Benji Unveils New Spay/Neuter Stamps
from the U. S. Postal Service

-- Dedication Ceremony Took Place at American Humane Association's Annual Shelter Conference in Denver September 20th --

Denver, CO September 20, 2002 -- The new Benji was in Denver September 20 to help deliver the keynote address at the American Humane Association's Annual Shelter Conference. Later that evening, Benji was the honored guest designated to unveil America’s newest pet stamps - the “Neuter or Spay” Stamps - in a national first day of issue commemorative ceremony held by the U.S. Postal Service. Benji's creator, Joe Camp, actually delivered the keynote address, but Benji was there to help announce "Benji's Buddies," a massive new program in partnership with the American Humane to increase adoptions in shelters nationwide to unprecedented levels.

The two new Spay/Neuter stamps picture two shelter pets - a puppy (Kirby) and a kitten (Samantha) rescued from Connecticut animal shelters. Denver was the host national city to introduce the new Spay/Neuter Stamps, now available at all post offices nationwide. After several dignitaries spoke about the need and values of spaying or neutering, Benji trotted onto the stage, jumped onto a table and pushed down a lever that unrolled a huge eighteen-foot rendering of the two stamps.

Both the new Benji and the original Benji were rescued from shelters. The original Benji's rescue caused more than one million adoptions around the country according to the American Humane. The new Benji was rescued from a shelter in Gulfport, Mississippi last December after being picked up, lost and alone, on the streets of neighboring Pass Christian. The floppy-eared mutt is now in training for her first mov ie which begins production in January.

After Benji's adoption in November of 2001 from the Humane Society of South Mississippi and the publicity that followed, the shelter had the largest month of adoptions in it's history, completely emptying the their kennels. "That's the goal of the Benji's Buddies program," said Benji's creator Joe Camp. "To empty shelters nationwide. We've found that whenever we put three elements in place - Benji, the media, and discussion of Benji being rescued from a shelter - adoptions go up. They go up a lot. Lives are saved."

250 million of the new Spay/Neuter stamps have been printed. The selvage or outside front pane portion of the stamp sheets have a toll-free number, 1-888-pets911, and a Web site address, www.pets911.com, for customers to obtain additional neuter and spay information.

Besides post offices on Sept. 20, the new Spay/Neuter Stamps are available by phone order by calling toll-free 1-800-STAMP-24. In addition, a number of stamps and other stamp/philatelic items can be ordered via the postal web at www.usps.com.