A Labor of Love

Often I find myself procrastinating when writing a post like this. You know, the ones that dig deep into emotion. The ones that find you grasping for words to express yourself.

It began earlier this fall, when I stumbled upon the results of a study on the type of content people enjoyed and trusted the most when online.

 Turns out we all love funny videos. But ranked #2 are the "cause" videos: those touching, thoughtful ones that tug at your heart, that rally like-minded people who believe in - well, a cause.
I'd been working on a ton of video projects for work. And they were looking for more ideas. More ways to get the word out, to build awareness about Hallmark and our products.

I'd already been jokingly labeled as "the one who will put a cat in any video she can."
Uhm, gee, I wonder why... Hey, I managed to place cats in at least 6 of them. See?

So I asked The Question.

"We're partnering with Best Friends Animal Society to help find loving homes for shelter pets. One that is connected to our plush dog named Jingle, a homeless dog who found his boy. What if we reached out to people and asked them to share with us what their hopes and dreams are for the future of companion animals? What if that became a video?"

I love it when my vocation and my avocation - my passion for helping homeless animals - align.

Two and a half months, and dozens of Facebook chats and emails later, I had a script. It came straight from the letters, video and audio files sent in from pet bloggers, animal lovers, foster moms and shelter volunteers - from as far away as New Zealand.

A few screenshots from my POV as we edit the video

It took some time to piece it all together. Hunting for just the right music alone was a monumental task. And everyone involved, including me, wondered when it would ever, ever see the light of day.

Do you recognize any of these stars? From left: Glogirly's Waffles, Island Cats' Ernie and Amy Shojai with her Karma.

Yesterday, it premiered.

This video was truly a labor of love.  These are messages from the heart, and I was honored to be able to represent the ones speaking.

Many thanks to:

Connie from Tails from the Foster Kittens
Linda from Savannah's Paw Tracks
Debbie from Glogirly
Jeanne from Random Felines
Julie from Cats Herd You
Marjorie from Dash Kitten
Sam from Vegas Rock Dog
Susan from Life with Dogs and Cats
Stephanie from Snotface Ferret
Dawn from Pet Product Review
Kevin from Animal Shelter Volunteer Life
Sue from The Island Cats
Melissa from Barking from the Bayou
Jenny from Pixel Blue Eyes
Paula from Sweet Purrfections
Jenny from As the World Purrs
Ann of My Pawsitively Pets
Pet behavior consultant Amy Shojai of shojai.com

Special thanks to the non bloggers who also participated, such as Amy's husband Lee, Wayside Waifs' extraordinary cat whisperer, Jen... and Fred & Bison's mom Vanessa.

I hope I did you proud.

#TractorSupply meet your newest fan #ad

Maxwell: Do you see the sweet haul behind me?

It's not for me, and I'm totally okay with that.
It's for kitties who are homeless and in need like I once was.
I'd still be there - deaf, on the streets and alone - if not for generous donations like this given to the rescue that found and cared for me until I came home with Momma.

'Scuse me, I feel a bit verklempt - I think I'll let her take up the rest of this story....

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This post is sponsored by Tractor Supply Company^® and the BlogPaws Professional Pet Blogger Network. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Tractor Supply Company but A Tonk's Tail only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Tractor Supply Company is not responsible for the content of this article.

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I received a letter in the mail the other day. In it was a very generous gift card and a note asking if I would please help create a holiday gift basket for an animal shelter or for someone with pets in need.

I wish I could adequately put into words how this touched me. For a retail company to reach out and ask me to help them help a shelter save lives - it was an honor to carry out their wishes.  The company was Tractor Supply Co.^®

Photo credit: Mike Mozart via Flickr Creative Commons 2.0

I had never been inside a Tractor Supply store. In fact, I hadn't heard of them until a few years ago. After a bit of poking around in Wikipedia and Google Maps, I began to see this 77 year old store appears most frequently in outlying suburbs. And there was one just a bit over 10 miles from us.

It took next to no arm-twisting to entice Marty out to the store for a visit. (one word, whispered: tools...)
The first thing I saw as I entered was this sign. WOW.

When I got home I went online and looked up the info on this clinic. They offer reduced-rate vaccine packages, as well as the $15 microchip and other diagnostic tests, including a rabies titer. They have an entire web site dedicated to animal rescue.

I hadn't truly entered the store yet and I was already a fan.

Their store was huge (a bit overwhelming at first to my untrained eye, in fact!). And as you can see, the pet department was a respectable size.

Although Tractor Supply Co. asked for a gift to a single shelter, truly their gift was so generous I was able to put together two "foster kits" - one for Wayside Waifs and one for Great Plains SPCA.

Maxwell doing his best Vanna White impression, sitting proudly behind the two Foster Kits.

Each kit received a pet bed, a litterbox, and food: Tractor Supply's own private label 4health^® brand of grain free kibble and canned pate.
One kit got a very nice grooming comb and the other, a nail trimmer and calming treats.

I have to tell you, I did a double-take when I saw the 69-cent price tag on the cans of food. Are you kidding me? That's not a 3 ounce can, it's a large, 5.5 ounce can. You can buy a serious amount of food for a shelter at that price. And it's made in the U.S.

Maxwell gave the Kit for Great Plains SPCA one last inspection before I left....

And Allie did the same for the gift to go to her Alma Mater, Wayside Waifs.
Then I was off, playing Hanukkah Harry for Day 1 of the Season of Lights.

Kittens, here we come!

Hoping to make someone's holiday just that little bit easier...

During the season of giving, it's heartwarming to see a company give so generously.

Maxie: It feels good to be the bearer of gifts on behalf of TSC

I really can't tell you how happy this made me, and how very glad I am to know about Tractor Supply Company.
Sirs, you have a fan for life.

If you were as impressed as I was with Tractor Supply's animal rescue outreach, please let them know. I know I'll be saying "thank you"!

You can connect with Tractor Supply Co. here:

 Facebook * Instagram * Pinterest * Website

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Faraday: But wait! There's more!

Mommy left out the best part!!

Check out the OTHER cool stuffs she found at Tractor Supply.

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Faraday:  I mean, seriouslies. Ya gotta love a store that sells Chicken Poop Lip Balm!

Thank you, thank you. Try the veal. I'll be here all week....

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