Looking to rescue a pet? Want to save one from a dog or cat shelter? Of course you can adopt from any animal shelter (including Humane Societies, local animal shelters, no kill animal shelters, or smaller, local rescue groups), but pet ownership starts with a good evalutation of the place where you get your new cuddler. A good animal shelter should have the best interest of the pets in mind, and should imbue friendliness and warmth in spirit. Take a look at these requirements:

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I posted in March about the horrible cat cullings taking place in Beijing to “clean up” the city before the Olympics this summer. If you don’t recall, China is inhumanely killing the city’s cats (whom they allege have SARS) by rounding them up and putting them in death camps to die slow, miserable deaths from starvation, dehydration, filth, and poor medical conditions.

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When I received the following email it broke my heart. First for the women and men who are in violent situations at home, and then for the animals who have to witness it. Anyone who loves a pet knows what a hard choice it would be to leave your spouse if you knew you had to leave your pet behind. Ahimsa House is pioneering ways to help both women and pets who are victims of domestic violence. Please read this and pass it on if you can:

Women residing at domestic violence shelters were nearly 11 times more likely to report that their partner had hurt or killed pets than a comparison group of women who said they had not experienced intimate violence. As a result, many victims stay in abusive relationships out of concern for their pets.

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The Iditarod races started this past weekend in Alaska.

Historically protested by animal rights groups, the race pits sledding dogs against the worst forces of nature in our country in a 1,150 mile race in the Alaskan wilderness. The official Iditarod site even says,

Mother Nature…throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra, and miles of windswept coast…Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness, and treacherous climbs and side hills…”

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Do you know what is neutering. Literally it means castration or spaying of an  animal.

Dog neutering is not only beneficial to the dogs but also for society. By just leaving the dog in the street, you are doing more harm tothe society. The less cared dogs may have more chances of acquiring many infections. Some may be more zonotic in nature.

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I received this email from Wayne Pacelle, author of A Humane Nation (the United States Humane Society (USHS) blog) and CEO of the USHS. Wayne distributed this informative email after Oprah Winfrey last week featured an expose on the horrible puppy mill industry (and problem) across the United States. Her broadcast reached millions across the country, undoubtedly encouraging thousands of people into action.

Wanye released this email to newsletter members on Seven Things You Can Do to Stop Puppy Mills after Oprah’s show aired.

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IFAW has a very fun and cute site called My Animal Island. What you do is create or join an island, and you also pick an animal (it looks like everyone is a seal right now). You can also invite your friends to join your island, and then you get to learn about different facts. It’s really a fun way to learn more about animals and animal welfare. It’s free to use.

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Today I recieved an email from Jane, and had to share right away. Jane is part of a great non-profit that helps save shelter animals.

“I work with a 501c3 non-profit rescue group called Saving Shelter Pets. We are a small, Internet-based group, with members and supporters all over the country (and a few international supporters too!). Our work addresses a number of domestic companion animal welfare issues. We are not a licensed rescue ourselves, but we facilitate rescues of dogs and cats in high-kill shelters, get them vetted and into boarding for quarantine, then send them to pre-screened no-kill rescues where they can be adopted into a loving, forever home. We also have an active Spay/Neuter program.We are working with one county in a rural area of Georgia to provide certificates for low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for pets belonging to low-income families. Also, we just recently helped sponsor a mobile spay/neuter unit at a humane society in a rural area of Ohio, where over 80 animals were fixed in a single weekend! We have a program called Puppy Promises that keeps unwanted puppies from being turned into a shelter and offers them a rescue instead - PLUS it spays the mother dog (which we pay for) so she can’t have any other litters.”

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