescue endeavors.
Wonderful post, thank you for sharing! I rescued my cat Buster nearly ten years ago from a kill-shelter. He was a black kitten with only one-eye and shelter employees said that everyone came and adopted the other kittens but no one ever even looked at him because he was “different”. He caught my attention immediately and when I heard that comment, I knew he was meant for me. He’s about 10 years old now and he’s been with me through great times like my marriage and tough times such as the death of a family member. No matter what, he’s always there and I’m always so grateful for that.
A great post today Deb, and what an awesome give a way !! The book sounds amazing ♥
The best of fishes to everyone who enters 🙂
Excellent post and it’s so heartwarming to hear everyone stories. I am sure the book is absolutely amazing.
Wonderful post Deb! Animal lovers truly do make the best friends!
Such a wonderful bunch and a great sounding book. Thanks for the purrs and prayers for Zoe, we sure do appreciate them.
I always loved animals, but my schedule was too hectic to have a dog, and had never been interested in cats. Then my husband was doing some repairs in an apartment whose owners had moved but left behind a young cat, all alone with a bag of food in that completely empty space. I wasn’t a cat lover, but I figured the poor thing could come co-exist with us. Well, the rest is history! A year later we adopted a feline friend for her. I’m now trying to talk my hubby into number three…
Deb, you have a wonderful way of bringing animal people together. My world was so small in organizations, writers, true animal activists until I found your blogs. Now I hope I will have the time to keep up! You are helping us link together. Now, our personal love and dedication to our small friends and companions can reach out further. Thank you.
My parents were cat rescuers and/or adopted by strays. My brother and I are the same. My brother adopted Buddy (short for Budweiser) from the dock area of his job. I’ve rescued a cat from a highway offramp, a few from the SPCA, a couple from my first husband/family, and have had some adopt me. The Ladies, the two old girls I have now are rescues…the younger (Jessy, 12) I rescued from my first husband’s family (flea-infested craziness, and they let a dog freeze to death outside), and the older (14, Tabby) came from the SPCA…her days were numbered. Thank you, A4A for all you do!
I have been rescuing my pets since 1982 when I rescued my first dog Col.Fabion . There has been there has been 4 more dogs since then and 5 cats.
Currently I have My dog Callie who I rescued from a hoarder situation 4 years a go. In the past year we have rescued 3 cats.Trinity from Cat Crusaders in Tampa Fl, Amber from countless Cats in Trinity FL, and Twilight who I will describe her rescue in more detail.
My daughter and I were shopping at our local Pet Smart on 12/6/13 when an elderly woman walked in looking to find someone to take this very tiny kitten. She said she found her on the side of the road with her litter mate but the other kitten was dead. She said she could not afford to keep her because she already had 1 cat. My Daughter and I instantly fell in love! So we took her and named her Twilight.
I took Twilight to PAWS the next day for her vaccinations and they estimated her to be 4 weeks old, (weighing only 1.5 lbs) too young for vaccinations. They gave her a dewormer and ear mite drops and advised me to come back in 3 weeks. Every 3 weeks we were there until she was done with her vaccinations and as soon as she was old enough they spayed her too.
Twilight will be a year old on 11/6 and she is a beautiful medium hair brown mackerel tabby with a big fluffy tail. We love her so much and it feels good to know that we gave her a forever home.
At one time a mother cat roamed our neighborhood, and decided our home would be a great place for her to drop off litters of kittens. She did this on four occasions. The first group were in the engine compartment of my car. At the time I was dreaming of having a tuxie kitty, and the first to crawl out from that area was a long-haired tuxie. She became our first adoptee of her broods, and we named her Daphne. During this entire time, we tried to catch “Mom” to have her spayed but were always unsuccessful. When the kittens were old enough to be weaned, she always knew to make herself scarce. Eventually three of her offspring became members of our household, and every other kitty I found homes for with friends. Because of the sadness and the feelings of failure it brings me, I cannot speak about what happened to Mom when we went on vacation and our neighbors were able to catch her and take her to the local shelter. The neighbors made quite sure they did not tell us what they had done until well after the two weeks she had to be claimed or to find a forever home. Hugs, Janet janet.blue@thecatonmyhead.com
I HAVE 7 RESCUE KITTIES AND 7 RESCUE DOGGIES.THEY ARE ALL SO SPECIAL.THEY GIVE ME A REASON TO GET UP IN THE MORNING.THEY KEEP ME BUSY AND MOVING AROUND.SO MY HEALTH IS BETTER.THIS LITTLE CHIHUAHUA HAS A STORY.I DECIDED ONE DAY TO TAKE A DIFFERENT WAY HOME.AS I WAS GOING D OWN A COUNTRY ROAD ,I SAW WHAT I THOUGHT WAS A BIG RAT RUNNING DOWN THE ROAD,I GOT CLOSER AN IT WAS A LITTLE DOG-.EVERY TIME I GOT OUT TO CATCH HIM ,HE RAN. SO HE RAN UNDER A FENCE.I GOT UNDER THE FENCE AND HE WENT IN A BARN.I DID NT HAVE ANY FOOD WITH ME B,UT HE FINNALY CAME TO ME.STARVED AND FLEA RIDDEN AND SORES ON HIM. NOW 3 YEARS LATER ,HE IS ASLEEP IN A BASKET NEXT TO MY BED.
The book is now available in paperback! 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/Pawsitive-Connection-Heartwarming-stories-animals/dp/1502778327/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1412107131&sr=8-1