National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week
This week, November 6th-12th, 2011 is National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. Given all the animals who need homes and the wonderful people who undertake this emotionally hard work, I am delighted to pause and honor the shelters. I also have an idea - wouldn't it be grand if from now until year-end we could collectively raise a great deal of money to assist their important work?
Regular readers of this blog know that last year at this time I was in the hospital fighting cancer. Fortunately, the cancer is gone and like many survivor's I reflect on life's path so far. Three key places in my life are Minnesota where my book is based, Washington - I attended Seattle Pacific University and Arizona where I now live. In business, it is always good to construct a win-win collaborative so I have an idea to make a difference that I hope you will also find creative.
Coated With Fur: A Vet's Life is a great holiday gift for animal lovers and those who want to be veterinarians. Author's long to share our work. So I've created a fundraiser to expose more people to the book and, at the same time, help three animal shelters: The Animal Humane Society in Minnesota, The Humane Society For Seattle/King County and the Arizona Humane Society. Their websites are animalhumanesociety.org, seattlehumane.org and azhumane.org. More about my background is at veterinarycreative.com and the book's website is coatedwithfur.com.
At Smashwords, the book can be downloaded in any electronic format - Kindle, Nook, iTunes and any other e-reader. I wanted people who get e-readers as gifts to have time to download after the holiday. So, until December 31, 2011, you can buy the e-book from Smashwords and earn credit in a friendly competition for your company. I will donate 25% of the proceeds in the name of the employees and retirees of the winning company to the humane society from each state. Thus, all three shelters will benefit. Note I've taken a few liberties as not all companies are headquartered as indicated (e.g., Google isn't based in Seattle but they have a great dog policy!). Generally though, these companies have a meaningful presence in the state. If I omitted your company, let me know and I will add it! If you don't work for one of these companies, pick a favorite and they will get the credit. Please pass this along to colleagues who love animals.
To summarize all three shelters will receive a check in early January in honor of the employees and retirees of the winning team. If interested, please go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/60269 and when you go to purchase the book, enter your respective company code. You may also download free samples. If you have questions, please e-mail me at drnelson@veterinarycreative.com. Thanks and let's raise a lot of money for these shelters - they do such vital work!
Minnesota (note the codes are not case sensitive)
3M Company KT62S
Ameriprise Financial NT23W
Best Buy RY34H
Cargill NE85B
Delta Airlines CZ24K
General Mills QT88D
Medtronic XN86T
Regis MH48L
St. Jude Medical QH38P
Supervalu ZU42X
Target ZR26M
UnitedHealthcare CB62D
US Bank GC92F
Wells Fargo NY45Z
Xcel Energy JT66A
Washington
Boeing UA66L
Costco FB64G
Google LY34N
Microsoft PA585
Nordstrom NX82T
Russell Investments QQ96J
Starbucks MZ42T
Weyerhaeuser LN45R
Arizona
Avnet DA64Z
Banner Health ZE34T
Basha's KF76Y
Catholic Healthcare West BD45F
Freeport McMoran PM64M
Honeywell SD85W
Intel NA32K
Pinnacle West SP94A
Scottsdale Healthcare RM77D
US Airways UJ65R
Good luck teams!
Regular readers of this blog know that last year at this time I was in the hospital fighting cancer. Fortunately, the cancer is gone and like many survivor's I reflect on life's path so far. Three key places in my life are Minnesota where my book is based, Washington - I attended Seattle Pacific University and Arizona where I now live. In business, it is always good to construct a win-win collaborative so I have an idea to make a difference that I hope you will also find creative.
Coated With Fur: A Vet's Life is a great holiday gift for animal lovers and those who want to be veterinarians. Author's long to share our work. So I've created a fundraiser to expose more people to the book and, at the same time, help three animal shelters: The Animal Humane Society in Minnesota, The Humane Society For Seattle/King County and the Arizona Humane Society. Their websites are animalhumanesociety.org, seattlehumane.org and azhumane.org. More about my background is at veterinarycreative.com and the book's website is coatedwithfur.com.
At Smashwords, the book can be downloaded in any electronic format - Kindle, Nook, iTunes and any other e-reader. I wanted people who get e-readers as gifts to have time to download after the holiday. So, until December 31, 2011, you can buy the e-book from Smashwords and earn credit in a friendly competition for your company. I will donate 25% of the proceeds in the name of the employees and retirees of the winning company to the humane society from each state. Thus, all three shelters will benefit. Note I've taken a few liberties as not all companies are headquartered as indicated (e.g., Google isn't based in Seattle but they have a great dog policy!). Generally though, these companies have a meaningful presence in the state. If I omitted your company, let me know and I will add it! If you don't work for one of these companies, pick a favorite and they will get the credit. Please pass this along to colleagues who love animals.
To summarize all three shelters will receive a check in early January in honor of the employees and retirees of the winning team. If interested, please go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/60269 and when you go to purchase the book, enter your respective company code. You may also download free samples. If you have questions, please e-mail me at drnelson@veterinarycreative.com. Thanks and let's raise a lot of money for these shelters - they do such vital work!
Minnesota (note the codes are not case sensitive)
3M Company KT62S
Ameriprise Financial NT23W
Best Buy RY34H
Cargill NE85B
Delta Airlines CZ24K
General Mills QT88D
Medtronic XN86T
Regis MH48L
St. Jude Medical QH38P
Supervalu ZU42X
Target ZR26M
UnitedHealthcare CB62D
US Bank GC92F
Wells Fargo NY45Z
Xcel Energy JT66A
Washington
Boeing UA66L
Costco FB64G
Google LY34N
Microsoft PA585
Nordstrom NX82T
Russell Investments QQ96J
Starbucks MZ42T
Weyerhaeuser LN45R
Arizona
Avnet DA64Z
Banner Health ZE34T
Basha's KF76Y
Catholic Healthcare West BD45F
Freeport McMoran PM64M
Honeywell SD85W
Intel NA32K
Pinnacle West SP94A
Scottsdale Healthcare RM77D
US Airways UJ65R
Good luck teams!
Posted by Dr Kris Nelson at 11/6/2011 11:38 AM 
Categories: Current Events
Tags: National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week Animal Humane Society of Minnesota Humane Society for Seattle/King County
Categories: Current Events
Tags: National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week Animal Humane Society of Minnesota Humane Society for Seattle/King County
I want to be a vet when I grow up What advice can u give me?
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Hi Patricia, I always love to hear from people who wish to become veterinarians. Ours is a wonderful and rewarding profession. Helping animals brings as much joy to me today as it did the first time someone called me doctor and I was able to help one of God's special creatures. Your note did not mention your age or grade so these will be fairly general suggestions. Grades matter a lot - there is just no way to sugarcoat it. As competitive as veterinary college has become, grades are the first cut. Certainly nothing below a 3.0 is acceptable and candidly, you need to do better than that. Experience is the second hurdle. It should be diversified by type of practice and ideally include large and small animals, mixed practice and/or exotics. Demonstrating a consistent and broad interest in the field will help you discern if you really want to pursue this as your life's work and also reflect well in your application to veterinary school.
I highly recommend the books by James Herriot and of course, am partial to Coated With Fur: A Vet's Life. This book chronicles my triumphs and trials in the first year of owning my own veterinary hospital in Minnesota. I'm about to start writing the second book in the series which deals with year two of the clinic. If you want a good sense of what it's like to be a veterinarian, Coated With Fur provides great insight. You will also get helpful tips on becoming a veterinarian at www.vetschoolapp.com. Good luck and enjoy the journey!
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