MERRIFIELD VA — A 50-year tradition continues Saturday with the dedication of the U.S. Postal Service’s latest social awareness stamp release: The Animal Rescue; Adopt a Shelter Pet stamp. The dedication is co-sponsored by Petco, OGB Cocker Spaniel Rescue, Humane Society of Fairfax County, Caring Hearts Rescue, Feline Networks Rescue, Inc., Bunny Magic Rescue and Animal Allies. The dedication will take place at the Burke Branch Post Office located at 9501 Burke Road, Burke, VA 22015-9998.

The sheet of stamps features photographs of five cats and five dogs from an animal shelter in Connecticut will be available for sale Saturday during the event.

“With the issuance of these stamps, the Postal Service™ will continue its long, proud history of raising awareness of important social issues …one letter at a time,” said Diane Flynn, Customer Service Manager, Burke. “Our goal is to increase public awareness of the problem and to promote humane and responsible pet care.”

The Animal Rescue; Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps were unveiled on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on March 17. The Postal Service has been working with DeGeneres and Halo: Purely for Pets, a company DeGeneres co-owns, to promote the stamps and to bring greater attention to the cause. Stamps to the Rescue is the name of the promotional campaign the Postal Service created to provide additional information about the stamps and information on the importance of pet adoption.

Every year, 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter animal shelters, and of that number, nearly half are euthanized. Although the problem seems overwhelming, the key to the solution is adopting a shelter pet when seeking a new companion animal and ensuring that the animal is spayed or neutered.

Saturday’s event is open to the public. For more information, contact Diane Flynn at (703) 978-7231 or email Diane.L.Flynn@usps.gov.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.