Hilary Swank Serves as Home 4 the Holidays Ambassador

Two-time Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank will serve as the 2009 ambassador when the 11th annual, San Diego-based Iams Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive kicks off October 1. Swank will share her personal experience with pet adoption and encourage families to find their new best friends this holiday season by visiting animal shelters and pet rescue groups. Along with founding partner Helen Woodward Animal Center and nearly 3,500 participating animal organizations worldwide, the program has set a goal to find loving families for 1.5 million pets between Oct. 1, 2009 and Jan. 5, 2010.

“I’m so proud to be working with Iams Home 4 the Holidays to help raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption,” said Hilary Swank. “Last year, the program’s adoption goal was to get 1 million pets adopted in just three months, but this year the goal is even bigger – we’re on a mission to find loving families for 1.5 million orphaned pets between Oct 1st and January 4th.”

Swank has adopted many pets throughout her life, including her two dogs Karoo and Rumi. She rescued Karoo from the side of a road while filming in South Africa a few years ago and adopted Rumi last fall from a participating IH4TH shelter in Los Angeles.

“Now more than ever orphaned animals need our help and who better to give them a voice than Hilary?” said Mike Arms, founder of Iams Home 4 the Holidays and President of Helen Woodward Animal Center. “Along with Hilary and her inspiration, our 3,500 animal organizations are working to shine a big spotlight on the need to help the nearly 8 million homeless pets in our country, and are committed to helping raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption.”

Iams Home 4 the Holidays is dedicated to helping orphaned pets. The program has placed more than 3 million animals in homes since 1999, and in 2008, the adoption drive found families for 1,202,718 pets. The 2009 program officially kicks-off on Oct.1, but in the meantime, there are still millions of homeless animals that need help. If you are a non-profit animal organization, register today!

[Source: Iams Home 4 the Holidays]