BlogPaws 2013 was last week and a large Petfinder crew was lucky enough to attend. Not only did our senior producer, Jane, and I get to attend, but Jamie, our business relations manager; Sara, our director of shelter outreach; Jim, one of our shelter outreach specialists; and Kristen, our shelter …

The other day, my mother was out and about with a friend of hers. They were in my neighborhood for lunch and decided to stop by. Hearing the car pull up, my dogs looked out the window to see who was visiting. Seeing that it was my mom, the whole …

The Petfinder Foundation has given a $10,000 grant to the Oklahoma City Animal Welfare Division, which has been working with Central Oklahoma Humane Society (which also received a grant from us) to house the hundreds of pets displaced by Monday’s deadly tornado. The funds will buy crates, vaccinations, grooming supplies, …

Who knew? Little girls who love all things cuddly can be threatening — or so it seems to our German Shepherd, Tucker. He is generally a submissive guy. Yes, he barks a lot, but the other end is wagging, so it seems to be his way of saying hello. The …

Last week our shelter outreach team began contacting members in Texas to see what was needed after 10 tornadoes tore through North Texas last Wednesday night. The Petfinder Foundation began to coordinate efforts to help shelters assist those who had lost everything. Then yesterday, a massive tornado destroyed whole neighborhoods …

The passing of her 21-year-old cat, Jazzy Kitty, devastated Joyce Baker of Juneau, AK. Anyone who suffers the death of a pet knows how she felt – as if there were a bottomless hole in her heart. She decided the only way to repair that hole was the love of …

The domestication of dogs was a great step forward for humankind, and a new genetic study reported in Nature Communications (May 14, 2013) suggests that it may have happened about 17,000 years earlier than previously believed at 15,000 years. Our species may have been living together and affecting each other for …

A common complaint I hear about cats is that you can’t train them. People claim that cats aren’t as smart as dogs simply because fewer cats seem to know “sit” or “down.” Well, cats can be trained. My cat knows several “tricks.” Toby knows the commands for sit, high five, …

Steve Hofstetter already had a Beagle/Dachshund mix he had named Bea Arthur. He had adopted her though Stray from the Heart in NYC after she was rescued from years on the streets of Puerto Rico. And then he happened upon a stray he named Carlin. Bea Arthur? Carlin? See a pattern here? …