Speechless
Mai pals ,  I am almost speechless, but I have to say a huge thanks to all of you for getting me to the finals of the Shorty Awards. This means so so much because less than a year ago no one had ever heard of a PawPawty and I did not know much about this thing called Twitter.

But how a year has changed all of that, now because of all of your help and support the PawPawty events on twitter have grown into the only regular event that uses the power of twitter to mobilise people all over the world to help animals in need.

We have raised over $23,000 for 20 shelters from all over the world
Animal Lovers worldwide have donated over 500 prizes for us to use in competitions
We even appeared as a trending topic on twitter on a number of occasions

We have created a strong community who care not only about animals but also about each other, and now we have the opportunity to share all of this with even more people.



Some great nominations that made me smile
@runrosierun I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because...touches the lives of homeless animals in a big way! 
@Doug Jumper I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because of his relentless efforts to improve the world! 
@Lou I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because he works so hard as CDO of pawpawty helping animals
@Indy the cat I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because... He found a way to do good and have fun too.
@Dave Baker I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because... his paws r so furry and he's a right wooofa!
@Sunny Harbour Cat Re I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because their tireless work for 'us' rescue's is amazing xx 
@Prof Cattus_Trophic I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because...he cares so much, raised money and awareness 
@Mr. Rusty Monkey I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because...he shows us all how to be more charitable tweets. 
@Melinda I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because there's no love like love from man's best friend! 
@Drive Industries I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because he helps animals around the globe!
@Louie Shiloh Beagle I nominate @frugaldougal for a Shorty Award in #nonprofit because he throws the awesomest pawpawties for good causes. 


If you want to see all of the nominations so far then here is the huge list!!


What's Next
The next stage in the awards opens on Monday 1st Feb at Noon EST and runs through to Friday 5th Noon EST. During this time more nominations will be allowed, at this stage I am not sure if only new nominations will be counted or if those of you who have already nominated  will be able to nominate again. Needless to say anything you can do to spread the word next week to ask your pals and all animal lovers to nominate me will help.

At the moment we are looking at the possibility of having another #shortypawpawty on Thursday 4th , which of course will be a chance to have some fun, spread awareness and  raise some money for anipals. As soon as all of the details are finalised we will be back in touch.

Now go off and rest those little paws, wings, and what ever else you type with because you are gonna need them next week.

Thanks so much for showing everyone the power that exists when a few like minded people get behind a purpose and make things happen, together we can do this one paw at a time.

My little doggie heart is bursting with joy!

More Soon
Frugal Dougal

PS Huge Congratulations to @bztat who is 3rd in #art,  VAStateParks who is 4th in #government , @zackrabbit who is 1st in awesome.

"The Shorty Awards honor the best people and organizations on Twitter. These unique awards are for the Twitter community, by the Twitter community. Online voting is public and democratic, culminating in an awards ceremony that recognizes the winners in 27 official categories as well as those in brand new crowd-sourced ones."

They are not like some of the contests where people who were clever with a PC could set bots up to vote 24 hours a day. These guys are actively watching out for any dubious activity, they are legit and the winners get invited to an awards event in New York.

I was so pleased for the whole of the animal community on twitter when you guys got me to be one of the five finalists, but the contest is not over yet!

In order to stay in the game we need to be in the Top 5 on Friday, January 29, 2010 at 11:59:59 pm Pacific time so please please continue to ask your friends to nominate me.

You can vote for as many people as you like in as many different categories, but your vote only counts once ( as far as I can tell by the rules) so to keep me in with a chance of winning, you guys need to get your pals who have not already voted to vote for me.

Of course I would be thrilled to win, but even to stay in the top 5 until the closing date would help highlight the wonderful work that we do every month for animal charities all over the world. Something which is only possible because of your tremendous support, caring and love that you have all given right from the start almost a year ago.

So while it is not cool to beg, I do it with all of the best intentions, help me get there so that we can continue this great challenge to change the world for animals one paw at a time.

Here is the link to take you straight to the page to vote for me @frugaldougal

While you are there why not show your support for two other great pals of the PawPawty events, @bztat and @zackrabbit

Thank You all so so much from the bottom of my doggie heart.

More Soon

Frugal Dougal


HOT NEWS HOT NEWS
watch out if we stay in the Top 5 through to Friday we will have a special thank you mini #PawPawty for all you crazy Pawty anipals

Well mai pals what a time we had at the Viva Wag Vegas, lots of fun and games and possibly the best costumes I have ever seen. You ladies really looked hot hot hot.

The amazing news is that we have raised a total of $1878 for the animal charities that are helping out in Haiti in the time of great need. I am sure that every dollar we have raised will be much needed and appreciated. The donation links will be available until the end of the month so there is still time to donate.

You can find out more about what the charities are doing by checking in on the WSPA site and by following @wspa on twitter. They are in Haiti now on the ground assessing the situation.

We will be doing the usual follow up over the next few days to make sure all your prizes are on their way and of course to start planning the next PawPawty.

Thank you all so so much for your continued support, I have one final plea, if you want to help us help even more animals then if you cannot donate, you can still help by sparing 30 seconds of your time to nominate me in the Shorty Awards nonprofit category. If we get into the top 5 this will help spread the word to so many more people about what we do each and every month to help animals all over the world. For your nomination to count you have to state the reason why you are nominating me.

Please nominate me and show your support for the PawPawty, helping animals one paw at a time. (closing date is 29th and I only need 100 nominations to get in to the top 5!)

More Soon
Frugal Dougal

Anipals I have felt great sorrow and concern for the people of Haiti following the devastating news of the massive earthquake which they have suffered. Most of us will never have to go through anything like this in our lifetimes and I feel extremely contrite having posted so many messages complaining about the snow and general bad weather conditions in the UK. What is a bit of snow and ice compared with conditions and repercussions that the people in Haiti face.

My perspective has changed.

Therefore I would like to dedicate the PawPawty this month to helping the animals in Haiti. It is difficult to get information at the moment about the best way to channel funds but a number of you have pointed out that there are a few teams getting ready to go and help the animals. I would like to help fund their mission.

Of course all of you who have nominated a charity for this month's PawPawty may be disappointed, however I feel their need is greater than any of us could ever imagine.
I can assure that all of the charities or shelters already nominated will be entered into the draw for the February #PawPawty so you nominations will not have been in vain.

Hey mai pals it is time to sort out all the details for the first official #PawPawty of 2010, and it is gonna be a good one.