ASPCA: Petition

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"The ASPCA has recently launched CATvsDOG.org, an online campaign to raise awareness about some of the most critical animal welfare issues today and to urge animal lovers across the country to support its drive towards ending animal cruelty.

"The goal of the nationwide online campaign is to incite one million Americans to sign a pledge to prevent cruelty and abuse," said ASPCA President & CEO Ed Sayres. "By signing the pledge and casting their vote, people are helping the ASPCA ensure animals have a voice in the upcoming election."

The campaign highlights eight important animal welfare issues such as puppy mills, “dangerous breed” bans, pets and family violence through the eyes of candidates Mittens-the-Cat and Rowdy-the-Dog. Candidate Mittens and Rowdy take humorous, opposing positions on each of the issues through intriguing debates that are summarized with facts to bring light to the seriousness of each topic.

"The ASPCA will deliver one million signatures collected from the online campaign to the newly elected president shortly after the presidential election is concluded," said Mr. Sayres. To date 366,533 signatures have already been collected.

Cat Reunited With Family

"A couple have been reunited with their missing cat after nine years, the RSPCA said on Wednesday.

Dixie, a 15-year-old ginger cat, disappeared in 1999 and her owners thought she had been killed by a car.

She was found less than half a mile from her home in Birmingham after a concerned resident rang the animal charity to report a thin and dishevelled cat who had been in the area for a couple of months.

RSPCA Animal Collection Officer Alan Pittaway checked her microchip and confirmed it was Dixie. She was returned to her owners, Alan and Gilly Delaney, within half an hour.

"In 29 years of working for the RSPCA I have never seen anyone so excited and happy as Mrs Delaney," Pittaway said. "It made my day to return Dixie to her owners."

The couple were "overjoyed" to be reunited with their missing cat after so many years."

Happy Labor Day

Pet Box Inspection

"Anyone who has spent time volunteering for a rescue organization knows that - generally - people suck. Doing animal rescue we do not see the best side of people. Yes, every now and then we meet wonderful people who are doing great work in the humane community - but far more often we hear about and/or witness the truly apathetic, insensitive nature of human beings.

Over the years we have seen many, many injustices towards animals - including animals left in trash cans, tied to poles, kicked so hard that they lose an eye, thrown out of cars into traffic, taped up in boxes on the side of the freeway, left in bathrooms at pet stores…. just to name a few. Having seen what we’ve seen, all of us in rescue participate in what we refer to as the “Mandatory Box Inspection”…

This means that whenever we see a box - wherever we are - we will stop and look inside of it. This is to be sure that there are no kittens or puppies or hamsters in the box. We will stop traffic if necessary, pull over to the side of the freeway, go WAY out of our way to have a peek inside of any suspicious box. Once we determine that there is nothing in the box, we will then tear the box apart so that nothing can be PUT inside the box. It is a habit that we all have. It’s second nature."

Helping Each Other

" A Doberman Pinscher brutally attacked by what rescuers believe was a mountain lion has a second start in life. The dog has a new home and a new job.

Meet Denise Shepherd's new best friend, Diego. Just three weeks ago, Diego was found by animal control officers, wandering around Heber. He'd been savagely attacked.

Al Nortz, with the Utah Doberman Rescue, said, "The wound is basically from his neck all the way down to his tail. It was very infected. But now he's recovering."

That's thanks to more than $3,000 in veterinarian bills and Denise. She saw Diego's picture, with his one eye and horrible wounds, on an animal rescue Web site just three days after his picture was posted. It was then she knew. "When I saw his picture, I fell in love. His eyes tell it all," she said.

Denise decided to adopt. Nortz Denise "spoils him rotten, sleeps in bed, lays in her lap all day, watches TV with her."

Diego needs Denise to help him recover, but make no mistake, Denise needs Diego. "I have anxiety disorder with panic disorder. I have really bad anxiety. I have panic attacks. I have a difficult time getting out of the house, sort of agoraphobia and post traumatic stress syndrome," she said.

For the past year, all of that combined has made Denise a virtual prisoner in her own home. She wouldn't leave the house, and she shut herself off from the outside world. But now, Diego is her therapy dog.

"Being able to pet him and touch him helps calm me and helps me be able to go out of the apartment. When I see people, I don't feel uncomfortable talking to them," Denise said. "

Wordless Wednesday

Farm Sanctuary

"Moo had a little crush on me, and I could all but return his affections.

The brown-haired boy had saucer-size eyes, a sturdy build and a sweet disposition. But what really tugged at my heart was his story of survival. The super-friendly bull, who had trailed me through the pasture like a lovelorn teen, had been found tied to a car when he was a calf. He was saved by one animal shelter, then recently moved to another, Farm Sanctuary near Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Moo is not alone -- at the country's largest farm-animal-rescue facility. The sanctuary takes in hundreds of farm animals, which, if they could talk, would tell similar stories. There's Morgan, a snow-white rooster discovered in a Brooklyn pet store dyed like an Easter egg; Mayfly, an experiment in a school hatching project; and Winnie, a 500-pound pig who escaped a backyard barbecue (featuring her) in Connecticut. She now is the alpha pig of the pen.

"The biggest thing we want to impress upon people is that animals have their own lives and personalities," said Liz Pichaud, 23, the tour guide who led our six-person group around the property. "They are living as they were intended to live."

Sunday Visit

Boo spent Sunday afternoon visiting with her friend Diane. She hadn't seen Diane in almost 9 months so it was a reunion filled with hugs and kisses.

Time-Share Pet

"Penny De Los Santos wanted a dog but traveled too much to care for one full time. So, she opted for the next best thing: a time-share pet.

For two years, Ms. Santos shared a mellow female Husky mix with her neighbors, who took the dog for about one week a month. They split veterinary bills and the cost of vaccinations and heartworm pills. The neighbors called the dog Nika. Ms. Santos preferred the name Monica.

"It's kind of like Monica had two lives with two families," says the 39-year-old photographer in Austin, Texas."

Hot Dog

This Southern heat and humidity is too much for us after living in that Indiana weather.

Boo Returns Home

Hello everyone. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Arabelle but my momma calls me Boo. You may call me by either name.

I am very happy to be home with my momma again. I've been living in Indiana for the past 8 months and, while I loved it, it wasn't where my momma was.

I love my foster family and they were very good to me. I will miss them but I know I'll see them again one day. They are good people.

Talk to you all soon.

Labrador Retrievers

"The Labrador retriever is one among many different retriever dogs and is also a very popular breed in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom. A very friendly creature, the Labrador retriever is also full of energy as well as good natured and is an excellent pet that provides good companionship and is also a handy working dog. This breed is certainly one of the quickest learners in the dog world and is responsive to praise as well as positive attention. Their love for water is well known and they have been bred selectively to retrieve in water and are called ‘gun dogs’ that provide amazing companionship in duck hunting."

Learn more about Labs here.

Cat Allergy

"It isn’t very hard to determine if you are allergic to cats or not. Many people are allergic to these animals and already are aware of that fact, although they have never gone to the allergist.

It doesn’t take a genius to deduce that it’s your feline that is causing your discomfort. What are cat allergy symptoms, however, and what do you do to alleviate them, without getting rid of the family pet?

Some Symptoms to Look Out For"

Saving Boo Again

Rising prices of gas and food really hit me this weekend. What a shock! I'm paying for Boo's trip back home next Saturday and I don't mind that at all but I've got to start cutting corners now.

Paying for just the gas for her temporary family to bring her home is going to cost me $500. I still owe the landlady $150 for a pet deposit too. So, I hope the following will help us all save some money. I'm on a search for coupons and free samples. Please let me know if you find any good ones.




"With rising prices, it is becoming more difficult for colony caretakers to feed feral cats, so the group All For Animals Rescue posted this helpful recipe on their blog. According to them, based on feeding 10 cats, this concoction saves anything from $20-$40 per month.

4 small cans of cheap food, such as Friskies, about 50¢ a can
3 cups of cheap dry food $2-4 a 3lb bag
2 packs of chicken hearts and giblets about $1.50
6 eggs
pack of salad macaroni
small pack of barley
1lb ground beef (cheap one)
1lb sardines"


Pet Samples and freebies

Allergic To Cats

"It isn’t very hard to determine if you are allergic to cats or not. Many people are allergic to these animals and already are aware of that fact, although they have never gone to the allergist.

It doesn’t take a genius to deduce that it’s your feline that is causing your discomfort. What are cat allergy symptoms, however, and what do you do to alleviate them, without getting rid of the family pet?

Some Symptoms to Look Out For"

Happy July 4th

Your Pet Or Your Home

"Most people would never fathom having to choose between their pets or a roof over their heads. Unfortunately, in the valley, it's a reality perceptive tenants are forced to contend with.

"We actually became homeless because we had pets," says displaced resident Nancy Grenia.

Grenia and her family, which include two dogs had to move, and fast. Her husband had recently suffered an injury at work, which sadly left him out of a job and home.

With 30 days to find something suitable for them, their two kids and their dogs, Grenia was determined to find them a new home to rent. But it wouldn't be easy.

Placing an ad in the paper, describing themselves and their well-behaved pets, the family was optimistic they would be able find a place to call home. The ad ran for three weeks. The family received no calls.

Meanwhile, Grenia was calling every suitable rental ad, imploring apprehensive potential landlords to meet her pets."

Pet Overpopulation

"There is a severe overpopulation of cats and dogs roaming the streets all over the world. Some animals that are not getting proper care and are being abused by their owners tend to escape from their mistreated homes and tend to wander off on their own.

Because of this situation, there are now lots of domesticated animals that are caught and placed on animal shelters or dog pounds, just waiting for someone to adopt them. However, there are lots of municipal shelters that can no longer adopt this great number of abused or abandoned pets, so they just kill them."


"Pet overpopulation is definitely a problem in our country. Everyday thousands of dogs are born, but at the same time thousands are destroyed at animal shelters. There are reasons for this, and there are things we can start doing to change it.

First we need to make sure our pets are spayed or neutered. This not only helps control the population but helps keep our animals healthy."

Disposable Pets

"Unfortunately, we live in a throw-away society and included with the plastic bottles and other trash are unwanted pets.

Across our country, 10-12 million pets are euthanized annually -- that's 27,473 pets every 24 hours.

In all, 70,000 kittens and puppies are born in the U.S. every day. One out of every four healthy and bright-eyed kittens is destroyed daily. In all, 25 percent of all pets in shelters are purebred.

Spaying and neutering makes your pet healthier, gives it a long life and makes it happier. Early age altering has been done in the U.S. for over 25 years. Pets can be safely spayed and neutered at an early age. You may try to justify your pet having litters because you are sure you can find loving homes for the kittens or puppies."

The Family Pet

"Walking into a pet store, I hear the same conversation over and over. "That puppy is so cute! Let's get it!" Yet once that animal grows up, they realize the full responsibility of taking care of that "cute puppy" and some toss their pets aside. Since when have animals become like pieces of furniture, throwing out what we think is old, and replacing it with something more fashionable? What more and more people are failing to comprehend is that when they commit to taking in an animal, they are making a commitment to take care of that life as long as it lives. Many people consider themselves "huge animal lovers," yet they buy their pets from pet stores. It is no secret to anyone that only puppy mills will sell to pet stores."



"On May 12th, 2008, Bernadette Peters hosted a launch party for her first book, "Broadway Barks". A long time advocate for pet adoption, Peters and fellow actress Mary Tyler Moore started the organization Broadway Barks! Each year they hold a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon, benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event is produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and sponsored by the ASPCA. The book, authored by Peters, with illustrations by Liz Murphy, is published by Blue Apple Books and is the star's first foray into the publishing world. She did it at the prompting of friends and agreed to not only write the book, loosely based on how she adopted her dog Kramer, but also penned an original song, again at the prompting of both friends and her publisher, which comes on a CD inside the book along with her charming reading of the story...sound effects and all! "