For Father's Day

Why not do something totally unique? Give your dad a virtual fish! The great folks over at Shelter To Home are doing a fundraiser in honor of Father's Day. When you make a donation in your dad's name he gets a virtual fish. They are calling it "Dad's Big Catch"!

So, if you dad is an animal lover who already has everything, why not make a donation in his name?

Pet Grief Saturday

This is a wonderful event, it's not often that grieving for a beloved pet is recognized. Here are the details:

SPCA of Texas hosts Pet Grief Counseling Group

WHAT: The SPCA of Texas’ Pet Grief recovery program is designed to help those who are grieving the loss of a beloved companion animal.

Diane Pomerance, Ph.D., an SPCA volunteer and certified Grief Recovery Specialist, along with trained volunteers, administer a program incorporating telephone counseling and one-on-one and group guidance in a safe and supportive environment.

Free and open to the public, the SPCA’s Pet Grief Counseling Program meets at 1 p.m. on the first Saturday of every month at the SPCA Headquarters located at 2400 Lonestar Drive in Dallas.

WHERE: SPCA of Texas
2400 Lone Star Drive, Dallas, TX
Location: conference room

WHEN: Saturday, June 2, 2007, at 1 p.m.

WHY: It can be difficult for most of us to openly discuss loss of any kind, and even more uncomfortable to discuss the loss of a pet. Until now, there has been little opportunity for grieving pet owners to express and recover from their grief.

MORE
INFO: Maura Davies, 214-461-1814 or 214-742-SPCA (7722)
Alicia Brown, 214-461-1815 or 214-742-SPCA (7722)
Pet Grief Hotline: 214-461-5131

Jenna Fischer, animal lover!

If you are a fan of the TV show The Office, then you may have heard about Jenna Fischer's recent accident. What does this have to do with animals? When fans asked her husband (James Gunn) where to send get well care packages, do you know what he said? Send a donation to Rover Rescue in Jenna's name instead! How wonderful!

It's always great to see people spread the word about animal rescue. So, if you love The Office and want to send a little something to wish Jenna a speedy recovery, consider a donation to Rover Rescue!

Furry Friday-- two legs

This is just one of three pups born with only two legs (all from the same littler). Please click here to read the full story, and click below to see the pups in action.

Live in LA?

Lily needs help.

As is the case with a lot of rescues, especially when they are abandoned, things can go wrong. Some rescue animals end up needing a lot of medical attention and care. Some rescue animals are in such bad shape that they are never adopted out, but instead live out their lives in their no-kill rescue/shelter.

Lily is a lucky girl. She found a home, but she needs help with medical bills. Her owner runs a great little shop, so please take a look at this post about Lily, and if you see anything in her shop know that you will be helping a dog have a happy life.

Popcorn needs a home.

Popcorn is a beautiful, all white, 7 month old female pit bull. Defenseless, Popcorn's start in life was one of abandonment and abuse. Barely a few weeks old, some caring teenagers found her in a forest preserve with her face "smashed" and immediately brought her to Save-A-Pet.

The chain of events then happened rapidly, she immediately went to a vet emergency clinic, spent some days there and then moved into a foster home, but is now back at our facility. The only reminder of that horrific day is her eye. Popcorn's injuries included permanently damaging one eye which she has no vision out of now, and her skull and face had fractures which have all healed well. Popcorn has turned into an ebullient girl that lives life to the fullest. She loves to roughhouse and roll around with other dogs, but that's not always every dog's cup of "bone".

Sadly, Popcorn is living in a cage at the kennel. For months now Popcorn has watched people pass by her cage day after day...hoping one day someone would stop by her cage, pick her up, hug her, and take her home with them. Popcorn is still just a baby, and very sweet. She longs for human attention. She is very lonely and sad living in a cage at the shelter. Because Popcorn is so sad, and used to being passed by, she seems to have given up hope of ever finding a forever family. Sweet little Popcorn deserves to live in a loving forever home, and to experience love and security.

Please consider changing Popcorn's life! Popcorn will not let you down, she has a lot of love to share!

***Contact Information***

If you are interested in adopting Popcorn, or for more information on her, please contact:

Save-A-Pet Adoption Center, 31664 North Fairfield Road, Grayslake, Illinois 60030

Call and ask for an Adoption counselor at : 847-740-7788, or you may send an email to: adoptions@save-a-pet-il.org, RE: Popcorn

Penny the Pom

All kinds of dogs can end up in situations where they need to be adopted. Just look at sweet Penny, she found a happy forever home thanks to Ponderosa Pomeranian Rescue Inc and her new family.

Zappa's Happy Ending

Laurel writes about Zappa the border collie... around 3 y/o...

He was found running loose as a stray alongside a busy road near a horse farm south of Tampa. The folks who owned the barn spent nearly two weeks trying to catch him. When they finally did catch him, they were keeping him in an empty stall (to keep their dogs from him) until they turned him over to Skyway Border Collie Rescue in Palmetto, FL, just before Christmas. They called him Nick at the rescue.

In January I contacted Skyway looking for a BC and they told me his tale and evaluated our compatibility. The first week of February, I drove down from Orlando to meet him in person. He was shy and a bit overwhelmed by the several other madly hyper borders in the house, but he warmed right up to me and we took him home that very day!

He's just the sweetest little fuzzball I've ever known! Best thing to ever happen to my life! And while he may not have the extreme herding drive typical of his breed, preferring more laid-back pursuits, he's still a wonderful dog. He may never be a sheepdog, but he's a born trail dog.. he loves nothing more than to get out and explore the woods with me. =)

Another happy ending.

Cody sent in his story about his rescue Kenya. Thanks Cody!

I've been looking for a dog of my own for about 7 or 8 months now. I was pretty desperate to get one because my dog of 15 years had just passed away. I've always been a big fan of arctic breed dogs, and was really looking for a pure-bred husky from several local breeders, but I was also checking the local pound every once in a while to see if one would catch my eye. Sure enough, I went in there one day and not only did they have a husky and a malamute, they had Kenya. Now I was dead set on getting a puppy, but she really caught my eye and I knew she was the dog I wanted. Kenya was a 4-year-old German Shepard hybrid, so the tag said. They were very leary of her being adopted out because of her size and wolf-like appearance, but they eventually let me adopt her. She was clearly underfed (you can see/feel EVERY bone in her body) and her fur is a bit raggedy, but she is otherwise a very healthy and good dog. She's been trained before and listens very well to me. I think the thing that I love most about her though, she is EXACTLY, down to the color and personality, like the dog I had for 15 years.

Murphy and Max

Another happy ending! Thank you Leslie for sharing.



"Murphy and his pregnant mate were dumped at the SPCA a couple of years ago when he was around 1.5 years old. We now believe it was because of some of his behaviors - he's an obsessive marker, and it's now pretty clear that we need to just accept him as he is and work around that, since we've found no training or therapies that have put a dent in that habit. It's sad in a way that it means that he's confined to a fairly small area in the house, other than the times when we can get his wiggly butt into a "belly band" and watch him like a hawk to make sure that he doesn't work his way out of it, but we spend as much time as we can with him, though we know he'd love to just be at our feet all the time. We love him to pieces.

Max was rescued way back in '94 when he was also (the vet guessed) about 1.5 years old, so he's now a very old man. You can see the pit in him (head-ridge and some other characteristic features) but you can also see whippet, which makes for a VERY interesting combination! Before I brought him home, the rescue group who took him in had him treated for his fight wounds -- he'd apparently been used as pitbull fight bait -- and to have his too-small chain collar surgically removed from his neck, where it was starting to grow into the skin of his neck. When I first brought him home, he would cower and growl if I lifted my hand to pet him, but it wasn't long before he became the biggest lovebug out there."

DNA to the rescue!

This is a great use of modern forensics on the behalf of our animal friends. The use of DNA is helping people track elephant poachers. Yes, ivory is beautiful, but so are elephants. This is hopefully a step in the right direction to stop poaching of elephants for ivory. Here is a story about it with a lot more detail.

Speaking of elephants, come visit my shop and buy an Ellie product to help spread the word!

K.C. The African Grey

This story illustrates why rescue groups are so important, and why you should always be sure that your home is well suited for a pet before you buy.

"K.C. had a breakthrough today. It made me so happy I cried...

K.C. is a little Congo African Grey who came to live at The Oasis about two years ago. His story was a true rescue situation. A couple came upon him in a home where the teenaged boys were beating him and his cage. K.C. was terrified and although the couple knew nothing about birds, they recognized the seriousness of his situation and bought him from the owners."

Click the link to find out what his breakthrough was!

Get out of your shell...

Turtles need homes too! Did you know that there are rescue groups dedicated to turtles? There are. They not only help find new homes for turtles, they also give turtles a place to live out their lives if they can't be adopted out.

Bunnies need homes too!

It's not just dogs and cats that need to find forever homes, all sorts of pets, including bunnies, need homes! There is a great rescue in California that is working hard on behalf of bunnies, The Bunny Bunch. They serve the southern part of California, so if you are in that area and looking for a bunny as a pet, please check there first.

They even have a "bunny dating service" just in time for Valentines day!

Why we need rescue groups.

I just read a great story about a retired Greyhound. It reminded me of the many reasons why rescue groups are important, and it's not just about finding animals good homes. There is a secondary reason that people tend to forget about; sometimes a person just can't care for their pet (health, job relocation, and many other reasons). It's in situations like this that rescue groups come to the rescue! Sometimes the pet is placed in a new forever home, but other times they live their lives out with the rescue group in foster. This is great, a much better alternative to the pound where pets are killed.

If you ever have to give up a pet, please look into your local rescue groups first. Check out of state if you have to, a lot of rescues are able to help even if you aren't in the same state. Ask if the place you are taking your pet is no-kill, and it it isn't, find someplace that is. Placing a pet with a rescue group gives your beloved buddy a chance at a happy life, which is what all pet owners want for their pets.