For birders all over the world

New day "Dawns" for birds saved from oil-spills

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Dawn dishwashing liquid today (August 14th 2002) launched a national campaign, called Save-A-Duck, to involve Americans in the effort to rescue wildlife from the effects of oil spills. From today through to December 31st, consumers can help raise funds for two leading animal rescue groups when they purchase Dawn.

People can visit www.saveaduck.com to learn and do more about rescuing wildlife. In addition, Dawn is releasing special broadcast and print ads that focus on the clean-up of aquatic birds that have been affected by oil spills, and will highlight the website in these ads.

For more than two decades, animal rescue groups have chosen Dawn to clean aquatic birds affected by oil spills, because Dawn is effective at cleaning and removing oil while being gentle to birds' feathers and delicate skin. The brand has donated thousands of gallons of its product to rescue efforts. "We have tried all kinds of cleaning solutions, but we continue to choose Dawn, the dishwashing liquid, as it does an effective job of removing oil while being gentle to birds' feathers and delicate skin" said Jay Holcomb, executive director of International Bird Rescue Research Center, in Fairfield, California.

Although major oil spills have decreased in the US, smaller, "everyday" accidents still happen everywhere and have a major effect on wildlife. Animals encounter harmful oily substances daily, such as run-off from lawn mowers, boats and oil-soaked streets from cars and trucks.

The success rate for rehabilitating oil spill victims has increased from a mere three percent up to 90 percent, depending on the type of spill. In light of this ongoing need, Dawn wanted to increase its efforts. Hence, the "Save-A-Duck" campaign. From August 1 - December 31, 2002, consumer purchases of Dawn will result in a 10¢ donation per bottle, up to $50,000, to International Bird Rescue Research Center and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. These groups will use the funds to further their animal rescue efforts, and to educate young people about the importance of respecting wildlife.

· www.saveaduck.com: Dawn has launched www.saveaduck.com, a web site that encourages people to learn more about wildlife rescue and increase their support of organizations dedicated to rescuing wildlife affected by oil spills, such as IBRRC and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research. The site will contain information about Dawn's campaign to help raise funds for these organizations and explain how aquatic birds affected by oil spills are cleaned, rehabilitated and released back to the wild.

· Education: To further involve families in the effort to safeguard our wildlife, Dawn is offering thousands of dollars in educational grants for wildlife-related classroom programming for school children in grades kindergarten through sixth that save and redeem the most caps from bottles of Dawn by November 15, 2002. Individual grants of $10,000, $3,000 and $2,000 will go to the First, Second and Third place winners respectively. Information about this part of the campaign is also available on www.saveaduck.com.

Wildlife rescuers choose Dawn because it's effective at cleaning and removing oil while being gentle on birds' feathers and delicate skin. Now, consumers who choose Dawn can play an active role in rescuing birds affected by oil spills around the world.

Karen Benzel
International Bird Rescue Research Center
www.ibrrc.org