Posted: January 10, 2009, 5 a.m. EST
In its continuing effort to support and raise awareness of pet adoptions, Iams created a friendly contest between Cleveland and Cincinnati as part of its 12-week Home 4 the Holidays program. The program was given a football-oriented theme to help bolster the efforts of the two cities known for being fiercely competitive on the playing field.
By working in collaboration with local animal shelters – SPCA Cincinnati, Cleveland City Kennels, and the Cleveland TNR program – the two cities competed to see which would have the most on-field completed passes and completed pet adoptions from the first Browns-Bengals matchup on September 28, 2008, to their rematch on December 21.
Cleveland was named winner both on the football field and for completed pet adoptions. In recognition of their hard work throughout the program, Iams donated 10 pounds of food for every adoption the designated shelters in both cities achieved. A total of more than 14 tons was donated. This “cats versus dogs” initiative prompted both a fresh audience and spirited effort to help the approximately 8 million pets orphaned in the United States.
The Cleveland-Cincinnati competition contributed to surpassing Iams’ goal of finding homes for at least 1 million orphaned animals during the 2008 holiday season.