“We couldn’t afford to Svait’ for our renovations,” Want

“We couldn’t afford to Svait’ for our renovations,” Want said. “But we’re pretty excited to be in the running” for the rich, national contest.

“We’re feeling pretty lucky,” Cunningham quickly added.

More than 1,000 shelters took place in last year’s makeover, won by the Stray Rescue in St. Louis. Locally, in addition to RAWL. the Winchester SPCA is in the running.

Semi-finalists are determined by browsing traffic to Zootoo. The site carries visitor contributions in the form of product and service reviews, shares pet advice and follows links to many pet sites. The 20 shelters with the most points by March 1 will be named semifinalists.

Zootoo.com officials then visit those 20 shelters, further narrowing the field to 10. Then the contest goes back to Web voters who cast ballots for their favorite.

“Allowing America to vote for the wanner of the shelter makeover makes the contest ... totally democratic,” the fundamental American right, said Zootoo.com founder Richard Thompson. “It’ll also be a fun challenge for each of the finalists to present their case to fellow' pet lovers.

“We learned last year that while 20 shelters got cash awards, every shelter that participated was a winner. Donations (to participating shelters) increased bv 21 percent, volunteers increased by 28 percent and adoptions were up 30 percent, all because of the attention they got from the contest. It’s exactly what we hoped would happen - bringing shelters and communities together.”

“The contest has been a dream come true for us.” said Randy Grim, founder of Stray Rescue of St. Louis, winner of the first shelter makeover. “With Zootoo. corn’s help, we are building a facility that will not only be a Godsend for the needy animals of St. Louis, but we hope will serve as a model for what's possible in other communities.”

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