BENJI ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF THE BENJI'S BUDDIES FOUNDATION TO SAVE HOMELESS PETS

The New Benji Buddies Program targets saving homeless pets in shelters in unprecedented numbers and helping shelters raise money

Biloxi, MS – Benji creator, Joe Camp, and Mulberry Square Productions have announced the formation of the Benji's Buddies Foundation to execute the SAVE BENJI'S BUDDIES program, an unprecedented national effort to radically boost adoptions of homeless animals and to help shelters raise money.

According to the American Humane, between three and five million pets die in shelters every year because awareness of shelters as a resource and of shelter animals as potentially wonderful pets, is very low. Fewer than 20% of all animals entering homes for the first time come from shelters. And most shelters and rescue organizations do not have resources to promote such recognition. With a specific plan to reverse these statistics, The Benji's Buddies Foundation and the Godwin Group of Jackson, Mississippi, will be working together to impact the public consciousness about the joys of shelter pet adoption for children, families and the pets themselves.

"It’s a simple, straight-forward program without a lot of rhetoric," says Camp. "A program designed simply to 'accomplish'… and measure results."

"During the search for Benji in shelters across the nation, we discovered what has become a tested truth: Benji plus media raises money and empties shelters.

The original Benji was adopted from a shelter and that fact, according to American Humane, caused more than one million adoptions nationwide. That is why the search was mounted in shelters all across the coun try to find the current Benji who was ultimately adopted from the Humane Society of South Mississippi in Gulfport, Mississippi. Now, whenever those big brown adopted eyes appear in the media, money comes into shelters and pets are adopted.

"During the search for Benji, adoptions went up wherever we went," says Camp. "After Benji’s adoption in South Mississippi, that facility had the biggest month in its history, completely emptying the shelter. But the sad truth is that a month or two later, after the exposure dwindled, it was always back to business as usual. Full shelters and fewer adoptions. The Benji's Buddies program will change all that. With the help of corporate sponsorships, Benji's Buddies Foundation will develop a combination of paid advertising, public service announcements, and live media appearances in waves and flights to continuously brand homeless shelter pets as 'Benji's Buddies.'"

Godwin Group, a major national advertising agency in Jackson, MS has volunteered to develop the media program pro bono. "This is an exciting challenge, to utilize our experience and knowledge to really make a positive difference," said Godwin CEO and Chairman Danny Mitchell. "Benji's Buddies is an unprecedented opportunity to measurably change things by so convincingly placing the values of shelter pet adoption in the public's mind and heart that the homeless pet, the Benji Buddy, becomes the first choice of new pet owners."

Less than two years after the current Benji was found, lost and alone, on the streets of Pass Christian, Mississippi, the floppy-eared mutt filmed her first movie which will be released during the summer of 2004.

The Save Benji's Buddies Program will also make Benji available to local shelters for major fund-raisers such as the one recently held in Jackson, MS that raised more than $100,000 for the Mississippi Animal Rescue League's new shelter construction. The Foundation will depend heavily upon major corporate sponsorships to build public awareness of the terrific pets available at local shelters.