The briefs

Shelter offers gift certificates

Give the gift of love this holiday season by purchasing a gift certificate toward the adoption of a furry friend at Anderson Animal Shelter. This way, not only have you given a homeless animal a new family, but your friends or family members get the gift they really want, and may pick it out and take it home when the time is right. There's a greater chance of a perfect fit -- and therefore no need for a return or exchange. Everyone wins!

Gift-certificate adoptions work like any other Anderson Animal Shelter adoption, except that they're prepaid. In addition to a new member of their family, the recipients also get all the related necessities that come with an adoption -- the vaccinations, vet exam, heartworm or FIV/FeLV test and sterilization. Puppy adoptions also include obedience training.

Gift certificates are available in any denomination and can be purchased during shelter business hours. The shelter is at 1000 S. LaFox Road (Route 31) in South Elgin. Business hours are: 2 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays; noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Route 31 is closed for construction just south of the shelter, so please follow posted detours and go past the "Road Closed" sign at Route 31 and State Street.

For details, call (847) 697-2880, ext. 20 or visit www.andersonanimalshelter.com.

Here's how to enter Snapshots contest

Our weekly Snapshots Contest is open to amateur photographers of all ages in northern Kane and southern McHenry counties.

Photos will be judged by our staff photographers who will select three winners for publication each week. Once a month, a grand-prize winner will receive a prize from The Frame Shop in East Dundee.

To enter, send your photos in a digital JPEG format, sized at two megabytes if possible (minimum size 300 dpi), to foxcontest@dailyherald.com. Put "photo contest" in the subject line. Include your name, phone number and address. Please also include information about where the photo was taken and who or what was in the picture.

Photos received by 5 p.m. on Mondays will be considered for Saturday publication. Only one photo a week per photographer, but you can enter as many weeks as you'd like.