It didn’t take long for Robin Cappelletti of Issaquah, Wash., to know what her new house was missing: a cat. And she knew just where to go to find one to adopt: Petfinder.com. With more than 144,000 adoptable cats listed on Petfinder at any one time, it took Robin only …

Hayden Whitt In previous weeks I’ve written about young recipients of Dosomething.org Animal Action Grants, including 17-year-old Amanda Smith, who is helping to save abandoned horses in Minnesota, and 10-year-old Maggie Maxwell, whose Project H.O.P.E. is raising awareness of homeless pets in Texas. This week, meet 14-year-old Texan Hayden Whitt, …

Our pals at Best Friends Animal Society are celebrating their 25th anniversary! And as a special thanks to Petfinder, Best Friends is offering a free issue of their fantastic magazine, Best Friends, to the first 1,000 animal lovers who e-mail their name and address here (trialmag “at” bestfriends.org). What else …

The national economic crisis is having a negative impact on pets, their families and the Petfinder member shelter and rescue groups who work so hard to save their lives. You can help! Please consider volunteering to temporarily foster a pet in need, donating your time or money to a local …

Check out Liza Bean’s profile page. Congratulations to Liza Bean, the painfully shy pit bull rescued by Marley’s Pit Stop in Los Angeles. After getting the most votes from Petfinder visitors, Liza Bean will receive a complimentary phone consultation from It’s Me or the Dog star and renowned dog trainer …

Know someone who goes all out to help animals? Nominate them for Animal Planet’s Hero of the Year. The Grand Prize winner, chosen by a judging panel and people’s choice voting, will win a $10,000 donation to the winner’s favorite animal welfare organization, a trip for two to the animal …

The little Chihuahua’s splayed paws and bowed legs remain as evidence of the worst kind of treatment. He spent his first eight years in a puppy mill, in a cage. Demodectic mange, yeast infections of his skin and ears, a heart murmur and hypothyroidism plagued him and were left untreated. …

Oprah and Sadie (Oprah.com) As many commenters to this blog have already noted, news emerged this weekend that Oprah Winfrey, after adopting a cocker spaniel puppy from PAWS Chicago, adopted a second dog, her puppy Sadie’s littermate Ivan, who died of parvo. As PeoplePets.com reports: Ivan … came down with …

Maggie Maxwell (right) and a pal at a Project H.O.P.E. adopt-a-thon Maggie Maxwell, another Dosomething.org Animal Action Grant winner, amazes me. The 10-year-old Texas native helps organize Project H.O.P.E. (Helping Our Pets through Education). Below is my interview with Maggie. Check in later for my interview with 14-year-old fundraising dynamo …

RICA president Kathy Claugherty talks about the group’s adoptable iguanas at the Twin Cities Pet Expo, Feb. 21-22 in Minneapolis One of the ways Petfinder helps our members get their pets out there is by working with organizers of the dozens of public pet expos that take place around the …