1-800-Flowers.com Finally Fulfills Months-Old Contest Promise

July 24, 2012— -- 1-800-Flowers.com at long last delivered on a promise to a contest winner to provide dog food to a rescue shelter in Mississippi, but the shelter owner says the canine chow won't be enough to feed all her dogs in need.

Ashley Owen Hill, the founder of Lucky Dog Rescue in Meridian, Miss., said she spent months "waiting, asking, and begging" for 1-800-Flowers to award one year's worth of dog food to her shelter. It all began in the spring, when the company hosted a photo contest with the pet products website, Wag.com, in which they asked people to submit photos of their dogs wearing bunny ears. Maria Mandel in central Colorado won the contest after thousands voted for her service dog, Stacey Mae, a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog. Mandel said she was competing in the contest on behalf of the Lucky Dog Rescue and provided the shelter's address for the winnings.

But the shelter never received the food even after months of calls from Hill, according to ABC News' Mississippi affiliate WTOK. Hill said some 1-800-Flowers.com customer service representatives had never heard of the contest. One representative told Hill the prize was not transferrable from Mandel, according to Hill.

Finally, after Hill posted on Facebook about the outstanding prize and outraged Facebook users posted on the company's page, 1-800-Flowers.com got in touch with Hill on Monday.

After apologizing for the "miscommunication," the company finally gave her a credit for two year's worth of dog food from Wag.com, according to Yanique Woodall, spokeswoman for 1-800-Flowers.com.

"We were happy to support her," Woodall said.

Hill could not be reached for comment.

Hill, who has 23 dogs listed for adoption on Lucky Dog Rescue's website, said that while the food is a "much needed contribution," it is only one bag of dog food per month for two years.

"Lucky Dog Rescue goes through more than one bag of dog food PER DAY, so [one] bag of dog food per month does not mean that LDR is no longer in need of donations. Any and all help is [so] appreciated, but please don't assume that my babies here have no further needs," Hill wrote on Lucky Dog Rescue's Facebook page.