"Stamps to the Rescue" in Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale Postmaster Jerry Long (back row) takes time from his busy schedule to promote "Stamps to the Rescue" and to meet with children attending the Pets-R-Us Summer Camp sponsored by the Humane Society of Broward County. Photo: Tashia Romano-Kravitz

Fort Lauderdale Postmaster Jerry Long presented a "Stamps to the Rescue" enlargement to the staff at the Humane Society of Broward County. The Postmaster visited with children attending the Pets-R-Us Summer Camp sponsored by the Humane Society to teach kids to respect all living things and to be responsible for their pets.

The 44-cent stamps feature photographs of five cats and five dogs from animal shelters — seven from the New Milford Animal Shelter in Connecticut.

The stamps were introduced to the public on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April. The Postal Service has been working with DeGeneres and HALO, a holistic pet care company she co-owns, to promote the stamps and the Stamps to the Rescue campaign. The campaign was created by the Postal Service to provide additional information about the stamps and pet adoption and includes posters featuring DeGeneres in post offices nationwide and an internet presence at http://www.stampstotherescue.com/.

Although estimates vary, most sources agree that animal shelters take in millions of dogs and cats every year in the United States. Sadly, nearly half are euthanized. Adoption could save more shelter pets from this fate. With this pane of 10 stamp designs, the U.S. Postal Service hopes to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter pets.