Seattle, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A shelter cat, Matilda, from Redwood City, Calif., is the grand prize winner of the 3rd Annual Cat Pawsitive National High-Five Day Contest. Matilda wins a $5,000 grant for Whis-Purr Rescue Inc. and a personal cat behavioral virtual consult with Jackson Galaxy, renowned cat behavior and wellness expert, host of Animal Planet’s “My Cat From Hell” and New York Times best-selling author.
Matilda’s clever bell-ringing high-five won 4,997 votes. Matilda currently lives at Whis-Purr Rescue with her sister Moxie and brother Maverick. The Annual Cat Pawsitive National High-Five Day Contest celebrates the success of the life-saving Cat Pawsitive initiative of The Jackson Galaxy Project, a program of Greater Good Charities.
“This year's entries for The National High-Five Day Contest illustrated incredible creativity and enthusiasm, and beautifully showcased how positive reinforcement training can truly enhance the human-cat bond," said Galaxy. " As we have seen over and over again in the Cat Pawsitive program, this training can save the lives of cats and inspire the humans who live with and work for them."
Cat Pawsitive is a life-saving initiative for shelter and rescue cats that aims to increase feline adoption rates by instructing shelter/rescue staff and volunteers how to implement positive reinforcement training for cats and includes a signature move - teaching them to high-five. Galaxy, founder of The Jackson Galaxy Project, launched the Cat Pawsitive training program with a team of feline behavior experts in an effort to enrich the lives of homeless cats in shelters and rescues to improve their wellbeing and adoptability.
The contest kicked off on March 22 and the top 25 high-five finalist were selected by Jackson Galaxy for the public to vote on from April 8-14. The following are the second place and third place winners with a list of prizes.
- 2nd Place: Birdie and Finch win a 3,000 cash grant for Simply Cats Adoption Center in Boise, Idaho and a signed copy of “Total Cat Mojo” by Galaxy.
- 3rd Place: Joan wins a $2,000 cash grant for EASEL Animal Rescue in Ewing, New Jersey and a signed copy of “Total Cat Mojo” by Galaxy.
The gallery of entries along with the complete contest terms and conditions can be viewed at felinehighfive.com. This year’s contest is in partnership with The Petco Foundation and The Animal Rescue Site.
Since 2016, a total of 168 animal welfare organizations and over 2,650 cats have participated in Cat Pawsitive programs with over 1,600 staff members and volunteers taking part in the training of thousands of homeless cats. To date, more than 1,800 homeless cats have been adopted during Cat Pawsitive semesters, with hundreds of more cats benefitting from being in the program and continuing their training on the road to adoption.
The Jackson Galaxy Project is a signature program of Greater Good Charities that seeks to improve the lives of cats at risk and help the people who care for them through innovative programs that educate, inspire and empower staff, rescuers and adopters.
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About Greater Good Charities
Greater Good Charities is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit organization, with a 100/100 rating on Charity Navigator, that works to amplify the good in the world to improve the health and well-being of people, pets, and the planet. Since 2007, Greater Good Charities has given over $300 million in cash and in-kind grants to over 5,000 charitable partners worldwide and funded projects in 121 countries. To date, Greater Good Charities has provided over $22 million in support for COVID-19 disaster-relief, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support. To learn more about how Greater Good Charities is amplifying the good across the globe, please visit greatergood.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube.