Elephants and Guns and Video

There has been a lot of drama over the last week about Bob Parsons from GoDaddy harvesting a "nuisance" elephant in Zimbabwe and then posting a video of it online. I am by no means anti-hunting or anti-animal management, but I haven't hunted in over 20 years. Fished, you bet, but 98% CPR (Catch Photo Release).

However, I have had a hard time wrapping my head around the killing of this particular elephant. I am aware that a lot of harvested elephants are done to protect crops and provide much needed meat for local villages. I am also aware that this happens all the time and no one cares. So why is this particular instance causing so much drama? Is it because it's someone "famous"? Or is it because this became another "slacktivism" meme running rampant on Facebook?

I love animals. I think they should be protected and I think that they should be managed in a responsible way. I'm not sure how this one event is any different than all of the hunting shows on TV, or the thousands of web sites that discuss hunting, or the the thousands of outfitters that provide these types of 'vacations', but we haven't seen this level of protest over it until one man with a lot of money did it and posted a video of his hunt. And as someone that spends a lot of time, on a daily basis, trying to make the lives of animals in need better in some way, it does strike me in a bad way to see the mobs jump in and out of something we spend so much time involved in.

For the record, estimates put the elephant population in Zimbabwe at 100,000. The environment there can support roughly half that many.

But, since you are all involved let's see if there is something useful you can do while you are here. Try one of these things instead of getting indignant on Facebook.

Donate real money to http://www.savetheelephants.org/

Move your domain name from GoDaddy to NameCheap and they will donate $1 to save the elephants http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/03/30/elephants/ (way to go Tamar).

It's Cyber Monday All Week!!

Who thinks that just one day of staggeringly low prices and even lower profit margins is enough?? Not us!! That's right, Cyber Monday is going on all week here at Animal Charms. By using Coupon Code "CYBER" you get an additional 25% off of any order at Animal Charms!

I know what you are thinking, 25% really isn't that much.. But wait, there's more!!

Every day our prices are already 10% below MSRP. Plus instead of our normal 10% donation to animal charities we are doubling that to 20%!! Add in the 25% coupon code and we are a full 55% BELOW MSRP on every piece of animal jewelry on our web site.

So come on over and pick out a great piece of jewelry for someone else, or yourself, and use coupon code CYBER to get your 25% discount.

More Animal Charities Added

I know that it has been a while since I posted here, sorry about that. Summer brings 4H, critter training, and spending a lot of time getting the place ready for winter. But that doesn't mean we aren't out looking for Animal rescues and Shelters to help support.


I just added three new rescues to our Animal Charity Directory, all in Alabama this time.

Madison A.R.F. is based in Madison, Alabama and they rescue dogs and cats. You can join them on Oct. 23rd on the Bikers for Barkers Poker run.

A.R.K. Inc. is based in Hunstville, Alabama and they also rescue pets and run a no kill shelter. You can read their blog here.

Finally we have TLC Animal Organization. Also based in Madison, TLC rescues household pets.

If you are in the Madison, AL., area, consider giving any of these rescues a hand.

Finally, something that we see all over the place. If you run a rescue, and you are a legitimate 501.c Charity, post it on your web site. Post it everywhere. Make it part of your address in the footer of your site. Many people will not donate if they are not 100% sure that they are donating to a "real" charity. So if you are running a 501.c, make sure you let everyone know.

Help Hanzo Get the Surgery He Needs

Hanzo, the adorable 1 year old pit bull puppy who happens to own a person named Corin Sän Inman, is suffering from luxating patellas in both knees. Fortunately for Hanzo his people, also seen around twitter as @plunderpuss, has some talent when it comes to art.

Enter the plunderzoo. Hordes of strange creatures have escaped from the zoo and we can help recapture them by making a small donation to Hanzo and the surgery he needs. Your $10 donation will get you a great little 3x5 art card of the animal you helped capture. Very cool IMO.

If you want to help out and get yourself a cool little piece of art, head over to the plunderzoo and pick out your own animal to capture. Me, I'm going after something mysterious I think. What are you planning to capture?

Color Photo Pet Jewelry

We finally have a great new product available to our pet loving friends out there.

These photo pendants are made with a heavy pendant made in brass with a rhodium plating, not the cheap aluminum pendants that are so common in the photo jewelry market.

To make these pendants all we need is a good quality photo of your pet and we can transfer it to our of our pendants. Currently we are offering the pendants in three shapes,

• Dog Tag about 1" by 2"
• Round about 1"
• Heart about 1"

We hope to be adding more shapes and sizes soon.  These pendants are priced very well at under $40 and we are also giving an extra special price on sterling silver chains when ordered with your new pet photo pendant.

Animal Charms donates $1,000 to charity

A bit if self serving promotion here, but we have just hit the $1,000 mark in donations to animal charities and rescues for the year. Hooray!!

Our goal since starting Animal charms has always been to help as many animals as possible and we are thrilled to be able to give this much so far this year. If you have a rescue or shelter and want to have us donate to you, head over to the animal charms web site and send us an email through the contact form. You can also add your charity to our animal charity directory.

Thanks to everyone that has purchased animal jewelry from us, we appreciate your support. And for those of you looking for animal themed jewelry, why not buy from someone that is donating to animals?

Animal Rescue : Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets

We are always looking for charities and animal rescues to donate to, but this month we decided to go back to an old one that we have supported for years. Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pets. GASP was started back in 2005 to help the pets of our soldiers being deployed over seas. In many cases these animals are left in shelters, occasionally they go to foster homes or other family members, and unfortunately, in a few cases they are euthanized.

With all that our service men and women do for us, it's disheartening to know that many of them will leave and return to never see their loved pets again. This is where GASP steps in. With chapters and partners across the United States, they find foster families, shelters, and places for these pets to live while they wait for their soldier to return home.

With Memorial day recently passing, and several friends preparing for deployment later in June, it's a great time of year to help. Whether you can donate to GASP, or volunteer at a local rescue, or even if you want to foster a pet, you can find GASP on their web site at http://guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org/ or on Facebook.

And just to leave us on a happy note, how about some dogs seeing their returning soldiers for the first time.