Veterinary clinics, pharmacy use social media to collect donations for oil-spill cleanup

An informal organization called Join the Paws—which includes NorthStar VETS in Clarksburg, N.J., Broad Ripple Animal Clinic in Indianapolis, Ind., and Wedgewood Pharmacy—is using Twitter and Facebook to collect donations to help with the oil-spill cleanup in the Gulf.

Through e-mails, Facebook messages, and Twitter tweets, the group is asking clients and online followers to donate money to the American Wildlife Federation. The funds will help clean up the growing oil spill affecting the health of marine animals and birds in the Gulf of Mexico and along the United States' southern coast.

"The wildlife casualties are adding up. Oil has officially hit land, and numerous sea turtles, dolphins, and migratory birds have all been reported dead or dying on Gulf beaches. Sadly, this is just the beginning of the uphill battle wildlife in the region now face," the Join the Paws message reads (click here to read).Readers are then encouraged to click through to donate money on NorthStar's website. Users gave $150 through the site in the first four days over the Memorial Day Weekend.

One of Join the Paws' organizers—Brenda Tassava, CVPM, CVJ, a Firstline Editorial Advisory Board member and hospital administrator at Broad Ripple—says team morale always gets a boost when the clinic can reach out to the local community and through the Web to help. "Our team is quite proud that we’re doing something," Tassava says.