Animal Rescue League Needs Votes For $100,000 Challenge

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If dogs and cats could vote, it's likely they'd cast ballots for the Animal Rescue League.

The shelter in East Liberty is one of the top seven vote-getters in a nationwide survey.

The Animal Rescue League of Pittsburgh has been turning unwanted animals into loving pets for 102 years.

"Last year we had more than 5,200 adoptions," says Executive Director Dan Rossi. "This year our goal is to go over that and we're well on track to do that."

Shelter veterinarians have spayed and neutered more than 6,000, and vaccinated more than 8,000. More than 90 percent of the funding comes from private donations.

Now, the Animal Rescue League hopes to get an unexpected windfall from a web contest sponsored by the ASPCA. The $100,000 challenge is counting votes from website visitors across the nation.

"It literally started with thousands of shelters across the U.S. competing," says Rossi. "It's now whittled down to 49 shelters across the country. ARL is one of those shelters and the only one in western Pennsylvania."

Voting continues till October 31 and ARL has a doggone good chance of winning it all.

For more information, log on to www.animalrescue.org.