Your votes/clicks needed!

I posted this on the main messageboard but thought I would tell my April Peeps about it as well.....Just cause you guys are as awesome as she is!!!!! This isn't WLS related but my other passion Animals and a good person! My cousin just sent me the letter below and I went on their webpage and saw what she has been doing- fighting the puppy mills and much much more look at the court cases. She is currently in 3rd place way behind 1st- lets show them that Obesityhelp has numbers. Lord knows we know what it is like to be treated unfairly! At least we have voices and can help ourselves somewhat. We need people like Alison fighting for animal cruelty. Cast your vote today! It only about a minute or two..... http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/hero_of_the_year/hero.html This tells a little bit about her- "Alison's role is multi-faceted, not only reaching out to the public to prevent animal cruelty, but working with humane law enforcement agencies across the country to shine a light on criminal cruelty cases and the important role that Animal Control serves in the lives of the animals and people of our communities. She was involved with the production of "Prosecuting Animal Cruelty and Illegal Animal Fighting," a video training film aimed at teaching law enforcement how to effectively investigate and document animal cruelty crimes. Her efforts have been lauded in the pages of People Magazine and numerous newspapers including the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, and she has appeared on several radio and television programs to speak about animal cruelty issues and responsible pet ownership. She was a presenter at the Animal Law Conference in Palm Springs, California in April 2005, and the National Animal Control Assocation Conference in Oklahoma City in June 2006, and she is currently scheduled to present at the Virginia Animal Control Association Conference in October 2006. Alison has also submitted a propopal to present at the 2007 National Institute of Justice MAPS conference. In mid-2005 was instrumental in the successful development and relaunch of the new ACOfunstop.Com website, a thriving online community with over 650 members that brings Animal Control Officers across the United States and Canada together to share experiences, ideas and friendship. In continuing the theme of bringing like-minded people together, in March of 2006, she launched CritterCrusaders.Com, an online networking site designed just for animal caregivers. In 2005, she was the honored recipient of the Animals' Choice Award by Sacramento-based animal welfare organization United Animal Nations, and in 2006 she was awarded the National Animal Control Association's Diane Lane Memorial Award for outstanding service. In late 2005, Alison launched a new resource to combat the brutal and illegal pastime of dog-fighting. Dogfighters.Org contains general information about dog-fighting for the public, as well as an extensive library of information restricted to law enforcement that details the steps involved in the investigation and successful prosecution of illegal dog-fighting cases. A sister-site focused around ****fighting is currently in development. Alison is also developing a resource that will assist with the transportation of animals to foster care, adoptive homes and emergency relocation during disaster situations. RescueTransporters.Com aims to connect organizations with willing transporters, with profiles that are tailored to match an open transport with the volunteers that have the experience to handle the transport, connecting legs of the journey together based on the distance the volunteer is willing to travel." Friends, As some of you know, my sister (Alison Gianotto) is the founder of Pet-Abuse.com, a national database which allows the tracking of animal abuse crimes, as well as provides educational materials explaining the links between animal abuse and domestic violence. This database has been endorsed by ASPCA as well as the Humane Society of the United States. Well, she is one of Animal Planet's 10 finalists for the Animal Hero of the Year! The voting is done on-line and anyone can vote once a day until October 8. It took me about 10 seconds to get through the whole process. http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/hero_of_the_year/hero.html Thank you to those of you who already voted for the "Animal Planet Hero of the Year." The Discovery Channel will allow us to vote once a day until midnight October 8 so feel free to vote "early and often." You can learn more about her from the link, but if you are really interested, check out www.Pet-Abuse.com where you will see the fruits of 5 years of my sister's labors. Alison's organization is a non-profit organization and the prize for this award includes a sizable donation to the animal charity of the winner's choice. If you would consider voting for her, I would really appreciate it. Thank you so much for considering supporting my sister. I am very proud of her and all of the hard work and dedication she has offered over the years. Please forward this message as you see fit. Thank you for your time.

Done. And reposted.

I voted! Tell her good luck! Lizzie