News — cats
A Style Pixie Loves ATA
We love when anyone wears our gear, but we also love when people feel the need to write about it on their social media! ATA was recently featured on AStylePixie.com. A Style Pixie is a Los Angeles based style blog created by Erika Fermina, stylist, model, feminist, and full time nerd. We just wanted to share the goods with you all. It can be seen here. Erika posted a Stormtrooper inspired look featuring out Cat-At Crew.
RyanByRyanChua.com Feature
Ryan Chua is an ATA favorite! He is a street style and fashion photographer who travels between San Francisco & Los Angeles. Ryan currently works with many noteworthy bloggers from all over. But above all he is a cat lover :)
We just recently had a chance to be featured on his personal blog, and wanted to share it with you all! See it here.
From Fur-ever Friends to Biker Kittens- ATA’s September Collaboration of Feel Good Animal Stories
With the modern age of technology in full swing, it can sometimes seem like the news is only a constant barrage of only negative information being thrown into your face at once. Every day it seems like another terrible incident has happened in the world, and the sensory overload can become emotionally draining. This is why your friends at Arm the Animals want to create a monthly collaboration of some good news pertaining to our furry cohabitants. With their pure innocence, animals have the ability to soothe any negative emotion for an instant feeling of warmth.
Here are some stories that have warmed our hearts throughout the past month:
Last Known Living 9/11 Search-and-Rescue Dog Honored in New York City
(link for pics: http://abcnews.go.com/US/living-911-search-rescue-dog-honored-york-city/story?id=33687084)
A golden retriever named Bretagne, along with her handler Denise Corliss, were honored this past weekend for the valiant search and rescue missions during September 11th on her 16th birthday.
"Responding to the World Trade Center was our first deployment," Corliss told BarkPost, which sponsored their trip and commemoration in the city. "We were there to try and find survivors. When our task force arrived in Ground Zero, I just couldn’t believe the magnitude. Towards the end of our mission, it changed from a search mission to a recovery mission. I was just so grateful to have a canine partner that helped me get through it.”
The trip included a billboard lit up in Times Square, a stay at the lavish 1 Hotel Century Park, the doggie equivalent of the key to the city-- “a bone to the city" made by Tiffany and Co. and a cobblestone dedicated to Bretagne at the 9/11 memorial plaza by the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Also a search and rescue worker for other catastrophic events such as Hurricane Katrina, Bretagne now spends her time as a therapy animal helping children learn to read.

Senior Dog Completes Bucket List
Link for pics (http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/biggest-item-on-angels-bucket-list-done/2244721)
In the hopes of giving a very special senior dog an adventure and also a better chance of senior adoption, a volunteer at a Tampa Bay, Florida shelter caregivers began completing a 50 item bucket list for the Australian cattle dog mix named Angel. As her bucket list adventure began to gain media attention, number 50 on her list, adoption, was about to be checked off.
"We were waiting for a special reason," new owner Timothy Kehoe said, "and it showed up in the paper."
Dog caretaker Sue Silver watched Angel meet the couple.
"She had a glow about her," Silver said. "I was like, 'Oh, this is it.'
Not only did the lucky senior dog get the opportunity to see deer while hiking, lap water from a wine glass and pee in the Dunedin Blue Jays outfield, go paddleboarding, admire a double rainbow and walk along the Gulf of Mexico, but she also got to find her forever home.
"Whatever time she has left on this good earth, I just want her to be in a good home," Ziegler said.
Not-So-Bad to the Bone
Link for pics: http://mashable.com/2015/09/15/biker-cat-road-trip/#k0TDb9UNPZkg
In only a manner that could be considered fate, a fur-ever friend and a cross country biker met at the right time. Pat Doody, part time sheet metal worker/ part time biker, was on a cross country bike trip from California to New Jersey when he met the unlikeliest of acquaintances-- an injured kitten.
"I was just at this truck stop getting gas," Doody told Revzilla, "and this little guy just needed help. He was pretty badly burned, so I picked him up and tucked him inside my vest."
Rightfully named “Party Cat”, the small kitten went along for the cross country trip in Doody’s vest, snacking on some tuna along the way. Now almost completely healed in his new home in New Jersey, Party Cat and Doody have become the ultimate, but cutest, odd couple.
Stay Tuned for October’s Fur-ever Friend Feel Good Stories!
Adopt Don't Shop!
Imagine the population of Chicago being killed annually entirely for the idea of population control-- that is how many animals enter shelters and are euthanized every year.
Approximately 2.7 million (1.3 million dogs and 1.4 million cats) are euthanized annually. Let that fact sink in for a little while we explain some other harrowing statistics.
Of the dogs entering shelters, approximately 35% are adopted, 31% are euthanized and 26% of dogs who came in as strays are returned to their owner; furthermore, of the cats entering shelters, approximately 37% are adopted, 41% are euthanized, and less than 5% of cats who came in as strays are returned to their owners.
If you are planning to adopt a furry buddy, make sure you are prepared to take care of that animal for it’s lifetime. Too many animals are given up because of mounting vet bills or other external factors, a solution that should of ended when the pet was adopted. You are all your pet has in its life- it is important to uphold that responsibility for the welfare of your fur-ever friend.
When you adopt a pet, you are saving a life-- but when you buy a pet, you not only deny a homeless pet a home, you are supporting an industry who’s foundation is harming the welfare of animals. The puppy and kitten mills that sell to pet stores are in business to make a large profit, so they breed animals as quickly as they can. According to Best Friends, these animals are often in ill health, have problems such as poor socialization skills due to lack of human companionship, and genetic defects due to inbreeding.
However, if you don’t find your ideal companion at your local shelter or breed rescue group, you may choose to purchase a puppy or kitten instead of adopting one. In this case, it is important to be certain you are buying from a responsible breeder that breeds and sells only healthy well-socialized animals. According to American Humane, responsible breeders typically do not sell their puppies or kitten to the terrible pet stores. These breeders actually will want to meet and screen prospective owners to ensure that their puppies are going to good homes.
How can you help other than adopting? If you do have an fur-ever friend, it is important to get him or her spayed or neutered, as this ends the threat of unwanted litters. Especially with outdoor cats who roam freely, it is imperative that you get your fur friend fixed at the proper age.
To conclude our plea to consider pet adoption rather than shopping, we give you positive news that 2.7 million dogs and cats are also saved from euthanization each year due to people opening their hearts and homes for a furry friend. It is important as to stay on the path of emptying the animal shelters before reaching into our wallets to shell out the big bucks for a pure bread.
Posted below are shelters that are not only near and dear to our animal-loving hearts, but that we have actually helped in the past. Due to the public’s interest in the welfare of these fur-babies, these shelters continue to thrive today: