USPS Reveals Animal Rescue Stamps

The new commemorative postage stamps were revealed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show by Postmaster General John E. Potter. The Postal Service is working working with Halo, Purely for Pets, which is a holistic pet care company part-owned by DeGeneres. Information about the stamps and pet adoption is being promoted by a campaign called "Stamps to the Rescue", which will feature posters of DeGeneres in post offices across the nation.

"This is a subject that I am extremely passionate about. By working together, we can find good homes for millions of adoptable, homeless and abandoned pets," said DeGeneres. "And until they get adopted, I'm happy to say that Halo and I are giving one million meals to shelter pets that are waiting for you."

The new stamps feature  photographs of five cats and five dogs taken by veteran stamp photographer Sally Andersen-Bruce. All ten animals were adopted from a shelter in New Milford, CT. And this is not the first time that cats and dogs have featured on US postage stamp. A 13-cent stamp of a kitten and puppy playing in the snow was issued in 1982 for use on holiday postcards, in 1998, images of a cat and a dog were included in the "Bright Eyes" set of five pets, and most recently, in 2002, photographs of a kitten and puppy were featured on the "Neuter or Spay" stamps.

DeGeneres is married to Portia de Rossi, the star of the ABC comedy "Better Off Ted", who last week became the public face of Alley Cat Allies, the national advocate for stray and feral cats. In the new ad from Alley Cat Allies, De Rossi declares herself an "Alley Cat Ally", and a supporter of Alley Cat Allies' major campaign to raise awareness about the millions of Americans who care for stray and feral cats in their communities.