Surf dog Ricochet walks the red carpet Ricochet (“Rip Curl Ricki”), the Surfin’ for PAWS-abilities SURFice dog who raised almost $20,000 for charitable causes in the last six months, and more notably has been inspiring millions of people with her YouTube video www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGODurRfVv4, accepted a Dogswell “Wag” award in February at the LeDeux Hotel in Hollywood. One of the prizes is a years’ supply of Dogswell dog food that Ricochet is donating to the AniMeals program at the Helen Woodward Animal Center.. Ricochet began fundraising and creating awareness for charitable causes in August 2009. Her first fundraiser was for 15-year-old quadriplegic surfer Patrick Ivison. She raised over $10,000 for Ivison. Her sponsor, the Rose Foundation, awarded a grant to cover three years of Pat’s physical therapy. The video went viral and has almost 2 million views, increasing daily. The video has touched people all over the world with folks tweeting, Facebooking, blogging and e-mailing with “Kleenex alert” warnings. The video has also generated more than $8,570 in donations (so far) from all over the world, including Canada, The United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, The Netherlands and New Zealand. Roughly $3,550 went toward Ricochet’s Surfin’ Santa Paws toy drive, which helped purchase toys for over 638 children in hospitals and domestic violence shelters. The remainder of the funds is going toward her newest cause, 6-year-old Ian McFarland, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a horrific car accident that claimed the lives of his parents. Newman Makes a Pit Stop at HWAC NASCAR driver Ryan Newman and his wife, Krissie, with “Boone” a hound available for adoption at Helen Woodward Animal Center. Ryan and Krissie have six dogs of their own at their home in North Carolina. One of them is a hound. In our dog play yard here at the Center, Ryan and Boone became friends almost immediately. After their visit to HWAC, the Newmans went to Fontana to prepare for the Auto Club 500. Not a great race for Ryan, finishing 36th. But NASCAR fans in our area were happy to see the local favorite, Jimmie Johnson from El Cajon, claim the victory. It’s a big, scary world for little lost pets Every day, animal shelters across the U.S. hear the same story from distraught pet owners: “My pet lives indoors. I never thought he would run away and get lost!” The sad fact is that millions of lost pets arrive at U.S. shelters each year — and only about 15 percent of dogs and 2 percent of cats without an ID tag or microchip are reunited with their owners. To increase awareness of the importance of pet identification, the American Humane Association is celebrating Every Day Is Tag Day™ on Saturday, April 3. This annual event encourages all pet owners to tag and microchip their cats and dogs so that a lost animal has a better chance of returning home if the unthinkable happens. Here are some ways to give lost pets a better chance of returning home: • Remember that even indoor pets need tags and microchips. Many strays in shelters are indoor pets that escaped and became lost. • Make sure your pet wears a collar with a current ID tag, rabies tag and city license. Include a contact name, address, and day and evening phone numbers. Consider providing a phone number for an alternate contact, like a neighbor or family member. • Keep information on your pet’s license, tags and microchips current. • When moving or traveling, place a temporary tag on your pet with the phone number of someone who knows how to reach you. For more information on Every Day Is Tag Day, visit www.americanhumane.org/tagday. Adopt a Shelter pet stamps Revealed Postmaster General John E. Potter has 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. 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 offices 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 (800) 782-6724). Celebrate Earth Day with your Pet In honor of Earth Day’s 40th anniversary, many pet product companies are focused on green design. West Paw Design is releasing its popular Zogoflex® recyclable dog toys (www.WestPawDesign.com). Kari Whitman’s Greener Pup – not only helps pampered pooches reduce their carbon paw-print (each bed contains 70-120 recycled plastic bottles as filler, and is covered using the luxury fabrics from high end home projects, which otherwise would be headed to landfills), but 100% of the proceeds go to the Ace of Hearts Foundation, www.AceofHeartsDogs.com.