With lots of people come lots of animals. New York City's Animal Care & Control handles about 44,000 animals each year. To try to keep those numbers as low as possible, it created the Safety Net program.

Designed to help pets stay in their homes, Safety Net offers many kinds of assistance, including free and low cost behavior and training advice for dogs and cats, low-cost temporary boarding during times of crisis, free legal guidance for pet-related landlord/tenant issues, allergy information, lower-cost vet care for those on restricted incomes and more.

While your local group may not be able to implement all of these services, even one or two of them may make a big difference for the animals in your community.

Visit NYC Animal Care & Control on Petfinder.

More about Safety Net:
Don't write off people surrendering their pets to shelters.

Greg Kincaid is the author of A Dog Named Christmas, a novel about the power of pet adoption. He has been blogging for Petfinder about his and his wife's quest to adopt the perfect dog. Read all his posts here.

I know I'm supposed to be writing about the Dog Wars, but I have to take a mid-week hiatus while the combatants reload.

It's very exciting to see A Dog Named Christmas listed this week as the "On the Rise" selection by the American Book Seller's Association for hardcover fiction. But something else happened recently that reminded me that the real power of the book lurks behind those numbers.

I was at a book signing at Watermark Books in Wichita. The signing started at 7:00 p.m., and around 6:30, Barbara and Jack from Lifeline Animal Placement and Protection, Inc., showed up with three dogs in need of homes. We had decided that, because of the strong rescue theme in the book, public events would be a great opportunity to also plug Petfinder and animal rescue. And what better way to promote adoption than with adoptable dogs?

Jack and Barbara had three dogs with them. One was a small terrier-spaniel mix. The second was a miniature-poodle mix, and the third dog was very large standard poodle named Rogan. Rogan was beautiful and clearly had more charisma than any man or beast could demand. His picture really does not begin to capture his rather regal bearing.

Convicted dogfighter Michael Vick today pled guilty to a state dogfighting charge in Virginia, the Associated Press reports.

According to the AP, the plea makes the former Atlanta Falcons quarterback eligible for early release from the Kansas prison where he is currently serving a 23-month sentence on federal dogfighting charges.

It could also put him on the fast track back to the NFL. (The AP reports, "Federal law prohibits prisoners from being released to a halfway house if there are unresolved charges pending against them.")

Vick was given a three-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to a single count of promoting dogfighting (a second count, involving animal cruelty, was dropped). He told the judge: "I want to apologize to the court, my family, and to all the kids who looked up to me as a role model."

There have been no reports that Vick made any apologies to the dogs he admitted to killing.

UPDATE: After news of Vick's plea broke, our friends at Animal Planet decided to re-air their hit special episode of Animal Witness which details this horrifying case and the brave people who brought Vick to justice (as well as the amazing volunteers who rehabbed the dogs rescued from his compound). The show will air Thursday, Nov. 26 at 9 p.m. EST. Find out more about the show -- and take the excellent Pit Bull Myths Quiz -- on AnimalPlanet.com.

NASCAR rookie Regan Smith is walking away with this year's Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. Regan is the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year winner to have finished every race he started -- that means he managed to not wreck his car! That's a BIG accomplishment for a rookie.

Regan became a friend of Petfinder when he joined us at the Texas Motor Speedway in April to sign autographs for fans. He's a terrific guy and a terrific driver with a real passion for homeless pets.

Regan shares his home in Mooresville, NC, with three Dobermans, two of them rescues (see photo after the jump) and countless foster dogs and cats.

Last week we asked you to send us your ugly pet sweater pics. The results were even cuter than we could have expected! Here are some samples.

Lori Renner writes: "Thank goodness Kasey doesn't fit in this anymore!" (We think Kasey looks adorable!)












Angela M. Shatzer of Carolina Poodle Rescue in Spartanburg, SC, writes: "Here is one of our Chinese Crested dogs at our shelter. She's so sweet. One of our kennel workers call her 'Hot Momma.' She loves to hug her leg all day long."







Megan Goetz writes: "Mrs. Murphy is ready for the holidays! Cheers!"











Amanda Tredway writes: "This is Landon, a Yorkie mix. He is currently up for adoption through PPAWSS, Promoting Pet Adoptions and Welfare in Sulphur Springs (Texas). Thanks, I hope you enjoy!"


See even more adorable pups in ugly sweaters after the jump!

When a fellow animal rescuer dies, the loss is felt by every person and animal touched.

On November 13, 2008, longtime animal rescue advocate Ingela Levett passed away after a long battle with leukemia. After her retirement form the corporate world, Ingela devoted her life to animal rescue, creating Rawhide Rescue in 2001.

Based out of New Jersey, Ingela worked hard to create a phenomenal network of volunteers and foster homes across the state with the mission of saving homeless dogs.

The organization she created has re-homed thousands of dogs since it began. In addition to helping the animals, Ingela inspired countless people to become involved in animal rescue.

On behalf of everyone at Petfinder, we are honored to have known and worked with Ingela.

Visit Rawhide Rescue on Petfinder.

When we last heard from A Dog Named Christmas author Greg Kincaid, he and his wife Michale Ann had decided to adopt a shelter dog -- then realized they had very different ideas about what makes the ideal dog. Read all of Greg's posts here.

I tried to explain the concept of the dog I wanted in perfectly simple terms. "I want a dog that looks like he can discuss the finer aspects of elk hunting and is potty trained for a bass boat."

My wife looked at me strangely and said, "But you don't hunt and don't own a bass boat."

"Exactly."

Her head cocked to one side. "Yes?"

"This dog has to say MAN all over it. This has to be a dog that can carry my fishing pole ..."

"Even though you don't fish?"

"Precisely. This dog should jump excitedly within 100 yards of a shotgun hanging in the back of pick-up truck."

"That you don't own?"

"Right. Do you understand now?"

"Not really."

Over the next few days, I sent Michale Ann a flurry of e-mails suggesting dogs posted on Petfinder who looked well-suited for me, including Izzy, a 2-year-old basset hound/lab mix waiting for a home at Heart of America Humane Society in Kansas City, KS.

I just read an interesting story in the Washington Post about a herd of 2,000 wild mustangs due to be euthanized by the Bureau of Land Management.

According to the article:

[Y]esterday, at a public hearing in Reno, Nev., to discuss the issue, a solution arrived on a white horse, so to speak.

Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire T. Boone Pickens, made known her intentions to adopt not just the doomed wild horses but most or all of the 30,000 horses and burros kept in federal holding pens. Lifelong animal lovers, the Pickenses just a few years ago led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the United States.

Until now, I'd only known of T. Boone Pickens as a super-rich advocate of energy independence. How nice to hear that he and his wife are not only animal lovers, but people who use their wealth to quite literally save animals' lives.

But a little Internet digging revealed that, in fact, any qualified person can adopt a wild horse or burro. Find out how after the jump.

Last month we told you about Montana, the puppy abandoned by the side of a road in Georgia, malnourished and suffering from mange and parvo, who was rescued by Kaci Deater of Statesboro, Ga.

You left such nice comments that we had to send them to Kaci. She sent us this letter in return, and included this heartbreaking "before" photo of Montana and an incredible "after," which you can see after the jump.

Thank you so much for putting Montana's story out there so that everyone can see. She is so special to me and I find it comforting to see all the positive feedback that it's been getting.

As the holidays approach, you may remember the decorative, ornate holiday sweaters that were so popular in the '80s and '90s. Some of you might even pull yours out as Thanksgiving rolls around -- hey, what better way to get into the festive mood?

However, all of us in the pet-loving community know the only thing better than a not-so-fashionable holiday sweater is an ugly pet sweater. So send us yours!

Whether it belongs to you or your pet, post it here in the comments section (here's how) or e-mail it to us at blog (at) petfinder.com by Nov. 23 to share a couple of laughs.

And here's the best part: One ugly pet sweater will be made into a holiday e-card!