THANK YOU !!!!!!!!

OUR 5th ANNUAL TELETHON WAS A HUGE SUCCESS

OVER $100,500 + WAS RAISED

& WE'RE STILL COUNTING PLEDGES AND DONATIONS

THURSDAY JANUARY 28th AT MVCC, UTICA

Our 5th annual 'Telethon' to benefit the Stevens-Swan Humane Society of Oneida County. We were on WKTV Newschannel 2 periodically on the Noon, 5pm and 6pm news and the full hour from 7pm until 8pm. This is our major fundraiser for the year and we want to thank everyone who came out to help with the phones and the accounting area. There are so many people who helped out including Dr. Randy VanWagoner and Bill Dustin of MVCC, Melissa Buffa and Nicole Broccoli in accounting, Gordon Kelly, Craig Horak, Kathy Contino-Turner, Carmelita Balsdon and the Stevens-Swan Auxiliary, Terry Cognetto, Linda Piperata, Catherine Horak, Jackie Romano, The WKTV team, the SSHS FUNdraising Committee, Mary May, Pat Paparone (Pennies for Pets), Mike Long and many more behind the scenes volunteers. Our staff members worked all day with our pet patrol (Crash's Critter Corner) and pledge assistance. Thanks to our presenting sponsor again this year: Staffworks along with our supporting sponsors:

M & T Bank, MetLife, Excellus BC/BS, Ticket Derby, Crash's Scrap Metals, Schuyler Commons @ Colonial Square, AmeriCU & Gates-Cole Insurance.

Also thanks to Carmella's Cafe, Meyda Lighting, Joe Tahan's Furniture& Lennons- W B Wilcox Jewelers for our pledge incentives. Thanks to Dan Arcuri at Arcuri's Pizza, The Huddle on Main (Waterville) & Carmella's Cafe and Crash's for food and beverage donations.

From Diane Broccoli and Jerry Kraus at The Stevens-Swan Humane Society: a BIG thank you to everyone who stepped up, called up and showed up to donate and volunteer this year. It was a wonderful way for us to start our 100th anniversary year.

(We'll post the incentive winners soon and plenty of pictures too.)

Animal Jam II : Check presentation: Jerry Kraus (SSHS) Mark Recchio (The BOMB & The Bucket List), Chuck Heath (Red Hush) Mike Santalucia (The BOMB) with Brutus the Bulldog and Jason Powles (WKTV)

5..4..3..2...1..... 'We're Back at the Stevens-Swan Humane Telethon'..WKTV hosts Jolene Ferris and Jason Powles getting ready.

The Pause for Paws Fundraiser is coming up !

SAVE THE DATE: This event is being organized by a few community minded-volunteers who wanted to help our shelter animals. It is coming up Thursday February 11 at Harts Hill Inn (Whitesboro) from 5:30pm - 8:30pm with hors d'oeuvres and desserts. There will also be wine tasting and party music from a DJ. There will also be ten baskets to raffle off, along with door prizes and a 50/50 raffle drawing. Tickets are being sold for $25.00 each with proceeds from the event going to the Stevens-Swan Humane Society. (More info coming soon) For info contact Donna Lamanque at 736-6410

Teens & Teams

Teens raise over $2,500 for the shelter animals !

Saturday January 16th, Sangertown Square (Center Court area) in New Hartford was filled with area high school students. They represented their school's basketball teams, hockey teams, student councils and community service groups. Their mission was to gather donations for the Stevens-Swan Humane Society. The school group gathering the highest amount of pledges during their scheduled time will win a pizza party. All monies raised will be turned into the shelter at our upcoming Telethon on Thursday January 28th.

Our first place winner is Olivia Kodsy of Clinton. Second place went to Trey Carbone from Adirondack School.

Schools participating include New York Mills, Clinton, Holland Patent, Oriskany, Adirondack and Westmoreland

Olivia Kodsy of Clinton did a GREAT job raising the most money!

Trey Carbone from Adirondack School working hard to help out

the shelter animals. He did an amazing job bringing in pledges.

NYM Varsity Team:  Katie Critelli, Melissa Vasco, Ashley Herthum, Hailey Griffith, Carley Dziekan, Kelly Pettigrew, Allie Jennings, Adriana Surprenant, Erica Pendrak, KT Wilkinson. Coach Andrea Dziekan.

NYM JV Team:  Domenique Talerico, Ashley Nichols, Kaylie DiNitto,
Savannah Dietz, Meghan Keator, Hannah King, Brittany Englert, Sarah Frankland, Jenna Hamblin.

Clinton Hockey:  Will Blazer, Michael Seakan, Jake Bialek, Alec Yutzler

Clinton Hockey :  Peter Hameline, Jake Hilton, Luk Lavolert, Connor Elsenbeck

Animal Jam II !

The second annual Animal Jam was a hot music series on a very cold night (- 7 degrees!) THANKS to everyone who braved the weather to come out for the fundraiser whcih raised $1,400 for our animals! Special thanks to all of our bands involved who donated their time helping out the animals here at the shelter, including:

The BOMB, Red Hush and The Bucket List : Mr. McGill's (Schuyler)

Crazy Fools : The Electric Co. (Varick Street in Utica)

Slug & The Liberty Band : The Valleybrook Lounge (Seneca Tpk. New Hartford)

BlackFoot Jack & Through the Looking Glass: The Route 69 Steakhouse (Whitesboro)

Slug

Liberty of The Liberty Band

The Crazy Fools

BlackFoot Jack

Through The Looking Glass

THANK YOU BOWLERS AND SPONSORS

We had a ton of fun at the first annual Stevens-Swan Humane Society ‘Bowl-A-Thon' on Sunday Jan 10th from 2p-5p….at the AMF Pin-O-Rama lanes on Genesee St. in Utica ..We had players from the UC Pioneers Men's Hockey Team on hand plus plenty of giveaways from KISS-FM. Thanks to The Computer Connection, American Eagle, The Knights of St. John- Commandery #41 (Utica) and everyone who came out to help raise over $2,300 for our animals at the Stevens-Swan Humane Society.

Special thanks to AMF Pin-O-Rama & 97.9 & 105.5 KISS-FM.

UC Pioneer Hockey guys (Freshmen and Sophmores) with SSHS Bowlathon Director Jerry Kraus (left) and volunteer Pat Paparone (right)

UC Pioneer Hockey guys (Juniors and Seniors)

The Computer Connection Team (Scott Fluty and teammates)

The American Eagle Team

The Knights of St. John- Commandery 41, Utica

The AMF Pin-O-Rama staff ----------- Thank you all !

Merry Christmas from the Staff and Volunteers of the Stevens-Swan Humane Society

(front l-r) Joan Brenon (President of the Board of Directors) and Diane Broccoli (Executive Director)

Happy Holidays !

We want to say a special THANK YOU to all of the schools, businesses, families and individuals that are heping us out this Holiday Season with donations. It really warms our hearts this time of year to see all of the love and support we receive from our community. From our staff and animals, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a safe and happy New Year (which will be the 100th Anniversary Year for the Stevens-Swan Humane Society 1910-2010)

Pennies for Pets / Cash for Critters

We are looking for schools, work places and organizations to help us collect spare change for our shelter animals. We'll supply the plastic coin-collection jugs and you supply the place to place the containers. We're looking for groups interested in helping our animals.

This fundraising runs through mid-January so there's time to get on-board! Please contact Jerry Kraus at the shelter: 738-4357 ex. 23. Thanks!

On-board...so far:

Albany Street Elementary, Kernan Elementary, H.R.Jones Elementary, Columbus Elementary, ML King Elementary in Utica, Kennedy Middle School - Utica, New York Mills Elementary, Notre Dame School - Utica, Sauquoit Elementary, Middle and High Schools, Westmoreland Elementary, Middle and High School, Utica College 'Mellow Moose' Coffee House, ECR International- Utica, Preswick Glen- New Hartford, The Owl's Nest - Oneida, MidState Corrections employees, Sylvan Learning Center, New Hartford Senior High School

Here's Annie a 1 to 2 year old female pit mix, rescued (11/18) in the City of Utica. After an anonymous call to the UPD, Animal Control Officer Chris Collver responded and after seeing the neglected condition of the dog, seized her and brought her into the Stevens-Swan Humane Society for Vet treatment, care, housing and evaluation. Besides severe malnutrition and anemia, Annie has an eye infection, flea infestation and other medical ailments. The investigation of this abuse and neglect is ongoing and 2 Utica suspects have been charged with misdemeanor animal abuse and will appear in Utica City Court at 9am on Monday Dec. 7th.

Anyone interested in helping with the cost of helping little Annie, please send your donation to ‘Annie's Fund' c/o The Stevens-Swan Humane Society, 5664 Horatio Street , Utica , NY 13502 . Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to Annie's fund so far. We've collected over $500 $1,500 $1,900 $2,200 $2,500 $2,900 $3,150 from concerned local citizens for her medical treatments that continue to bring her back to good health. One day at a time.

Cookies and Cupcakes for sale! Here's 4 very energetic community minded Holland Patent Elementary Students who have formed a Pet Association club. They've been brainstorming ways to help our shelter animals and recently organized a Bake Sale at Sports Unlimited (our next door neighbors). They all have been M.V. P.'s in our opinion and we are looking forward to their upcoming events. (l-r: Kelsey Buck, Hannah Mickle, Riley Linckton and Katie Harrison)

Here's Rex with his new family, the Winn's of New Hartford. One of the Winn students at Bradley School met Rex and told his family all about him and the rest is...another Stevens-Swan Humane Society success story! Good luck to the Winn family and Rex.

1st Annual:

Harvest Fest for Homeless Hounds

It was a WONDERFUL event to benefit The Stevens-Swan Humane Society

Sunday November 8th from Noon-3p at Hanna Park, Utica (next to City Hall)

Thank you to everyone who came out and we saw many beautiful and handsome dogs. The afternoon featured: A Pet Fashion Show & Costume Contest

Refreshments and Entertainment & Kids Corner fun too!

Thanks to Mayor David and Cindy Roefaro, Shampooches, Adjusters International &

Tino Poccia and his team at Coriale Flowers (See photos below)

In the tragic fire on James Street in Utica (September 20), we are mourning 4 people who passed away. Over 20 people lived in the 12 apartments there and some had pets. Here is the story of Gail Baker and her boyfriend Pilar Ayuso who lived in a third floor front apartment and had 5 cats and a snake. Two cats were saved by the Utica Fire Department and went to the Vet hospital with various injuries, three are still missing and the snake died in the fire. Of the two cats saved, one, 'Precious', has been released by the Vet and the other 'Tigger' was receiving medical treatments for smoke inhalation and burns and was just recently released. (Other animals passed away in the fire and some are still missing)

Pictured above is Precious, held by Gail. The Vet bills for Precious and Tigger have reached over $800. As of Friday Oct. 2nd we have received almost $600 in donations from the public. Here at the Stevens-Swan Humane Society, we are contributing $200 to the cause so we are almost ready to pay her bill.

If you can help, please send a donation made out to The Stevens-Swan Humane Society and note that it is for the Fire Fund and we'll make sure it gets applied to the Vet bill that continues to rise and others that may develop. Please mail it or drop it off at : The Stevens-Swan Humane Society, 5664 Horatio Street, Utica, NY 13502. Thank you very much.

Below is a look at the front of the building.

Raises over $43,000 for our animals!
Our 17th Annual " Wiggle Waggle Walkathon" was Sunday September 20th at the New Hartford Town Park (Sherrillbrook). This year's event presented by StaffWorks was a HUGE success thanks to YOU!. Beautiful weather, hundreds of dogs and even more people than ever came out to help us raise over $43,000 for our animals! We'll post more photos soon of all of the fun: plenty of dogs, contests, music, food and vendors. All of the pledge money raised will help our shelter in our mission to take care of the homeless, stray and abused animals in our area.

Thanks to our presenting sponsor again this year : StaffWorks Also to our Supporting Sponsors:

ABC ChemDry, Archer Seals, Excellus BC/BS, NBT Bank and Not Just Poodles & Doggie Day Care

Thanks also to our Gold sponsors:

Carbone Auto Group, Crash's Scrap Metal, Inserra's Flooring Outlet, The Ron Longo Charitable Foundation, Smurfit-Stone, Pet Supplies Plus / Nutro

Special Thanks to DeSantis Meat Market and Deli (Barneveld), Frito Lay, Yankee Candle, McDonald's, Graphics of Utica, Schuss Ski and Bike Shop, Meyda Tiffany Lighting, Pepsi, PJ Green, The Fountainhead Group

& our media sponsors: Regent Broadcasting, The Utica Observer-Dispatch and WKTV Newschannel 2

To read the Observer-Dispatch coverage of the WWW event : click here.

Ladies and Gentlemen....get ready to...Start your DOGGIES! Let the fun begin.

Jerry Kraus and Deacon Bill Hotaling getting ready for 'The Blessing of the Dogs'

Amanda and Debbie Williams and Judy Kahler helping out with the vendors and contests.

Linda Fatata, Peggy Brown, Stephanie and our Director Diane Broccoli: Enjoying the music and pet contests.. and the announcement of our grand total!

Our workers who helped our shelter dogs get connected with walkers all day.

Our hard-workinging SSHS staff posing after a long day of fun in the sun!

The Wiggle Waggle Photographers did an awesome job taking pictures all day!

Winner of our 'Owner and Dog look-alike contest'...Blondes DO have more fun!

Diane Broccoli, Lisa Lloyd and Pauline Giovinazzo having fun in the crowd.

Jerry and Diane take a moment after the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon to catch a breath and announce the 50/50 and basket winners.

The Bandella Brothers (Joe Nuccio and Barry Medici) provided some great tunes for the day's entertainment. Tookie' took a break from all of the excitement as the band's personal director of security..

Our friend Rick 'Animal' Morehouse of Utica passed away recently after battling cancer. Our condolences to his family and his many friends. He was the organizer of the 'Animal for Animals' charity fundraiser for the shelter last year and was helping to organize the 2nd annual event this Fall. He and his friends were planning on filling his bucket with monetary donations as they made their way throughout the bars and clubs of West Utica. He also was involved in our 'Animal Jam' rock club concerts last year to raise money for our Telethon last January.

In 'Animal's' memory, there will be an upcoming local music fest organized to benefit the animals at our shelter. His friends are looking at a date in December. We'll let you know when the info becomes available.

CONGRATULATIONS to Ginny Lennon of Barneveld, our Grand prize winner of the 2009 Toyota Corolla LE. We drew Ginny's lucky raffle ticket (#1639) live on WKTV's Newstalk on Monday September 21st. Thank you to everyone who helped out our animals by buying a raffle ticket. Special Thanks to Steet Toyota of Yorkville for their help with our raffle.

Here's a look at our TV appearance for the drawing: Front row (l-r) Don Shipman (WKTV) and Jerry Kraus (SSHS Public Relations Director) ), Back row (l-r) : Pauline Giovinazzo (SSHS Board Member and Car raffle event coordinator), Diane Broccoil (SSHS Executive Director), Peggy Brown (SSHS Board Member) and Steve Ponte (Steet Toyota)

AND HERE'S OUR WINNER : GINNY LENNON OF BARNEVELD

Pictured outside the Steet Toyota showroom in Yorkville with the 2009 Toyota Corolla LE

(l-r) Frank Gee (Steet Toyota Sales Manager), Pauline Giovinazzo (SSHS), Ginny Lennon - Car Raffle Winner, Diane Broccoli (SSHS) and Jerry Kraus (SSHS)

Here's another of our recent M.V.P.'s. (Most Valuable Pet-helpers): Jake Meola of Utica.

Jake's birthday is August 5. After he saw a Stevens- Swan television Public Service announcement, he asked his mother to include in his birthday invitations a request for animal food, instead of asking for gifts for himself. Most all of the donations came from children that attend Our Lady of Lourdes in Utica. Jake also loves feeding the animals at the Utica Zoo. Thanks Jake, you are an outstanding young man and a friend to animals.

The workers at First Source Federal Credit Union (New Hartford, South Utica, North Utica and Herkimer) recently got together to help out the animals at the Stevens-Swan Humane Society. 15 employees signed up for the Wiggle Waggle Walkathon and walked their dogs and our shelter dogs. They brought in almost $500 in pledges PLUS a corporate donation of $200 AND they collected food and supplies for our shelter. In total, they presented us with $1,000 in cash and food donations! What a great group of community minded people. A big Thank you to First Source Federal Credit Union.

Pictured at their New Hartford office are: (l-r) Lynn Riley (Senior Brance Manager), Pam Way (Marketing Specialist), Kristy Nole (Assistant Vice President Marketing & Communications) and Jerry Kraus (Stevens-Swan Humane Society)

Thank You to everyone who made Kuronda Bed donations to our shelter. We have a few Kuranda dog beds which provide our dogs with a warm, soft and dry place off the floor to sleep, but we don't have enough for everyone. The bed company is still offering special discounts for these beds thru a Donation Program which would send the beds directly to our shelter in the donor's name.

*Please specify the aluminum beds for our shelter, they are more durable

The beds are sturdy and long lasting so you will be providing a lasting gift for a dog today and another tomorrow. Please call Kuranda at 800-494-7122 or go to their website www.kuranda.com to donate a bed to our shelter dogs in your name, or as a gift in the name of a friend or family member. Kuranda will mail a personalized Gift Card acknowledgement directly to them from you.

Please remember the dogs in the shelter during the cold months ahead and all year long!

It's the worst part of our job here: Dealing with the abuse of the animals that takes place in our community. Here is Sandy, a 4 year old hound mix who just came to us after a stay at a local vet hospital. She is an abuse victim, being recently beaten and stabbed (you can see her stitches in the photo above). Utica Police and our Animal Control officer have made an arrest in this case and there is a Felony charge pending. To see such a sweet dog suffer such serious abuse brings us all back to the harsh realities of the work we need to do here, not just in mending these poor animals but in educating the public as to the abuse that is happening around us and how we all can have a part in reporting it and helping to keep watch over our area's pets and animals. Along with that, we remain steadfast in bringing these criminals to justice for their crimes against helpless animals. We'll be closely following this case in Utica City Court.

If you'd like to help with a donation to cover part of Sandy's ongoing medical bills, please send a check to us c/o The Stevens-Swan Humane Society, 5664 Horatio Street, Utica, NY 13502. Please note that it's for the 'Sandy' fund and we'll make sure she gets a special gentle hug for your kindness.

Here's Nadia and Pauline selling our Car Raffle Tickets at the American Legion Baseball Tournament at Donovan Stadium - Murnane Field in Utica. Thanks to Don Oliver and the organizers for letting us sell our tickets at the games and thanks to everyone who came over and bought tickets!.

Here's Dominic, Kara and Jackie setting up outside The Electric Company on Varick Street for a "Saranac Thursday" Car Raffle Ticket sales event. Thanks to Theresa and Kathy who also helped out during a very busy night. Thanks to Zee and Laura of the Electric Co. for hosting our fundraiser.

THANKS to the employees at Bank of New York Mellon (Oriskany) for their efforts to help us out here at The Stevens-Swan Humane Society. Through the Community Partnership program, Lisa Ellis organized a ' dress down' day to raise money for our animals plus she put together a donation drive for food and supplies. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only does the bank match the money collected, it also matches donations collected. They kept track of each item donated in a spreadsheet which was turned into Corporate headquarters, who will then put a dollar value, add to the total and send a check to the shelter!

How did they do? OUTSTANDING !

Dress down fundraiser brought in $885.00

Individual/Memberships/Raffle $120.00

Total collected $1,005.00

They did 6 drop-offs to our Stevens-Swan shelter with donated items for a total of 297 items including a digital camera, a freezer, and six – 38 pound tubs of Tidy Cat kitty litter.

On Friday July 17 , employees came over to our Stevens-Swan Humane Society to present the money and the donations collected the week of dress down. We were so grateful for their generosity. Corporate campaigns like this make an amazing difference in the lives of our animals.

(See some of their wonderful employees in the photos below)

Thank You So Much to Lisa Ellis and the team: Ann Razzano-Stedman, David Kukowski, Jeanne Clark, Roxanne Flint, Sandra LaSalle and Tracy Bach

It's heartbreaking, the condition of some of the animals that we take in here at the Stevens-Swan shelter. For example, this sweet female puppy was brought in by Utica Animal Control Officer Chris Collver after a concerned citizen on Blandina Street in Utica spotted her and took her in. Upon her arrival, we saw the extremely malnousished and dehydrated shape she was in and we gave her our total attention and care. A foster volunteer also stepped in to take her for the evening. This little pup has now spent the week at a local veterinarian's clinic receiving medical treatment and is being kept there for observation. We're hopeful that this little girl will soon be on a path to much better health. We are so appreciative of our 'eyes and ears' in the community who help us in the fight against animal abuse. If you see any forms of abuse, please contact your animal control officer and help those animals who can't speak out for themselves. Your calls will be kept confidential and annonymous if you wish.

We are following up with information as to this poor puppy's previous owners and mistreatment.

**Update: (Below) Here's Angel now known at SOPHIA after 2 weeks at the Veterinary Hospital and she going home with her foster family. She has made some progress but has a ways to go. If you'd like to help us in paying for her medical bills (now over $1,000) please send your donation to: The SOPHIA Fund (Checks made out to SSHS) c/o The Stevens-Swan Humane Society, 5664 Horatio Street, Utica, NY 13502

Thank You !

THANK YOU to everyone who came out to join us for the June ADOPT-A-THON at the Stevens-Swan Humane Society Saturday June 6th.

14 of our animals went out for adoptions and fostering! We are allready planning our next one July 25th. Keep checking back for all the information.

(see photos below)

THANK YOU !

To Dave Morgan, the organizers of the recent Blues Fest at the Ilion Moose Lodge and everyone who brought a donation. Nearly 600 pounds of pet food was collected for our animals here at The Stevens-Swan Humane Society (photos above & below)

The crowd enjoyed great blues and rock music from The Nighthawks (from Washington DC) and a hot opening set from Phil Petroff and Natural Fact (From Syracuse)

The Pet Food Collection and Blues Concert was held To Honor Bruce Gigliotti (1954- 2004)  
   Please go to web site for much more http://www.petconcert.com

Looks like our shelter dog 'Teddy' will be adopted as well!