Thought you might enjoy this pic of "Cerberus" from last year's Tompkins Square Park Halloween Dog Parade. Everyone have a safe and fun night!

(Photo by Aaron Edwards)

Montana and her two siblings were ditched, literally, beside a road in Georgia.

The abandoned litter was taken to the Humane Society of Statesboro and Bulloch County where they were treated for mange and malnutrition. Montana was diagnosed with parvovirus as well and was placed in isolation. Fortunately, she survived.

The shelter posted her photo and description on Petfinder, but held out only moderate hope that she would be adopted. Her face was crusted over with a secondary infection from the untreated mange, and she didn't have any hair to speak of.

But some people live by the conviction that beauty is more than skin deep. Such a person is Kaci Deater of Statesboro, Ga. She was looking for a pet to adopt on Petfinder and had looked at hundreds of listings. But she kept coming back to Montana.

I have been lucky enough to have the pleasure of visiting Tabby's Place in Ringoes, NJ, in person a few times. Therefore, I can attest to the sheer beauty of it -- both in aesthetics as well as its mission. Tabby's Place opened its doors in October 2003 and is able to care for almost 100 cats.

These aren't just any felines -- they are all senior or special-needs cats. Ranging in age from 1-19 years old and having special needs from FIV to cancer, the cats get the best possible care while being housed at Tabby's Place.

According to their Web site, they provide communal living environments for cats, with plenty of horizontal and vertical space for exercise and play as well as outdoor enclosures for cats to enjoy fresh air and sunlight.

A while back I posted some photos of cool animal-rescue tattoos and asked you to send in yours. Well here are the results!

Kelly writes:

"I saw the pictures of people's rescue tattoos and definitely thought my friend Lisa from Athens, GA, should be added to the list. She is extremely dedicated to animal welfare and takes her rescue efforts very seriously -- especially the spay and neuter part, as the photo shows! Thanks for letting me share and remember to always SPAY and NEUTER!"



From Kay:

"Here's my contribution. It's my dog's actual pawprint. I took an ink pad and got his pawprint. I had the guy tattoo everything that came out on the piece of paper, even where his fur had smudged the ink.

"The pawprint is of my 11-year-old dog, Simba. I've had him since I was 10 years old. He's the whole reason I got into rescue and I love dogs so much. He's taught me so much and he'll forever be a part of me, not only on my skin, but in my heart. Now I share my heart with three other rescued dogs and it's all thanks to him."

More pics after the jump!

Today marks the start of an historic animal abuse case brought against Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus by three animal-welfare groups and a former circus employee.

The ASPCA, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Fund for Animals (a partner of the Humane Society of the U.S.) and former Ringling Bros. employee Tom Rider charge that Ringling Bros. violated the Endangered Species Act by chaining its elephants for prolonged periods and training them with bull hooks, among other abuses.

I won't go into the details of the case, but Ringling Bros. has started its own Web site about the trial, where you can view a PDF of the complaint. You can also click on the names of the animal-welfare groups above to see their press releases about the case, or read a news story here or here.

But I'm interested in a comment by a lawyer for Ringling Bros.' parent company, who said: "Animal special-interest groups are distorting the facts by making false allegations about the treatment of Ringling Bros. elephants as part of a long-running crusade to eliminate animals from circuses, zoos and wildlife parks."

Leaving aside the question of zoos and wildlife parks, should elephants and other animals be banned from use in circuses?

Lisa Hartman in Florida sent us this Happy Tail about the puppy she adopted from Crest-Care Inc., Chinese Crested Rescue, a rescue and foster-home network with members around the U.S. and Canada:

A few weeks ago I adopted my second dog found on Petfinder, a 7-month-old Chinese Crested I named Saffron Monsoon! I was originally interested in her brother and applied for him. But when Crest-Care heard I was a dog trainer they urged me to look at Saffy (then named Gladys). They said she was wild and could really use a trainer. I really didn't want a "project" this time around, but over time I agreed to look at her.

Five long weeks later, after a string of emails, applications, vet checks and a home visit, I had passed the adoption process. I drove 2-1/2 hours to the chosen spot to meet her and her foster mom. I decided to give her a try.

Saffy is wild, and neurotically spins, probably from over-crating. (Her original owners couldn't handle the active pups.) She was also not housetrained. But she is super cute, loyal, sweet and loves attention. Today is our three-week anniversary together, and she has only had two housetraining accidents and is a complete joy to have around! She fits in with our family perfectly.

Thank you, Petfinder for helping me find my newest best friend, and saving animals lives in the process!

Yours truly,
Lisa Hartman, Jay-J, and Saffy

One of the best things about being part of a big company like Discovery Communications (which acquired Petfinder in 2006) is getting the support and enthusiasm of hundreds of our fellow employees.

Petfinder and eight local rescue groups felt the love on Oct. 21, when we held the second annual Petfinder.com Adoption Event, in honor of Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, at Discovery's Silver Spring, Md., headquarters.

Hundreds of Discovery staffers turned out for the event and met more than 30 dogs looking for their forever homes. Already several adoption applications have been submitted to the rescue groups, and our fingers are crossed that many of the dogs will be joining their new families soon.

More photos and a list of rescue groups who attended are after the jump.

October 25 is Pit Bull Awareness Day, so in its honor, we're highlighting a group doing amazing things for Pits: BAD RAP, which stands for Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls.

The San Francisco-based organization provides rescue services as well as extensive educational opportunities.

BAD RAP made national news last year when it was called in to evaluate 48 dogs from the Michael Vick case. Several groups stepped forward to foster the dogs, and 10 Pits came back to the Bay Area with BAD RAP. The dogs' amazing progress is detailed in the group's Vick Dog Blog.

In addition to its hands-on rescue work, BAD RAP offers a gamut of services to the local community as well as to animal welfare professionals. Most notably, it offers weekly Pit Ed classes to help educate the parents of these special dogs. According to the BAD RAP mission, Pit Ed participants "learn basic handling skills, dealing with breed traits and responsible ownership protocol."

The New York Times on Sunday pointed out what people in animal welfare have known for months: As the economy slips, even the most well-meaning owners are being forced to give up their pets.

The article contains some great comments from Petfinder's founder, Betsy Saul, and spotlights the incredible work done by the shelter where I volunteer, Animal Care and Control of New York City, and its Safety Net program.

Safety Net helps pet owners deal with the issues that are making them consider surrendering their pet: Behavior problems, allergies, the cost of veterinary care, landlord concerns and, increasingly, finding temporary foster care for pets whose owners are in crisis.

It's easy to feel anger toward owners who surrender their pets to shelters, and the instinct for many animal lovers (including this one) is to write off that person and focus on helping the pet.

As a member of the outreach team, one of the best parts of my job is planning and attending our Adoption Options seminars.

Adoption Options is one of our biggest initiatives and is a traveling educational seminar that brings training and networking opportunities to our shelter and rescue members throughout the country.

We do 20 per year and try to travel to areas that don't have affordable access to training. We bring with us some of the nation's best-known speakers and discuss the hottest topics in animal welfare. Each attendee also gets breakfast, lunch and an Adoption Options T-shirt -- all for $10 per person. The program is sponsored in part by our friends at the PETCO Foundation.

I just returned from Memphis, TN, where 80 dedicated animal welfare professionals came out to network and discuss adoption policies, dog behavior, shelter medicine and how to most effectively use Petfinder.

A great story came out of this day.