Go Orange! & Dark of Night-Book Giveaway
Meow….it’s International Talk Like a Cat Day. We meow every day but don’t believe everything you read. April Fool! What is true are the following pet holidays for the month of April.
April is…National Pet First Aid Awareness Month.
Prevent Lyme Disease in dogs Month.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. (ASCPA)
April 10, 2012: ASPCA Day
April 11, 2012: National Pet Day.
April 18, 2012: Pet Owners Independence Day.
April 22, 2012: Earth Day
April 16-20, 2012: National Pet ID Week.
April 26, 2012: National Kids and Pets Day.
April 28, 2012: World Veterinary Day.
April 27, 2012: Hairball Awareness Day.
The holiday we’d like to highlight today is Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month.
As cat lovers, we can’t imagine deliberate cruelty taking place but it does. Prevention is always better than rescue and part of prevention is education. If you’ve ever wondered why animal shelters don’t allow black cats to be adopted before Halloween, our book giveaway this week is a novel about the why’s.
Black of Night by Jennifer Charron Ward tells a suspenseful tale of what happens to Benny, a black cat who runs across the path of sadistic teens. A couple of these misguided kids think it’s cool to perform satanic ritual cat killings for Halloween. What makes the story compelling (and yes it has a happy ending) are the chapters narrated by Benny. This story, while difficult to read in parts, has an important message as valid today as ever. We’re happy to offer our readers a chance to win a copy, simply leave a comment at this post anytime before 11:59PM ET Saturday, April 7, 2012 . The winner will be announced next Sunday.
The novel is inspired by true events. Charron Ward used to work at a treatment center for adolescent alcoholics and drug addicts. One of the patients, a 15-year-old boy would torture and kill cats while high. Only by education can we begin to heal the damage from myths perpetuated by ignorance. To learn about how you can make a difference during April, visit ASPCA and how you can “Go Orange”
13 Comments
edie
I have a black cat named Jake. I had good luck the day I got him from the rescue.
Oui Oui
There are so many horrid animal cruelty and hoarding stories on the news, it just makes us sick. We hope one day these will be problems in the past. We don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt fellow creatures.
Pee S, We think you have an exciting life, Layla!
Brian
Cruelty needs to be banished forever and I went Orange for April. I will pass on the book contest please.
Katie Isabella
Thank you for bringing this atrocity to light..the cruelty and preverse horror and inhumane treatment.
HereKittyKitty
This book looks great! I don’t understand the “go orange & Dark of Night” tag though; the book is Black of Night, no?!?!
boomermuse
True, just multi-tasking 😉
Gina Long-Boekhout
Just posted/shared on my FB profile and my Author Page and my Cats The Boss Page 🙂
Tinch
Thanks for mentioning this book, Layla. Cruelty to animals happens way too often!
Sparkle
I read (and reviewed) Black of Night last October and I really enjoyed it! Good luck to everyone who enters.
Vicky
Definitely a message that needs to get out there.
Kathy Thompson
HOORAY for PREVENTION of CRUELTY to ANIMALS!!!!! I think that many people still do not understand the implications of animal cruelty. It is often viewed as a single act and not as a link in a chain that is very often attached to someone that has extreme mental health issues. The offender often times is also abusive,cruel etc. to other humans that are weaker or smaller than they are. We as a society need to start creating and enforcing far better laws for animals and by doing so looking deeper into the people’s lives and histories that commit these acts on animals. We need to stop the people from continuing on thier path of cruelty and abuse and help them if its possible and remove them from society if it isn’t because it will escalate to higher levels.
Sorry ,I got on my soapbox for a minute.
I would love to read this book even if I don’t win it. Thanks again Layla for all you do for the cats in particular and animals in general! MUCHO,MUCHO LOVE! Skeeter and Izzy and Mom Kat. >^@@^< we have our reading glasses on
boomermuse
Kathy, thanks for speaking out. There is power in numbers.