Petfinder Blog

Do you have a pet lover in your life? Give him or her a special Gift of Love this year by donating to the Petfinder.com Foundation. Best of all, throughout 2012, all donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Orvis (up to $30,000 in matching funds)!

Your donation will benefit homeless pets nationwide like Bryn, a 6-week-old Boxer mix who found her forever home thanks to a transport grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation and our partner, Bissell.

The grant, awarded to the Humane Society of Jefferson County in Tennessee, allowed the shelter to transport 72 dogs to less-crowded shelters in three months, giving those dogs a better opportunity to be adopted.

Humane Society of Jefferson County shelter manager Melissa Enck wrote us: "I wanted to say how much this has helped us out. More rescues are working with us, the vets are cutting us great deals on the animals going out and the public once again is supporting us! Our euthanasia rate is the lowest it's ever been. For the first time we have a functional transport fund! Thank you so much; this has really saved a lot of pets and will continue to do so."

The Petfinder.com Foundation recently partnered with the Thundershirt company to award 5,000 Thundershirts to Petfinder.com members across the country. Thundershirts' constant, gentle pressure has a dramatic calming effect on most dogs when they are anxious, fearful or overexcited. Thundershirts have already helped hundreds of shelter dogs find forever homes. Hertford County Animal Shelter in Winton, NC, received a Thundershirt grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation. Here is how a Thundershirt helped one of the shelter's dogs, Flo.

Flo was found abandoned in an empty house and has been with Hertford County for about six months. During her first few months at the shelter, staff could barely tell that she had legs -- she always laid with her legs curled under her body, hidden from sight.

She was fearful of people and would cower and hide when the shelter staff went near her to show her affection. Then the Thundershirt grant arrived.

A shirt was placed on Flo right away and, slowly, she warmed up to other dogs at the shelter. Flo began to play in the puppy room and venture outside for some fresh air. But she was still fearful of human interaction.

The dedicated staff and volunteers at Hertford worked patiently with Flo to gain her trust. They kept the Thundershirt on during training sessions and when Flo was in her kennel, hoping it would help her gain some trust. And indeed, her trust in humans grew stronger. She started allowing the shelter staff to come closer.

Last August, 10 Petfinder.com shelters and rescue groups received $1,000 grants from Blue Sky Soda and the Petfinder.com Foundation. Here's another story about how the money is being used to help pets in need.

Save A Pet, a rescue group in Dothan, AL, has a straightforward mission: To promote the adoption of homeless pets and to encourage spay/neuter through education and lifesaving programs. It does not have a physical shelter; rather, Save A Pet transfers pets from the local shelter, finds foster homes, holds adoption events and transports pets to less-crowded shelters.

In August, Save A Pet received a $1,000 grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation and Blue Sky Soda and put the money toward vaccinations and transport. While many pets benefited, one dog in particular stood out.

Deanna, a young Boxer mix, was pulled from the crowded City of Dothan Animal Shelter and vaccinated against bordetella. She was then transported to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay in Florida for its adoption event "Passion for Pets."

Pam Backer, director of shelter operations at HSTB, saw Deanna at the event. "She pranced around and made everyone smile," Backer says. "Everyone wanted to adopt her."

Karen Owens, CPDT-KA®, is head trainer at Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care and Control in Charlotte, NC. Her position is made possible through a Petfinder.com Foundation Train to Adopt grant. Today, she tells us how the program is helping make dogs more adoptable.

Killarney (pictured) is a medium-sized Boxer mix puppy that came to our shelter in late October. Her feet tell me she's going to be a big girl someday. She has a sweet, eager face, big brown eyes and a big personality, but, oh, her jumping! She can launch her muscular little 38-lb. body off me, the walls, the kennel door or anything else within reach.

When I first met Killarney she was, as they say here in the South, a "hot mess." She was beginning to display multiple signs of stress, such as excessive jumping, increasingly high arousal, barking, lunging and spinning. These behaviors were her way of showing me that she wasn't coping well with the stress of shelter life.

When stress-induced behaviors are repeated for any length of time by dogs, they become part of the dog's typical day-to-day behavior, and can continue after a dog leaves the shelter. We knew that, if not treated as an emergency, the negative effect of shelter life would have repercussions in Killarney's behavior for many years to come.

Find out how we helped Killarney and watch a video of her after the jump.

The final two days of our Rescue U trip at the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter in Oklahoma were a lot of work. Volunteers completed the outdoor cat enclosure, a metal storage building and the pergola over the new meet-and-greet pens we built earlier in the week. We put the finishing touches on the painting, the exercise pens and the roofs over the outdoor dog kennels. The brand new stainless steel cat cages we ordered arrived the final day and were installed.

You could see the appreciation in shelter manager and animal control officer Suzy Brown's eyes every time she saw another completed project. "To put it into one word: WOW," she says. "It was amazing. There was immediate progress. It was like watching a movie on fast forward. Any time you take a cat or dog outside to play with them, it is so great, and with the new exercise areas, everyone gets yard time now."

This week the Petfinder.com Foundation's Rescue U volunteers have been hard at work repairing the damage dealt to the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter by an F5 tornado in May 2011. (Watch a video of our first day in Guthrie here.)

As the week comes to an end, the transformation of the shelter is almost complete, but the impact it will have on the community is just beginning.

This week has been an inspiring experience. Working through their holiday break, the student volunteers are in high spirits. Two local news stations picked up the story (News 9 and KFOR) and the community is rallying behind Rescue U: Enormous meals have been donated to keep the students fed, pet food and beds are coming in from local donors, and city employees regularly stop by the site to see the progress and cheer the kids on.

Watch our second video update and see our progress after the jump.

Hello and happy New Year! This New Year's Eve I traveled to Guthrie, OK, to help rebuild the City of Guthrie Animal Shelter as part of the Petfinder.com Foundation's next week-long Rescue U Trip -- our program that sends college students to repair and rebuild shelters in need.

On May 24, 2011, the Guthrie shelter was hit by an F5 tornado (the most powerful kind), leveling one of its two buildings and significantly damaging the outdoor kennels and other infrastructure.

In the seven months since, shelter staff have been struggling to rebuild and care for the animals at an offsite temporary shelter. FEMA aided in rebuilding some of the shelter, but the money ran out and the project stalled.

Thanks to funding from the Animal Rescue Site, Rescue U is here to finish the job and make sure the employees of the Guthrie shelter can function at full capacity by Sunday, Jan. 8. Then the shelter will once again be able to open its doors to help the people and pets of Guthrie, OK.

After the jump, watch our first video update from the trip.

We're ringing in 2012 with 12 ways you can make a difference for homeless pets. Whether you resolve to do one throughout the year, or try a different one each month, you'll be sure to spread a little joy to homeless pets with these New Year's resolutions:

1. Get yourself new sheets and towels -- then donate the old ones to a shelter or rescue group. You'll be recycling, helping homeless pets stay warm and comfy and getting new linens. Want to beat that? Ask your friends and neighbors to do the same!

2. Print out and post adoptable pet profiles at your office, dog park or grocery store. Does your local dog run, your office or your grocery store have a place for fliers? Ask if you can post a new adoptable pet's profile there each week. Simply click the print icon on a pet's Petfinder profile to get a printable page with all the pet's info!

3. Give a list of local shelters to your vet's office. Vets are often the first place pet parents go for recommendations on anything pet-related -- including where to find a specific kind of pet. Give your vet's office a list of local shelters and rescue groups and help get the word out to people who may not otherwise adopt. View shelters and rescue groups by state to get started!

Our friends at KONG have quietly donated hundreds of toys to dogs in the Petfinder.com Foundation's Train to Adopt program. The other day, we got an amazing photo and email from Train to Adopt shelter Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control in Charlotte, NC:

"Last night, after giving out the Kongs, I watched our shelter dogs, quiet and happy for a time," wrote volunteer Elizabeth Richardson.

"I thought of the words from 'Silent Night': All is calm/All is bright. Every dog was happy for a little while -- and that is a huge blessing. I used to bring in special treats to the dogs on Christmas Day. Now, thanks to the Petfinder.com Foundation and the KONG Company, I get to deliver special treats every week!"

After the jump: The full photo, plus: Learn more about how Train to Adopt saves lives.

There are many ways you can help homeless pets this holiday season -- some of which require only your time. Read on for easy ways you can help shelters and rescue groups through the Petfinder.com Foundation, which exists solely to support the 13,500+ organizations that post their adoptable pets on Petfinder.

• Give a Gift of Hope. When you make a donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation in the name of a loved one, he or she will receive a holiday card with an acknowledgment of your gift. And if you give a gift of $30 or more, your loved one will be acknowledged as a Supporting Member of the Petfinder.com Foundation for 2012! 


• Fill out surveys. Sign up to take surveys at SurveyMonkey.com and the Petfinder.com Foundation will receive $0.50 for every survey you complete.
  


• Buy a t-shirt. Purchase a We Add Up "Rescue" shirt for yourself -- and one for your dog! Every "Rescue" shirt purchased will trigger a $3 donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation. Every We Add Up shirt is hand-printed with a unique number -- your position in the global count of people adding up to make a better world. We Add Up is already up to 22,000 people!

Founded in 2003, the Petfinder.com Foundation has grown significantly over the past eight years. Our first year, we awarded $43,000 in grants to shelters and rescue groups across the U.S. At the end of 2011 we will have awarded more than $10 million in grants to Petfinder.com member shelters and rescue groups.

To say that we are thrilled about this growth is an understatement. As we move forward to the end of the year, we're reviewing some of our success stories and new partnerships and relationships. Here are just a few highlights:

Rescue U
Our Rescue U program grew greatly in 2011. In it, we send student volunteers to shelters in rural areas in need of assistance. The students work with shelter volunteers and members of the community to fix up and build new kennels, cat houses and play areas, bathing areas and more. (Read stories
from past trips here.)

We're now working with universities and shelters to establish Rescue U chapters nationwide. These chapters will focus on their own communities, getting together to help their local shelters. Several times a year, the Petfinder.com Foundation will do larger trips to places that need it most, ensuring that efforts bring a positive change to shelters and homeless pets.

Every year, The Orvis Company selects nonprofit organizations to feature in its catalogs, and encourages customers to donate as part of a $30,000 matching gift campaign. Groups selected also receive free ad placement in Orvis catalogs and on Orvis.com.

Until Nov. 10, you can vote to make the Petfinder.com Foundation a 2012 Orvis charity. Not only will this opportunity raise money for homeless pets, it will allow the Petfinder.com Foundation to run adoption-themed ads in Orvis catalogs and include an adoptable-pet search on its website for all of 2012.

All money raised through our proposed Orvis campaign will go directly to programs that vaccinate, transport, spay/neuter, and promote adoption of homeless dogs.
 
How to vote:

1. "Like" the Orvis Dogs Facebook page
   
2. Select the Petfinder.com Foundation
   
3. Fill out the required fields, then click "Submit"
   
4. Invite your friends to vote.

This is a great opportunity to raise awareness for shelter dogs and money for the Petfinder.com Foundation programs that support them. Help us reach the hearts of thousands of people who don't already know what we do. Together we can show them why pet adoption should be the only option -- VOTE TODAY!

Ten Petfinder.com shelters and rescue groups recently received $1,000 grants from Blue Sky Soda and the Petfinder.com Foundation. In honor of National Feral Cat Day, we're spotlighting one grant recipient, Neighborhood Cats, Inc., a Brooklyn, NY-based rescue group using its grant to provide foster and veterinary care for community cats in need, such as formerly stray kittens Watson, Simon and Holmes.

This summer, Neighborhood Cats went to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to begin a trap-neuter-return program on a group of cats living in an alley. Within the group were three kittens: two tabbies and their tuxedo brother.

"At seven weeks old, all three were pint-sized tough-guys-in-training," says Susan Richmond, executive director of Neighborhood Cats. "With no humans to look after them, they had to be street-tough just to survive."

The adults and older kittens in the group had grown up outdoors and were too wild to be adopted. They were spayed and neutered, given exams and rabies vaccines, then returned to their home in the alley where feeding stations and snug, all-weather shelters had been set up.

The young kittens -- now named Watson, Simon and Holmes -- were fearful of people too, but still young enough to tame, so Neighborhood Cats arranged for a foster home for them. Then they began the slow process of socializing the cats.

Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant know a lot of stuff, and they want to make sure you know it too. Their popular Stuff You Should Know podcast features the senior writers for HowStuffWorks.com holding forth on everything from zombies to quicksand. 

And now, Josh and Chuck have added the Petfinder.com Foundation to their ever-growing list of stuff you should know about.

Both huge pet lovers, Josh and Chuck decided to make a special video for the Petfinder.com Foundation to raise awareness about the work the Foundation does and what people can do to help. (Watch it after the jump.) The video features Chuck's dog Buckley and focuses on the Foundation's programs and simple things everyone can do to help find a forever home for every adoptable pet.

Please take a moment to watch the video
and share it with your friends and family --
you can help spread awareness and save the lives of homeless pets everywhere.

Ten Petfinder.com shelters and rescue groups recently received $1,000 grants from Blue Sky Soda and the Petfinder.com Foundation. Here's the first in a series of stories about how the money is being used to help pets in need.

Violet is a sweet Boxer and the new mother of a litter of puppies. Found dangerously thin, the dogs were taken from their home as a cruelty case by animal control officers in Phillipsburg, NJ. S&L Animal Rescue, also in Phillipsburg, took Violet and her puppies in to nurse them back to health and find them homes.

"They were so infested with worms, we didn't know if they would make it," says S&L cofounder Lisa Diacik. They did. Thanks in part to the grant from Blue Sky Soda and the Petfinder.com Foundation, the rescue group was able to put Violet and her pups on high-nutrient food and milk supplements.

"We only have one puppy left, who is now 10 weeks old. The others were adopted last weekend," Lisa says. "They will all have happy endings now." (Visit Violet's Petfinder page, and her still-adoptable puppy Pippa's.) But Violet and her puppies aren't the only ones benefiting from the grant.

Hundreds of displaced pets are without homes and in need of temporary care due to the 34,000-acre wildfire in Bastrop County, TX. Although the blaze is now about 50 percent contained, more than 1,500 homes have been lost. In addition, stray dogs and cats and those in shelters remain at risk.

Bastrop County Animal Control's shelter was directly in the path of the fires and was evacuated, and some area residents were evacuated so quickly that their pets were left behind -- and now have been without care for nearly a week.

The Austin Humane Society (AHS) has rescued more than 100 dogs, cats, kittens and puppies from the fires, including evacuated pets from animal control, and is still working in the area to save strays and pets who were left behind.

This heroic effort is possible in part thanks to a $3,000 disaster grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation that AHS will put toward the cost of medical care for the affected pets.

The rescue efforts continue daily. Thanks to the disaster grant, AHS will be able to continue its critical work while dealing with the influx of pets in need.

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To help further in this time of disaster, donate to the Petfinder.com Foundation Disaster Fund.

BISSELL Homecare, Inc. has long been a supporter of the Petfinder.com Foundation. From donating money to sponsor our Rescue U trips to actually coming along to help rebuild animal shelters with the students, it is clear that BISSELL loves pets.

And now, BISSELL is supporting the Petfinder.com Foundation again with the "Like BISSELL, Love Pets" Challenge. For every person who likes BISSELL's Facebook page and registers, BISSELL will donate 50 cents to the Petfinder.com Foundation, with a goal of $50,000.

The results are in, and 9-month-old Sheltie/Shepherd mix Francis is the winner of Fuzzy Nation's Super Model Photo Contest! The puppy has become a local celebrity of sorts, and the face of pet adoption for Jackson, MS.

Francis was found on the side of the road in the middle of winter. He had been abandoned in a cardboard box, dehydrated and freezing. He was taken to Community Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA) in Jackson, where he remained in a coma for four days. He was so malnourished that when he woke up, he couldn't eat by himself or even walk.

After weeks of dedication from the CARA staff, Francis was adopted by Harriet Scott of Ridgeland, MS.

"He was named after St. Francis of Assisi," Harriet told local paper The Clarion-Ledger of Francis. "It took a lot of prayer and a lot of love to pull him through."

After Harriet adopted him, she created a Facebook group for Francis that quickly gained more than 800 members. It was these dedicated supporters who helped Francis clinch the first-place spot in the Fuzzy Nation contest, with more than 8,000 votes.

By winning first place, Francis earned a $10,000 grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation for CARA. On Saturday, Francis and Harriet presented the check to CARA at the group's "Dog Days" fundraising event. There were more than 200 people in attendance, and by all accounts it was a joyful celebration for CARA. Francis even got some good face time with his fans. Read an article from the Clarion-Ledger about the event.

Rescue U volunteers are still hard at work in Emporium, PA, completing construction of the Cameron County SPCA. (Here's my first post about the project.)

The student volunteers have finished several projects so far. The concrete forms to add kennels inside and out are poured and the fences are built. They've added the plumbing the SPCA will need to set up bathing and vetting areas. There are newly built raised beds and toys for the influx of pets the shelter will receive upon completion.

The inside of the shelter was little more then framed wood when we got here. Now, the walls are insulated, up and hung, the drywall is finished. The transformation is amazing.

Watch this clip of Rescue U volunteers pouring concrete for the new dog kennels.

The trucks are packed and the volunteers are ready to work for the next Rescue U outreach trip, this time at the Cameron County SPCA in Emporium, PA . (Watch this video of our last Rescue U trip by The Dog Files.)

The SPCA is the only shelter in the community, and it is not fully functional. The shelter is being built slowly as donations come in. The animals Cameron County takes in now are mostly in foster homes -- there is no space for them at the shelter.

About 20 students from Delaware Valley College and Pennsylvania high schools will be joining the Petfinder.com Foundation to help complete the construction on the shelter's building. Students will be working on fencing and dog bathing and vetting areas, building raised beds for all the kennels, and
finishing the interior of the shelter.

Our friends at Megapops, a children's entertainment company that creates original content for touch devices, just released a new interactive book app for the iPad called Millie Was Here. It uses the dog Millie and her adventures to engage children and encourage them to read. View the trailer here.

Megapops is also committed to teaching kids about the importance of pet adoption, and is donating $1 to the Petfinder.com Foundation for every copy of Millie and the Lost Key purchased from Aug. 9-18, plus a percentage of sales after that.

In Millie and the Lost Key, you guide Millie on a treasure hunt and help her along every twist and turn in her journey. The stories feature interactive screens, an option for read-along text, and most importantly, a cute dog on every page.

You've always known your dog was beautiful. Now's the time to prove it!

The Petfinder.com Foundation has partnered with Fuzzy Nation to put together an exciting opportunity for you and your local shelter or rescue group.

Now through Aug. 1, submit a picture of your adopted dog and the story about your adoption in the Fuzzy Nation Super Model Photo Contest! Fuzzy Nation will choose 50 finalists.

Aug. 8-21, Facebook users will be able to vote for their favorite finalist once a day. The three entries with the most votes will receive:

1st place:

• $10,000 to the organization from which you adopted your dog
• Fuzzy Nation will recreate your pooch in plush
• A $300 gift certificate to FuzzyNation.com

2nd place:

• $3,000 to the organization where you adopted your dog
• $100 gift certificate to FuzzyNation.com

3rd place:

• $1,000 to the organization where you adopted your dog
• $50 gift certificate to FuzzyNation.com

Now's your chance to let your dog strut his or her stuff and help a shelter or rescue group. To enter, go to Fuzzy Nation's Facebook page. Get those entries in before Aug. 1!

This year, four U.S. shelters were able to enlist licensed dog trainers to train their dogs to impress potential adopters, thanks to Train to Adopt grants from The Petfinder.com Foundation and support from The Animal Rescue Site.

Train to Adopt provides shelter dogs with training to increase their chances of being adopted -- and so far, many of the "students" are getting adopted! Meet North Carolina Train to Adopt dogs in this video.

Help us Train Even More Shelter Dogs!
Now, with your help, we can win $50,000 to expand this great program and train even more shelter dogs!

Throughout July, you can vote once a day for the Petfinder.com Foundation's idea, "Train Shelter Dogs and Provide a Better Quality of Life," in the Pepsi Refresh Project.

With $50,000, we can provide training to shelter dogs that will not only teach them impressive tricks, it will provide them with mental stimulation while they await their forever homes. Please vote today!

BISSELL Homecare, Inc., has launched an online fundraising campaign to help homeless pets. And you can help!

For each new person who clicks to "like" BISSELL's Facebook page, the company will donate 50 cents to The Petfinder.com Foundation toward a goal of donating $50,000 in 2011.

If you're already a BISSELL fan and want to help, share this short video with your friends and family and encourage them to participate! It will only take a minute of your time, and it will go a long way to help homeless pets.



BISSELL is a longtime sponsor of Petfinder.com, and we at the Petfinder.com Foundation are so excited to have their support in 2011. Help BISSELL support the Petfinder.com Foundation and aid shelters, rescue groups and homeless pets across America. Visit BISSELL's Facebook page today and start spreading the word!

The second round of The Animal Rescue Site $300K Shelter+ Challenge of 2011 is officially over, with two more rounds to go this year.

In the first two rounds, the Petfinder.com Foundation and The Animal Rescue Site awarded a total of $150,000 in grants to 67 shelters and rescue groups across the country.

In the most recent round, Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary, Inc. of St. Pauls, NC, won the $5,000 Grand Prize. Sixty-six other shelters and rescue groups received grants ranging from $1,000-2,000.

Many winners had never won a Shelter+ Challenge grant before. Among the first-time winners was Jackson County Humane Society in Newport, AR, which won  the Spring Romp Photo Contest category. Supporter Stacy Chambliss submitted the adorable photo of her bulldog Mack kissing a kitten, which won over voters nationwide and earned the shelter a $2,000 grant.

Your favorite adoption group can still win a grant! The next round of voting begins July 4 at The Animal Rescue Site. Until then, you can still help homeless pets by visiting the site every day and clicking the purple button to donate money to animal shelters.

Learn more about The Animal Rescue Site $300K Shelter+ Challenge of 2011 and the next round (which starts July 4!) here.

To learn more about the Petfinder.com Foundation's programs and how to donate, visit: www.petfinderfoundation.com.

Blue Sky Soda has long been an advocate for homeless pets and the Petfinder.com Foundation. Their Save Pets, Send Tabs program donates five cents to the Petfinder.com Foundation for each Blue Sky Soda can tab top consumers send back. And now, Blue Sky Soda is offering a fun, easy and free way that everyone can help online.

Until January 2012, all you have to do is "like" Blue Sky Soda on Facebook and then click the "donate" button. For each user who does, Blue Sky will donate five cents -- up to $50,000! Pretty easy, huh?

You can only donate once, so once you've clicked, make sure to spread the word and tell everyone you know to "like" Blue Sky to help save pets!

Here's how to do it:
1. Go to Blue Sky Soda's Facebook page and click the "like" button at the top.
2. Once the "donate" button appears, click it and watch the counter go up! You just earned five cents for homeless pets!
3. Click "Tell Your Friends" to spread the word.

All this takes is a moment of your time, but it can mean so much in the lives of pets waiting to find their forever homes. Blue Sky Soda is providing us with an easy way to make a difference, so what are you waiting for? "Like" Blue Sky Soda now!

Thank you so much for your support of our mission to ensure every pet finds a forever home. Without you, it wouldn't be possible.

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To learn more about the Petfinder.com Foundation or to donate, please visit www.petfinderfoundation.com

BISSELL Homecare, Inc recently joined the Petfinder.com Foundation and crew in Kentucky for the Rescue U trip to the Rowan County Animal Shelter and the Menifee County Animal Shelter.

Emily Valentine, a BISSELL senior account representative, worked with the Rescue U students and volunteers to build new raised dog beds and meet with 15 area shelter and rescue groups for our education day. This educational seminar focused on issues affecting adoption and gave local shelters and rescue groups a chance to ask questions and brainstorm new ways to help homeless pets.

BISSELL also raffled off several products from its pet product line and invited all attendees to participate in its Partners for Pets program, which supports qualifying animal shelters and rescue groups in the United States.

This trip was made possible by support from our sponsors BISSELL Homecare and The Animal Rescue Site. The Animal Rescue Site has been a longtime supporter of the Petfinder.com Foundation and previously sponsored our January trip to South Carolina. See a video of this trip.

As a result of the Kentucky trip, 65 dogs were transported from overpopulated shelters to shelters and rescue groups in the Northeast, where they are now awaiting their forever homes!

Support Rescue U and the Petfinder.com Foundation:

To show your support for homeless pets and to support programs like Rescue U, text 4PETS and your email address to 20222 to donate $10 to the Petfinder.com Foundation, or visit Petfinder.com Foundation.

In 2010, the Petfinder.com Foundation awarded over $4.2 million worth of grants to over 1,500 shelters and rescue groups to help homeless pets.

This Father's Day, make a donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation in honor and celebration of your dad, grandpa, brother or husband and support our efforts to help thousands of homeless pets this year. Donate $25 or more and we will send your loved one a special Petfinder.com Foundation baseball cap!*

Give a Gift of Celebration

Honor that special man in you're life this Father's Day with a "Gift of Celebration" and help dogs like Dunstan (pictured). You're gift can make a difference in the life of a homeless pet! And you can feel good knowing that 95% of your dollar goes to programs that help homeless pets.

*Donate $25+ by June 13 to ensure delivery by Father's Day.

The Petfinder.com Foundation has been in Kentucky at the Rowan County Animal Shelter and Menifee County Animal Shelter for the past week and the work is finally done!

There has been a ton of progress on both shelters thanks to the Rescue U student volunteers and shelter staff. The dogs are resting on newly raised dog beds and finding comfort in their fences and new roofed kennels.

But the dogs were not the only ones to get new digs! The cats have a new indoor and outdoor play area, providing them with comfort and safety while they wait for their forever homes. (Check out our video of the new cat enclosure below.)

Maybe the happiest news of all: 65 dogs will find new and loving homes! They are being transported from  overpopulated shelters to shelters and rescue groups in the Northeast including St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey, Furry Friends in Ontario, Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation in Virginia and Animal House Rescue, Willing Hearts Dalmatian Rescue and Worthy Tails Animal Rescue in Pennsylvania.

Not only will the move improve their chances for adoption, it will provide them with a better quality of life, with less risk of illness and kennel stress, while they await adoption.

Check out this video showing some of the work students did on the cat areas in the final days of the Rescue U trip.

I spent four days at Rowan County Animal Shelter in Morehead, KY, on the Petfinder.com Foundation Rescue U trip last week.

When I arrived, it was clear that the shelter was in need of repair. I am amazed at how the students got to work, diligently fixing the roof, painting and cleaning the kennels, making dog beds and much more. The students' dedication is impressive.

The dogs happily watched as the students worked around them, getting occasional pets and hugs along the way. One student fell in love with a puppy and will be taking her home.

I fell in love with a skinny, sweet Beagle who bravely let me pick ticks off his ears. Eventually, he ate out of my hands and his tail started to wag slowly. He was picked up off the street with another dog whose parents claimed him over the weekend.

As for my "Hound," Rescue U is transporting him to a foster home with the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation in Arlington, VA, until he finds his forever home -- which I can promise you he fully deserves and will thrive in. (Check out this video of him and his buddy at the shelter.)


Stay tuned; soon we'll show you the results of the shelter renovation!

This trip was made possible by BISSELL, Inc. and The Animal Rescue Site.

To show your support for homeless pets, text 4PETS and your email address to 20222 to donate $10 to the Petfinder.com Foundation, or visit Petfinder.com Foundation.

It's day three in Morehead, Kentucky on our Rescue U trip to help Rowan County Animal Shelter. We've made a lot of progress and managed to dodge any significant weather-related delays. The outdoor kennel roofs are framed, fencing is going up, the shelter roof is repaired and dog beds and kitty condos are being constructed by the students. The community support is overwhelming.

Our friend Rob Hamilton, the manager of Braxton County Animal Shelter in West Virginia, drove over yesterday to help out and pay it forward. Last year his facility was the site of a Rescue U trip. (Read about and watch video of that trip here.)

Colleen Harrington, the director of shelter operations at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey, joined us too. She is here to help care for the animals and transport dogs back with her, increasing the likelihood that they will be adopted.

After a long travel day full of weather-related flight delays, I made it to Morehead, KY, and met up with the students and volunteers who are here for our Rescue U program.

We headed out early this morning to the Rowan County Animal Shelter and began work to repair the roof and kennel fencing -- two of many projects that desperately need to be completed by the time we leave.

This is day one of a 10-day trip for students from Delaware Valley College, Morehead State University and Eastern Kentucky University who gave up their first week of summer vacation to meet us in Kentucky to rehab the shelter to help homeless pets.

The pets here are all amazing, with eyes that melt your soul, all of them just waiting to find their forever homes. One look at them quickly reminds all of us why we are here. The staff and volunteers at the shelter welcomed us with open arms and the community of Rowan is rallying around this effort. I can't help but be inspired by the dedication of the students, volunteers and staff who all care so much.

Follow us here as we blog from the shelter each day.

And remember ... today is the last day to VOTE for the Petfinder.com Foundation to support this program with a $500,000 donation from Chase. Voting ends at midnight EST. Every vote counts and we could definitely use yours!!!

This trip is made possible through the support of our friends at BISSELL, longtime advocates for pet adoption; The Animal Rescue Site and GreaterGood.org. Visit The Animal Rescue Site every day to make a free click donation that supports the Petfinder.com Foundation.

... back to the shelter ...

Liz

... And we're off! I am heading down to Kentucky to partner with Animal Lifeline on our Rescue U program. Together with a group of dedicated college students, professional staff, and colleagues, we're going to help rebuild some shelters in need.

Approximately 30 students from Delaware Valley College, Morehead State University and Eastern Kentucky University will be volunteering together on various projects to improve shelter conditions at Rowan County Animal Shelter and Menifee County Animal Shelter in Eastern Kentucky.

The students are giving up their first week of summer vacation to repair and install chain link fences and kennels, build roofs over kennels, install a dog bath, make dog and cat beds, clean the existing kennels and install an outdoor cat enclosure and play area.

Like we did with our last Rescue U trip, to South Carolina, we'll keep you updated from the road with video blogs so you can see firsthand the amazing work the students are doing and the pets who are waiting to find their forever homes.

This trip is made possible through the support of our friends at BISSELL, longtime advocates for pet adoption, The Animal Rescue Site and GreaterGood.org. Visit The Animal Rescue Site every day to make a free click donation that supports the Petfinder.com Foundation.

PS: Our Rescue U program is up for a $500,000 grant from Chase. Help us continue the program by voting for The Petfinder.com Foundation today!

Dear friends,

Last month your votes helped us win a $25,000 grant in the Chase Community Giving Facebook promotion.

That win allowed us to move on to round two, where we submitted a "Big Idea" for a chance to win $500,000 to help homeless pets.

Now we need your help more than ever. Voting begins today and goes to midnight on May 25.

VOTE NOW and help the Petfinder.com Foundation win $500,000!!!

Voting is easy and free: Just "Like" facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving, then click here to vote for the Petfinder.com Foundation. Then spread the word by "Liking" our charity page to post it to your Facebook wall.

Here's what we'll do if we win:
We'd greatly expand our Rescue U program, which sends groups of college students on trips to dilapidated shelters, where they work beside shelter staff and local volunteers to build new facilities, educate the community about pet care and transport shelter pets to the North to be adopted. Each trip teaches the value of volunteering and makes a huge impact on the shelter pets and the people who care for them.

Our "Big Idea" is Rescue U as a self-sustaining, national program. With $500,000 we'll create Rescue U chapters across the country. Each chapter will organize trips, collect donations and work with local shelters, helping students stay invested in their communities and in the welfare of animals.

These students will learn the importance of compassion, the difference they can make and how to be the change they want to see in the world. Help us save thousands of homeless pets and inspire the next generation.

We are heading down to Kentucky on a Rescue U trip next week, so you will hear more from me with stories and video blogs from the road.

In the meantime, PLEASE VOTE, re-post and tell your friends.

We couldn't do it without you.

Best,
Liz

The International Fund for Animal Welfare animal-rescue truck, funded by the Petfinder.com Foundation, is in the South helping pets left homeless by storms and flooding. This update, written in Memphis, TN, by IFAW emergency relief officer Shannon Walajtys, first appeared on the IFAW blog. Used with permission.

Donate to the Petfinder.com Foundation disaster relief fund.

I am the mother of seven four-legged children and it was hard to be away from them on Mother's Day. As I walked into the shelter Sunday morning, the cat room manager cried out that kittens had been born overnight!

One of the cats brought into the disaster emergency animal shelter gave birth on Mother's Day to four healthy kittens! What a wonderful surprise and perhaps the best Mother's Day gift to us all.

A remarkable reminder that even in times of trouble like this flooding disaster, life goes on and miracles do happen; you just have to keep your eyes open for them!

The International Fund for Animal Welfare animal-rescue truck, funded by the Petfinder.com Foundation, is in Tennessee assisting pets left homeless by the Southern storms. Later this week the truck will head to Jackson, MS, to help with recovery efforts in Mississippi. This blog post, by IFAW emergency relief officer Shannon Walajtys, was originally published on the IFAW Blog. Used with permission.

Donate to the Petfinder.com Foundation disaster relief fund.

In a disaster emergency animal shelter we always have a lot of work to do making sure that the pets in our care are as comfortable as possible during their stay with us.

Think of it as a hotel just for pets except that they get pampered with regular walks, food delivered to them, and of course lots of snuggles from us! The pets in this shelter are here because their pet-moms and pet-dads want them to be safe during the flooding and severe weather in this area.

Two days ago we received a frantic call from someone who needed assistance getting their beloved dogs and cats out of their yard. The whole neighborhood was flooded; children's toys and debris floated along together as if it were commonplace.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare team was dispatched along with our partner agencies, ASPCA and American Humane Association, to recover the pets. Our highly skilled team members helped reach the three German Shepherd mixes without trouble and placed them in crates to be transported to the shelter.

Now, the cats were not as excited about their trip to the lovely pet hotel I described earlier! One of the cats ran away from the rescuers and up a tree! Danielle (pictured), one of our search-and-rescue experts, rose to the occasion (literally) and climbed the tree to save the cat! The cat was covered in a grease-like substance and was hence named Diesel by the sheltering staff!

Four cats in all were taken back to the shelter and have adjusted very well to being pampered. Diesel had a bath and now feels and smells much better! He is super snuggly and Danielle makes sure to check in on him regularly.

As for the German Shephard mixes, they are spoiled by us, especially the folks who rescued them. In this picture (left), Electra is getting some special attention from Gail A'Brunzo.

We have a lot of dirty work that must be done for the pets in our care, but we receive payment tenfold in the form of unconditional love each and every day we serve them in this or any disaster-emergency animal shelter.

Tomorrow: Check back for more about the storm recovery efforts.

How you can help:
Donate to the Petfinder.com Foundation to help treat sick and injured animals, care for newly homeless pets, and rebuild storm-damaged property.

Text 4PETS and your e-mail address to 20222 to donate $10.00 to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

About the author: Shannon Walajtys joined the IFAW staff as an emergency relief officer in December 2010. Shannon has a master of science degree in forensic science and brings more than 16 years of experience that includes crime-scene processing, fingerprint identification, mass disaster morgue and operations support, as well as biometrics. Her lifelong commitment to animal welfare includes experience in animal cruelty investigations, disaster response, volunteer management, technical rescue to include certifications, and most importantly, foster mom!

The Petfinder.com Foundation funded a trailer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, with which IFAW is helping pets impacted by the recent Southern storms.

After violent tornadoes and flooding swept through  Southern states, many animal shelters were left damaged, not to mention overwhelmed by an influx of pets whose families had lost their homes.

The 36-foot truck the Petfinder.com Foundation bought for IFAW was among the first to respond. Arriving the afternoon of May 4 in Memphis, TN, the truck and its staff set up camp at an emergency shelter for animals affected by the floods.

IFAW and the Petfinder.com Foundation will provide transportation, food and shelter to these now homeless pets. The team in Tennessee has already assisted
with the rescue of 70 dogs.

Come back to the Petfinder blog next week for daily updates on the team's progress.

How you can help:
Donate to the Petfinder.com Foundation to help treat sick and injured animals, care for newly homeless pets, and rebuild storm-damaged property.

Text 4PETS and your e-mail address to 20222 to donate $10.00 to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

Every day at the Petfinder.com Foundation, people ask us what they can do to help homeless pets. My usual answer is: Just do something. But today I have a specific request for you because we need your HELP.

It's easy, it's free and it could mean a lot of money for homeless pets. Here's what you can do:

1. Go to Chase Community Giving on Facebook and "like" that page.
   
2. Click here and vote for the Petfinder.com Foundation!
   
3. Tell your friends!
   

If we get enough votes to put us among the top 100 charities, we'll win $25,000 to support our programs that help homeless pets -- and we'll move on to round 2, where we'll have another chance to win up to $500,000! We got a late start ... the first round of voting ends May 4!

All it takes is a minute of your time, but your vote means so much. With $25,000 and the chance to win $500,000, we can do a lot to ensure every pet has a forever home. Together we can all make a difference.

Adopt, volunteer, donate (and VOTE)!

Thank you for your support. We couldn't do it without you.

Nora was a bait dog used for dog fighting. She came into a Chester, S.C., shelter all ripped up, just skin and bones. Chester County Animal Control staff nursed her back to health. See a video of Nora in January.

Thanks to the Petfinder.com Foundation and The Animal Rescue Site's sponsorship of a Rescue University Trip, Nora (now named Luna) has found her forever home!

Read more about the Rescue U. trip and check out video blog posts by volunteers.

The Petfinder.com Foundation helps thousands of homeless pets like Nora every year. You can help! Send a special gift this year for Mother's Day: Give a gift of love to homeless pets. Honor your mom, grandma, sister, wife or friend by supporting the Petfinder.com Foundation. Make a donation of $25 or more and we will send her a special letter notifying her of your donation. (Donations must be received by May 2 to ensure delivery by Mother's Day.)

BISSELL, a longtime advocate of pet adoption and Petfinder, will continue to support the pet community in 2011 through a series of grants worth a total of $50,000 to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

"We are so pleased to continue BISSELL's long history of supporting pet causes by joining forces with the Petfinder.com Foundation this year," said Rich Sorota, senior vice president and general manager of global marketing and sales for BISSELL. "As a company, we are passionate about supporting the pet community, and this expansion of our
10-year relationship with Petfinder.com will allow us to educate even more Americans about one of the major barriers to adoption: cleaning up after pets."

BISSELL's research shows that almost two in five Americans -- 38% of those surveyed -- would add a pet to their home if cleaning up after him or her were an easy job.

The Petfinder.com Foundation has partnered with Intervet/Schering-Plough to vaccinate thousands of shelter dogs against the deadly canine influenza virus.

Canine influenza is a respiratory disease that causes coughing, nasal discharge and loss of energy and appetite. While canine influenza can lead to a severe or even life-threatening infection, the good news is that, with proper care, most dogs recover.

As part of our mission, the Petfinder.com Foundation strives to help reduce illness among pets at shelters and rescue groups. We hope the Building Community Immunity Grant will significantly reduce the number of canine influenza cases among adoptable pets.

The grant was opened in November to applications from Petfinder members, and we are now well on our way to awarding more than $8.6 million to more than 1,600 shelters and rescue groups across the country -- enough to cover 955,555 vaccinations.

The Petfinder.com Foundation's new Train to Adopt program provides shelter dogs with behavioral training to increase their chances of being adopted.

Developed in partnership with The Animal Rescue Site and renowned dog-behavior expert Sue Sternberg, Train to Adopt kicked off on Feb. 1 and will run through 2011 at these four shelters:

• Pennsylvania SPCA in Philadelphia
• Humane Society of Missouri in
  St. Louis
• Pima Animal Care Center in
  Tucson, AZ
• Charlotte Mecklenberg Animal Care and Control in Charlotte, NC

Thanks to grants totaling $176,000 awarded the organizations, all four hired a highly qualified trainer to implement the Train to Adopt program.

This Valentine's Day, HomeAgain, the company that provides the best chance for your lost pet to come back home to you through its microchip registration and pet recovery system, is supporting the Petfinder.com Foundation in its effort to help homeless animals.

HomeAgain will donate $0.25 to the Petfinder.com Foundation through Valentine's Day for every user who chooses a HomeAgain Heart from the PetRescuers fan page. You can choose among four themed hearts.

It only takes a minute to help donate $0.25 and promote a service that reunites lost pets with their loved ones.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Is your special someone a pet lover? Be creative this Valentine's Day by donating to the Petfinder.com Foundation in his or her honor.

Your loved one will receive a special letter notifying him or her of your donation -- just click "make this a gift" at checkout. (Donations must be received by Feb. 8 to ensure delivery of the letter by Valentine's Day.)

Your donation will help spread the love to pets who will spend the holiday waiting for their own special someone to bring them home.

The Petfinder.com Foundation helps thousands of homeless pets every year. In 2010 we vaccinated 117,485 dogs against bordetella (kennel cough), helped to spay or neuter 2,450 animals and provided 277,777 cats access to Hide, Perch & Go Boxes.

Your donation will help us continue to keep animals healthy and adoptable in 2011.

Donate in honor of someone special today.

Jan. 12, 2011--Today is our last day here in Chester, SC, for the Animal Lifeline outreach trip. We are definitely sad to be leaving, but are very happy that we were able to be part of such an amazing project. Although the student volunteers have gotten a lot accomplished so far, today will be a long day for them, seeing that it's their last day of work, and there is still a lot of work to be done and only one day left to do it.

Chester County Animal Control now looks like a completely different shelter compared to how it looked when first got here on Sunday. There are now rooftops
over the outdoor kennels, which will drastically improve the lives of the dogs who stay in them, especially since there is a lot of rain and a decent amount of snow here.

Another huge accomplishment completed by the student volunteers is the new cat house. It is now completely constructed and all that's left to do is paint it. Previously, the cats were placed in small enclosures that didn't give them room to do much of anything, but with this new cat house, which is about the size of a large storage shed only taller, the cats will have room to play, jump and do the things that cats love to do. This will dramatically reduce the amount of stress on the cats, which will make them much more adoptable.

It's day four for us at Chester County Animal Control in South Carolina, and I'm thrilled that our friend, New York City style icon and animal advocate Fabiola Beracasa, has flown down to pitch in.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is partnering with Fabiola on the new program SNAP-X (more on that after the jump). She is an amazing advocate for adoptable pets and a real help at the shelter. (See her video blog above).

Today was a flurry of activity. Dogs who are going north on transport were taken to the vet for shots, spay/neuter and health certificates so they can safely make it to their new homes.

The students worked all day finishing fencing for the new kennels, putting a roof on the new cat house, building beds and helping with the animals. With one day left, it's crunch time, and it looks like rain, which complicates the plans.

Santa made a visit to five shelters this holiday season, thanks to Blue Sky Beverage Company, maker of all-natural sodas and energy drinks.

These Petfinder.com members each received $1,000 grants from Blue Sky and the Petfinder.com Foundation:

• Seattle Animal Shelter
  
• Marley's Pit Stop Rescue, L.A.
  
• Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, Downey, CA
  
• City of Fort Worth Chuck Silcox Animal Care and Control Division
  
• Town Lake Animal Center, Austin, TX
  

Find out how you can help Blue Sky give even more money to shelters after the jump.

It's day three for us in South Carolina on the Animal Lifeline trip and I am amazed by the progress: new outdoor kennels, a new cat house, new indoor kennels, new dog beds. The students, volunteers and Chester County Animal Control staff have been working all day, every day to make this happen. And with only three days left, the pressure is on and I can't wait to see the end result.

The quality of life for these pets is going to be dramatically improved, and more animals will be adopted because of these efforts.

Check out my video blog above to tour the shelter, meet the students and see some of the pets available for adoption. 

Despite all this great work, I have a problem: I have fallen in love with Nora, a little girl dog at the shelter. She is an unlikely candidate for me but, like most love affairs, you don't always see it coming.

Nora was a bait dog used for fighting. She came into the shelter skin and bones and ripped up, but has been nursed back to health and she is a LOVER. An itty-bitty Pit Bull with the sweetest eyes who is happiest getting her belly rubbed in the grass. You can see my video of Nora here, or check out her profile on Petfinder. I begged my husband to let me bring her back to Arizona. He said (rightfully so) it's me or the dog ... so I have some serious thinking to do tonight. She, like all of these pets, deserves to find her forever home and I am pulling for her.

Guest blogger Liz Borrie is a volunteer on the Animal Lifeline and Petfinder.com Foundation trip to Chester, SC, to rehab facilities at the local shelter. Hey all, my name is Liz Borrie, and I am a student of Delaware Valley College studying zoo science. I am in South Carolina with my college's club, Rescue University, which is a program of Animal Lifeline.

I am currently vice president of the club, and this is my first outreach trip. The
purpose of these outreach trips is to
improve animal shelters in order to
improve the lives of animals in need.

We are currently working at Chester County Animal Control, rebuilding it from top to bottom -- putting up a cat house, rebuilding pens, making dog beds and donating toys and food. It has been plenty of hard work, but it is very rewarding.

This is my first blog post, even though I have been executive director of the Petfinder.com Foundation for over two years. You know how it goes: start but don't finish, something else to do, a fantastic staff who can actually blog. But no more excuses! I guess you can call this a resolution of sorts.

I love my job. In 2010, with the generous support of donors and sponsors/partners, we were able to give (literally) millions of dollars back to Petfinder.com shelter and rescue-group members to help further our mission of ending the euthanasia of adoptable pets. Sometimes I do get mired in the administrative minutia that is necessary
to run the foundation, but next week I'm busting out to help rebuild a shelter in need with a group of dedicated college students, professional staff, and colleagues.

To say I'm excited is an understatement. The idea of doing hands-on, down-and-dirty work at a shelter has a huge appeal to me (except for the 30-degree weather -- I am a Tucson girl, after all).

I'm leaving on New Year's Day to travel to Chester, SC, to participate in Animal Lifeline's Rescue University program. Animal Lifeline's amazing and dedicated staff will take college students who have volunteered(!) to give up their winter break (and New Year's Eve) to ride in a van from Pennsylvania to South Carolina and Chester County Animal Control.

The students and professional staff will spend a week rehabilitating the shelter facilities to improve the quality of life for pets waiting to find their forever homes; we'll also transport some dogs to the Northeast, where their chances of being adopted will be much higher.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is always hearing inspirational stories about how shelter pets change people's lives. And we recently heard of one grumpy kitty who inspired an Arizona artist to make a difference in the lives of shelter pets.

Diana Madaras, a gallery owner in Tucson, AZ, recently came us with her whimsical character, Kitty Humbug, based on a real-life cat named Starsky who was adopted by a veterinary hospital from a local cat sanctuary.

When I adopted my dog Moby from a Denver, CO, shelter in 2006, I quickly knew that something was wrong with his health. The veterinarian diagnosed him with not only kennel cough but also canine influenza. Who knew dogs could get the flu? Had a vaccination been available for the shelter to administer, Moby would have come into his forever home as the strong dog he is today.

Now, the Petfinder.com Foundation and Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, makers of the Nobivac® Canine Flu H3N8 vaccine, are making that healthy outlook possible for up to 1 MILLION shelter dogs with the Building Community Immunity grant.

Through this partnership, grants totaling up to one million free doses of Nobivac® Canine Flu H3N8 vaccine are being offered to Petfinder shelters and rescue groups to help protect homeless dogs against the very contagious canine flu. Grant recipients will receive up to a four-month, two-dose supply of canine influenza vaccine. (The vaccines will be sent to and must be administered by a licensed veterinarian.)

The Gulf oil spill had an impact on more than just the wildlife along the Gulf Coast -- it also affected the pets and shelters and rescue groups in Gulf Coast communities.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is giving $150,000 to shelters affected by the spill and groups who transported pets from those shelters and took them into their own care. (Learn more about the Gulf coast oil spill grants here.)

Nine shelters and rescue groups in Florida, Texas, Alabama, and Louisiana received grants to cover general operating costs, including St. Bernard Parish Animal Control Center in Violet, LA, from which we recently received a heartwarming follow-up story about a dog named Lucky.

This winter, thousands of pets will spend the holidays waiting for a permanent home. You can help them, and give a meaningful gift to your favorite animal lover, by donating to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

Give a Gift of Hope in your loved one's honor and we will send them a special letter notifying them of your donation. Donate $50 and we will send you or your loved one Second Chances: Inspiring Stories of Dog Adoption by Petfinder.com Happy Tails editor Joan Banks.

(Donations must be made by Dec. 17 to ensure delivery of the book or letter by Dec. 24.)

The Petfinder.com Foundation provides help to pets in the care of a Petfinder member shelter or rescue group. Here are a few examples of ways we've helped this year:

• We awarded more than $300,000 in Hide, Perch & Go boxes to help reduce stress and illness in shelter cats, making them more adoptable.
• We distributed more than $200,000 in grants to vaccinate 16,000 dogs and 71,250 cats against bordetella and feline distemper and upper respiratory infections, respectively.
• We awarded more than $75,000 to 30 shelters affected by disaster, including the Humane League of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania and Indiana's Newton County Animal Control, both of which had suffered devastating fires.
• We granted more than $24,000 to spay and neuter 800 dogs and cats.
  

When I adopted my cat Sophie, I fell in love with her at the shelter. An older calico with white socks on her front feet, she was taken out of her cage and curled right up in my open, anxious arms. At that moment I could never have imagined how problematic getting her to my home would be, or that she would then spend a long adjustment period hiding behind my dresser.

These are common problems for shelter cats and their new families. Shelter life can be scary for cats. The transition from an original home to a shelter to an adoptive home brings many changes in sights, smells and surroundings, leaving cats fearful in each situation. But the Petfinder.com Foundation is giving some shelter cats a way to stay safe and happy in the journey from shelter to new home.

The Petfinder.com Foundation recently helped 80 shelters and rescue groups across the country by awarding $143,000 for FVRCP vaccinations.

FVRCP vaccinations help protect cats against three contagious diseases: feline viral rhinotracheitis (a severe and highly contagious upper respiratory infection caused by a feline herpes virus), calicivirus (which can cause pneumonia) and panleukopenia (also called feline distemper).

Distemper can be a big problem if it spreads throughout a shelter. Jenny Colucci, a volunteer with grant recipient Stamford Animal Care & Control in Connecticut, tells us, "A few years ago, our shelter experienced a devastating outbreak of distemper among our cat population. We lost over 20 precious cats and kittens to the disease. The only surviving cats were those that we knew had been vaccinated. This grant will help us reduce the chances that this will ever occur in our shelter again and keep our cats safe from disease."

Together with our partners, The Petfinder.com Foundation is constantly awarding grants to shelters and rescue groups to assist with disaster recovery. While these disasters vary in size, financial needs, and impact, I am always amazed at what effort these groups go to to help save the lives of homeless pets.

The staff and volunteers at the Pennsylvania-based Humane League of Lancaster County in Pennsylvania are no different. Recently, fellow Pennsylvania rescue Plain and Fancy Animal was completely destroyed by a house fire, due to electrical issues. The family was burdened was not only the loss of their home, but the loss of their shelter and home to the 40 dogs that were housed there. While this alone would be no small tragedy, Plain and Fancy Animal was also in the process of assisting with rescuing dogs from a nearby raided puppy mill, bringing the number of homeless dogs to 100.

Did you know that you can help homeless pets by joining The Petfinder.com Foundation's "Help Homeless Animals Nationwide cause on Facebook"?

We've already raised nearly $2,000 through the cause app, including more than $1,500 toward our first Facebook-based fundraising campaign, to vaccinate 2,000 shelter dogs against bordetella (kennel cough).

As you may know, kennel cough is an extremely contagious disease that can spread quickly through shelters when the dogs are not vaccinated. Dogs with kennel cough often are not able to be adopted while they're sick, and can be at greater risk for euthanasia. But you can help.

Last week we kicked off our new Best Pet Adoption Videos feature highlighting some extra-special videos all about pet adoption. (See last week's video, Adoption Entrance Dance.)

Buckeye, a 2-year-old Collie mix, is being adopted! Putnam County Dog Shelter of Ohio cared for him temporarily, but now he is on his way home.

While at the animal shelter, Buckeye received a kennel cough vaccination as part of a bordetella grant from the Petfinder.com Foundation. This allowed him to stay healthy and adoptable! Kennel cough is an extremely contagious disease that can spread quickly through dog shelters when the dogs are not vaccinated.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is giving $150,000 in grants to shelters and rescue groups affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill in partnership with Merial's Paws to Save Pets and The Animal Rescue Site's Gifts That Give More.

Shelters from Galveston, TX, to Tallahassee, FL, have suffered from the economic impact of the oil spill. They are taking in more animals as the region's pet parents lose their livelihoods, while donations have decreased so much that many shelters can no longer cover general operating costs.

The Petfinder.com Foundation has given the Delaware County SPCA in Media, PA, and the Pennsylvania SPCA, which has seven shelter locations across Pennsylvania, $18,000 in Hide, Perch & Go Box grants which will provide a total of 5,000 boxes for shelter cats.

The grants were given in partnership with the PETCO Foundation, The Animal Rescue Site and the CATalyst Council.

Recently, the Petfinder.com Foundation awarded six Petfinder shelters and rescue groups bordetella vaccination grants totaling more than $64,000.

Bordetella is commonly known as kennel cough, and spreads rapidly among shelter populations. "Shelters are often compelled by their budgets to euthanize otherwise adoptable dogs to stop the spread of the disease," says Petfinder.com Foundation executive director Elizabeth Neuschatz. "The real key to stopping this scourge is prevention, and that's the aim of these vaccine grants: stopping kennel cough before it gets started."

The Petfinder.com Foundation recently awarded Indiana's Newton County Animal Control a $5,000 disaster grant to help it recover from an electrical fire.

The fire started in a fuse box and then spread throughout the shelter. Fortunately, the staff smelled the smoke from their offices and called the fire department, who extinguished the fire. The staff and firefighters were able to get all the animals safely out of the shelter. The pets are now temporarily housed in the shelter's small office in a separate building.

In the animal sheltering world, good customer service saves lives. Last year Petfinder visitors were surveyed regarding their experiences adopting pets. While many visitors were committed to adopting no matter what, some reported less-than-stellar experiences. (Read more about our customer service survey here.)

This prompted Maddie's Fund and the Petfinder.com Foundation to promote excellent customer service through the Put Your Best Face Forward grant. Here's a list of 2009 grant winners.

This year, we have once again joined Maddie's Fund to award Petfinder shelters and rescue groups a total of $51,000 for providing great customer service. By
sending the message that it's important to take care of adopters as well as animals, we can save lives.

Romeo the Cat, a rescued Persian, writes a daily blog loved by cat owners everywhere. Sample topic: his "morning wake-up tactics" (his daily quest to get his lazy human "staff members" out of bed to feed him breakfast). Here's a recent one:

"This morning, female staff was lying on her back. Crawled up her stomach and stood on her chest. Meowedmeowedmeowed. Then, put paw in her right eye socket. And, OH HULLO, BREAKFAST!"

Romeo, with the help of his female staffer, Caroline, has raised more than $40,000 in just 18 months for rescues, shelters and programs that benefit homeless animals across the U.S. Together they recruit sponsors to make donations to the designated charity and call for donations from the public. (Find out more about how Romeo's monthly fundraisers work here.)

The Petfinder.com Foundation is committed to working with shelters and rescue groups across the country to help save the lives of homeless pets. Part of this mission is to provide assistance with spay/neuter grants.

Recently, the Petfinder.com Foundation and The Animal Rescue Site awarded New Jersey's Camden County Animal Shelter a $24,000 grant to help with spaying and neutering their adoptable pets.

CCAS handles more than 6,000 pets a year
in one of the poorest communities in the country. Niki Dawson, CCAS's executive director and president of the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey, has overcome tremendous obstacles to provide low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for pets belonging to low- or no-income people in her community.

Here at the Petfinder.com Foundation we just awarded two disaster grants to help two rescues rebuild and recover from natural disasters.

One grant went to the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley in Howes Cave, NY, which recently suffered major wind damage to its roof. Subsequent rains caused flooding damage inside the shelter, and staffers are still using buckets to catch the water. The water is causing ongoing damage to the building as well as harming the pets who are still living inside. The shelter does not have insurance that will cover this damage.

On Thursday, May 27, Animal Lifeline's staff and volunteers left West Virginia to head back to Pennsylvania. But their work will have an impact for a long time to come. Just look at this great video about the trip to see how much this small group accomplished.

As Father's Day approaches, you may be at a loss of what to get Dad. If your dad is anything like mine, he has everything he needs and doesn't want you to spend your hard earned money on him. Well, I have the solution!

This Father's Day, show your appreciation for Dad by donating to the Petfinder.com Foundation. If your donation is received by June 15 and is $25 or more, we'll send him a copy of Second Chances: Inspiring Stories of Dog Adoption written by Joan Banks (with an introduction by Petfinder cofounder Betsy Saul).

Give Dad the perfect Father's Day gift -- a Gift of Appreciation!

Happy Father's Day!

On Friday, Devon set off on a trip to rehab West Virginia shelters alongside 27 college-student volunteers. The trip was organized by Animal Lifeline and funded by the Petfinder.com Foundation and Animal Planet's R.O.A.R. Here's Devon's latest update from the field. Plus -- Denise Bash and Jen Daley of Animal Lifeline are writing in to answer your questions about pet rescue and transport all week! Write your questions in the comments section below.

It's hard to believe I have only been in West Virginia for four days. Every day we have worked at least a full 12 hours. If the sun didn't go down every night I have a feeling we would be able to work a few more, but with such a large task at hand, the long days are well worth the sacrifice. Within the last few days we have gotten an incredible amount of work accomplished.

Sunday we all split into teams and I was able to be part of the shelter educational outreach program. Not only did I help prepare and run the program, I was also able to listen to the presenters and learn about the realities of animal sheltering. Among the presenters there were a behaviorist, a veterinarian, a vet tech, and an adoption and transportation specialist.

On Friday, Devon set off on a trip to rehab West Virginia shelters alongside 27 college-student volunteers. The trip was organized by Animal Lifeline and funded by the Petfinder.com Foundation and Animal Planet's R.O.A.R. Here's Devon's latest update from the field. Plus -- Denise Bash and Jen Daley of Animal Lifeline are writing in to answer your questions about pet rescue and transport all week! Write your questions in the comments section below.

The outreach project here in West Virginia is unlike anything I have ever been part of. Within my first hour of being here I had already helped save a life by being part of a rescue for a dog we found wandering along the side of the road. We took the dog, whom we had named "Cammy," to the holding facility of the Clay County Animal Control, which was the first site that I had visited.

As the program assistant for the Petfinder.com Foundation, I get to experience many events for animal welfare. One of my most exciting events will be starting today: This morning I will be flying into Charleston, WV, to be part of an outreach program with Animal Lifeline. 

Mother's Day is this Sunday!

If you're searching for a unique way to thank your mom for all the times she was there for you, look no further. Give a "Gift of Love" to shelter pets by donating to the Petfinder.com Foundation in her honor. If you click "make this a gift" at checkout, you can write a personal message to Mom that the Petfinder.com Foundation will email her to let her know of your donation.

My rescue dog, Moby, and I are going to honor my mom by giving a Gift of Love this Mother's Day. Our gift will help shelter and rescue groups across the country in her name.

Happy Mother's Day!

The Petfinder.com Foundation has joined GoodSearch to help save homeless pets. GoodSearch is a great search engine that raises funds for the cause of your choice every time you search the Web.

It's easy: Just download the GoodSearch-Petfinder.com Foundation toolbar, and each time you search GoodSearch will make a donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

I am always looking for new ways to support animal welfare. That's why I was thrilled to find replyforall.com, which allows me to raise money for homeless pets by simply adding a signature to my outgoing e-mails. Even more important, it works!

Last year the Petfinder.com Foundation became one of replyforall's non-profit partners. From July to December 2009, 43% of users chose to support animal welfare in their signature, raising $650 for the Foundation.

The minute I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, I knew that the animals there would need us. And it didn't take long before the Petfinder.com Foundation joined ARCH, the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti, with our partners in disaster relief, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) as well as over a dozen other leading animal welfare organizations.

Soon teams were on their way to the ravaged island. Dr. Dick Green, with IFAW, reports that they are treating between 50-100 dogs every day.

"We're seeing a lot of injuries to the paws," he says. "You need to remember that everywhere you look the concrete is down, and we have concrete mixed in with glass and sharp objects, and these poor dogs are foraging through this rubble to try and find food.

Read more about the disaster relief efforts in Haiti after the jump.

For many years, I found myself in a frantic state as Christmas approached, trying to figure out what to give certain people on my gift list.

But since I started working at the Petfinder.com Foundation, no more problem! I've seen the good that a small donation can make for pets in need.

A Gift of Hope from the Petfinder.com Foundation is a very special and unique holiday gift that is sure to please.

Simply make a donation in honor of a loved one, a friend, or even a group, and lend his or her name to a cause you both care about.

People's pets dressed up in holiday garb always makes me laugh. So this year I put some antlers on my dog and snapped his picture.

But making my friends chuckle isn't my only good deed this season, thanks to a little help from the new Petfinder.com Foundation Photo Store.

This year you can personalize holiday gifts while helping homeless pets at the same time.

The Petfinder.com Foundation's Photo Store offers pet lovers top quality digital photofinishing, personalized photo gifts, customized special occasion cards and more.

Best of all, a large portion of the proceeds goes straight to the Petfinder.com Foundation to help even more homeless pets this holiday season!

Check it out, make your own personal holiday gifts, and include your mutt's mugshot -- your friends and family are sure to love them.

You can bet that this year both Luckie and Scarlett, my adopted dogs, will be doing a lot more then just smiling for my family and friends -- they will be giving back to homeless pets with help from the Petfinder.com Foundation Photo Store!

Back in April, we surveyed Petfinder visitors about their experiences adopting, or trying to adopt, from shelters and rescue groups. A whopping 2,667 people responded -- and boy, did you have a lot to say (read more about the survey here).

Although 86% of respondents were "very" committed to adopting rather than buying a pet, many were discouraged by a lack of responsiveness from or other bad experience with an adoption group (40% said they had contacted an adoption group about a pet and received NO reply).

Now, Maddie's Fund is working with us to award $50,000 in prize money to Petfinder.com member shelters and rescue groups in the U.S. who demonstrate good customer service. The Put Your Best Face Forward program is designed to encourage shelters and rescues to assess their customer service and entice them to improve it if it is lacking.

Here's how it works, courtesy of Maddie's Fund:

From July 13 through September 18, there will be three ways to win cash awards!

Rescue groups--Check your in-box!
Each week, Petfinder.com will randomly e-mail three member rescue groups with questions about an available dog or cat posted on their website. If they get helpful information about that animal within 24 hours, the rescue group wins $500.

Shelters--Answer the Phone!
Each week, Petfinder.com will randomly call three shelters with questions about an available cat or dog posted on the website. If a live person answers the phone and provides helpful information about that animal (or connects the caller to someone who does), the shelter wins $500.

Be there live with a winning smile!
An "adopter" will randomly visit one selected shelter in a different state each week. If the "adopter" reports that the shelter experience was positive, pleasant and helpful, the shelter will win $2,000.

Read on for recent winners!

As of Saturday morning, the International Fund for Animal Welfare had set up the Petfinder.com Foundation's emergency pet rescue van in lower Louisiana and was busily assisting the Louisiana State Animal Rescue Team with pet rescues in Louisiana.