Hello supporters, I know I've asked you to contact media outlets in the past. I also know that you're probably tired of me asking. But this time, it's different. I just spent a great deal of time visiting the websites of almost EVERY newspaper in Virginia and digging out the email addresses of their respective editorial departments. I did this manually, one at a time, instead of relying on the outdated contact lists floating around the internet. Many important people are already marveling at the attention this petition is getting. And do you know why? Do you know what makes this movement bigger than other efforts to protect animals? It's simple: the amount of press covering it. It's usually hard to get the media to take notice. You have to flood them with emails and phone calls until they have no choice but to pay attention. Otherwise, they can and will ignore you. When the television stations contacted me last month, they admitted that they decided to cover the story because they received SO MANY EMAILS about it. That is what made them contact me - YOU made that happen - and because of that, more people know about this issue. So I'm asking you to do that again. I'm asking you to FLOOD these newspapers with emails until they pay attention. I have uploaded a file to Google Docs with the name of each newspaper and their email address. You can find that file right here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzxvGgjeMwKibkRsbXFGbkJVcVE/view Please send them an email with the letter below: Dear Editor, I am writing to make you aware of a large movement to pass legislation in Virginia that will protect dogs from being left outside in extreme weather. Several dogs have frozen to death and died of heat stroke, and this proposed law will prevent owners from openly abusing their dogs. A petition was started two months ago and has over 15,000 signatures. You can read the petition and the related statistics here: https://www.change.org/p/pass-a-virginia-law-requiring-dog-owners-to-keep-their-dogs-inside-in-harsh-temperatures PLEASE consider running a story on this movement. Is has captured the attention of the Humane Society of the United States. NBC12, CBS6, WDBJ7, ABC8, the Roanoke Times, and the Bristol Herald Courier have already covered it. This is quickly becoming a large mission and meetings are being set up with Virginia legislators. If you would like to reach Gary Sweeney, the creator of the petition, please email him at: gary@guardiansofrescue.org. Thank you very much for your time and consideration! Sincerely, Your name __________________________________________________________________ If we can pull off this Virginia media blitz, the publicity will be invaluable when it comes time to speak with lawmakers. If enough people make noise, they will have to acknowledge this effort. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support!!!! - Gary