One of my friends recently married his son to a young lady from a warmer climate.  It was a memorable event.  He tells me that the young lass rode a quarter horse to the occasion.  The son and father were both dressed as cowboys.  In preparation a few days prior, the bride climbed on the horse with a large, full slip and swooshed it along the horse’s flank so that the horse would get used to the new noise and material.  That preparation worked well.  At the wedding, the horse didn’t flinch, the weather was gorgeous and the bride arrived at the wedding to the backdrop of Celtic music and a bevy of tears streaming down the faces of wedding attendees.  Awww.  The married couple has since moved out to Montana, just south of the border, to make their home on a ranch.

Well, there’s a lesson to be learned from that experience.  Preparation is important.  The Boy Scout motto is, “Be prepared.” 

Now, if you were charged with promoting a good cause, you would also heed the motto, “Be Prepared.”  You would take your message or program to where you find people likely to accept your message.  You would prepare materials beforehand so that you would have enough to inform everyone of the cause.  In the case of the BC SPCA Biscuit Fund, you would want to take your message where you find people friendly to pets.  One such place, where you find friends from many different places, is a wedding.

So, how do you present your message in this context?  Well, you could make pet-shaped cookies like one young lady did and attach a card to each one with a ribbon.  The card would announce that a donation had been given to the Biscuit Fund on behalf of the recipient.

Another thing you can do is to insert a wedding favour card or label in your wedding invitations.  One glimpse of Manuel the Chihuahua, or Morgan the cat will go a long way toward motivating your friends to help my friends recover from their predicaments.  If they do contribute to the fund in response to the announcement, they’ll receive a donation statement for tax purposes, too.

Yet another creative idea is to contact Melissa at the Biscuit Fund and arrange for one of the Biscuit Fund beneficiaries to attend the wedding reception.  Now, this idea is a little untested and risky, because you don’t always know what one of us pets will do at such an important event.  So, Be Prepared!  Sometimes, one of us will do the unexpected and cause a whole bunch of laughter, making for a truly memorable moment!  Most of the time, your friends will pet one of my friends and comment on how cute he or she is. 

You could place Biscuit Business Cards (BBCs) next to an easel holding a picture of your Biscuit Fund friend, so that each viewer could take the information home to make a contribution later.  A large picture of Manuel, for example, definitely moves the heart to action!

You caretakers are a continuous source of silliness to us pets.  You do such silly things as flash lightning from little boxes (cameras), make funny singing noises with your mouths (karaoke) and drink things until you can no longer walk straight (get drunk).  You give valuable things for pieces of paper (money).  Even a dog knows that a good bone is worth far more than a silly piece of paper!  You dance on two legs, throw pieces of your clothing to others to catch (garter), and dance in line together while loud noises come out from small and big boxes (speakers).  You bang on long thin tables with black and white levers that make noise (pianos).  Wouldn’t you rather do something entirely useful, like helping us at the Biscuit Fund, instead of such silliness?

Have you ever seen the before and after pictures of an animal that has been rescued from a mishap or abusive environment?  Have you seen the smile on a child who’s been given a new pet, rescued from one of those situations?  Have you seen the smiles on folks’ faces after they have used their resources to support the Biscuit Fund?  Have you seen the smile on Jacob’s face after he raised thousands of dollars for the Biscuit Fund?

Well, as a dog, I don’t understand the wedding thing, but I sure am grateful that it can be used by caretakers to help us injured and lost pets get back on the road to recovery and find a friendly home!

/Signed/  Biscuit