Posted: March 18, 2010, 3 a.m. EST
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled the Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative postage stamps and announced the Stamps to the Rescue promotional campaign.
"These stamps continue a Postal Service tradition of bringing attention to serious social issues of the day ... one letter at a time," said Postmaster General John E. Potter. "This campaign will increase public awareness about sheltered pets and our hope is that it will encourage pet adoption and promote humane and responsible pet care."
The stamps were introduced to the public on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” The Postal Service is working with DeGeneres and Halo, Purely for Pets, a holistic pet care company she co-owns, to promote the campaign and to bring greater attention to the cause.
"This is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. By working together, we can find good homes for millions of adoptable, homeless and abandoned pets," said DeGeneres. "And until they get adopted, I'm happy to say that Halo and I are giving 1 million meals to shelter pets that are waiting for you."
Stamps to the Rescue is the name of the promotional campaign created by the Postal Service to provide additional information about the stamps and pet adoption. This campaign includes posters featuring DeGeneres placed in post offices across the nation and a new website.
The stamps can be pre-ordered beginning today at usps.com/shop, stampstotherescue.com, or by calling 1-800-STAMP.24 (1.800.782.6724). They won’t be available for sale at the post office until April 30.
The Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet commemorative stamps feature photographs of five cats and five dogs taken by veteran stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce. All 10 animals were adopted from a shelter in New Milford, Conn.
Cats and dogs have been featured on other U.S. postage stamps. A 13-cent stamp of a kitten and puppy playing in the snow was issued in 1982 for use on holiday postcards, in 1998, images of a cat and a dog were included in the "Bright Eyes" set of five pets, and most recently, in 2002, photographs of a kitten and puppy were featured on the "Neuter or Spay" stamps.