You are receiving this message from Petfinder because you registered to receive monthly emails. Unsubscribe at any time by following this hyperlink   IN THIS ISSUE Note from Our Founder Happy Tail Treats, Tips & Tidbits Sponsor Spotlight Shop Foundation News

Note from Our Founder Dear Friends, $360…$250…$850. Those were the charges for my vet visits this summer. You can go for years with just routine annual visits, and then get slammed with bills like these. They show how important it is to have a contingency plan, and I strongly recommend pet health insurance to cover the sorts of expenses I've faced. Over the years, it has saved me thousands of dollars. Many of you have told us that you don't skimp on your pets' needs, no matter what. You may want to take a look at the benefits offered by a good pet insurance plan like mine. Take Care, Betsy Co-founder Petfinder.com

Happy Tail: The Essential Willie Nelson From Caroline E., Baltimore, MD Willie Nelson was bald, skinny and stinky and had severe gum disease as a result of prolonged neglect and abuse. Despite the rugged life he had obviously endured, his wonderful spirit brightened my life and the lives of everyone who met him...With lots of TLC and wonderful veterinarian care funded by a good chunk of my 2008 stimulus check, Willie got back to a healthy weight, grew all his hair back, and turned into a gorgeous Shnoodle! Read the full story. Adopted from Animal Welfare Society of Howard County, MD, Columbia, MD.

Read more Happy Tails Do You Have a Happy Tail? Send us your Petfinder pet's happy ending story. It will be entered in our monthly Happy Tail drawing, and you may win a Man's Best Friend Fun Pack and a baseball cap from our friends at The Animal Rescue Site.

Treats, Tips & Tidbits EMPTY NEST? If your schedule opens up in the fall when kids go back to school, it will be a great time to become a foster parent! Visit our Volunteer Database to sign up! Stitch DID YOU KNOW? According to the 2009/2010 National Pet Owners Survey, 62% of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 71.4 millions homes. It estimates that $12.2 billion will be spent on veterinary care in 2009. Source: American Pet Products Assocation.

HERE'S WHAT YOU SAID In July, we asked, What is the best gift for pet-lovers? Most of you told us what you would like to receive, and the most common answer was a donation to an animal welfare group in your name. A close second was a gift card or gift certificate to a pet supply store. Several people mentioned that a gift card to your pet's vet clinic would be appreciated. (Someone could also Sponsor a Pet in your name through the Petfinder.com Foundation.) For Christmas and Mother's Day, Pat T.'s daughters gave her big bags of cat food to take to her favorite rescue group. Kim Z. wrote, "I would love gift cards for the store where I buy food, toys etc. or anything that comes from The Animal Rescue Site." (Ed. Note: You can get Petfinder-branded gifts there, too. Your gift would also fund bowls of food for homeless pets.) This year, Wendy D. is giving copies of her 10-year-old daughter Ally's book, Lilly's Story, the story of a puppy mill dog. The profits will go to rescue groups. Great responses! Thanks for writing. TELL US Has pet insurance ever saved the day for you? Has it helped you through what could have been a financial crisis? If so, tell us.

REALLY ROSY There's a lot of hope in the word "rosy." Help these Rosies enjoy the spirit of their names. Each needs a home. Can you help? Click on their photos to read more. ROSIE MD ROSIE WA ROSIE KS ROSIE IL VICTORIA STILWELL America's favorite dog trainer has volunteered to help one homeless Petfinder dog with a behavior issue. Vote for your favorite dog here. And catch Victoria in a NEW summer season of It's Me Or the Dog Saturdays at 9PM on Animal Planet.

Bring your passion for pets to work, to school -- or best of all, pack a lunch and take Fido to the park or beach to enjoy the summer weather! Our lunch sack has room for your lunch, drink, and cold pack, and you may even have some room left over. Petfinder.com's logo, and the phrase "Adopt a Homeless Pet," appear on an easy-to-clean lavender bag. With each Petfinder.com Lunch Sack purchased, The Animal Rescue Site will fund 14.0 bowls of food for animals living in sanctuaries and shelters.

Sponsor Spotlight THE ANIMAL RESCUE SITE You have spoken! More than four million votes were cast in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge. Grand Prize: Best Friends, UT, $20,000 2nd Prize: Seminole County Animal Services, FL, $5,000 3rd Prize: Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary, MT, $3,000 Honorable Mention: Days End Farm Horse Rescue, MD, $1,500 Honorable Mention: Community Animal Rescue & Adoption Inc., MS, $1,500 Congratulations also to the final two weekly $1,000 winners: Heartland Golden Retriever Rescue, TN, and Small Dog Rescue & Humane Society Inc., GA. NEW $100,000 CHALLENGE The Animal Rescue Site will launch a new $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge on Sept. 14. PETCO Win $500! Join the PETCO mailing list for a chance to win a $500 PETCO Gift Card!

Foundation News Help Support the Petfinder.com Foundation for Free Did you know that a simple change in your online routine could help pets in need? Just search the Web on DoGreatGood and a portion of the revenue will be donated to charities like the Petfinder.com Foundation! The more you search, the more you help. It’s that simple! ANIMAL ATTRACTION Join AnimalAttraction.com, a fun, FREE online community for pet lovers, and help the Petfinder.com Foundation receive up to $10,000! On AnimalAttraction, you can create profiles for yourself AND YOUR PETS, make “Pet Pals,” get pet advice, and have a pawtastic time connecting with fellow pet lovers. For each of the next 10,000 people who join, our friends at Petside.com will donate $1 to the Petfinder.com Foundation! Click here to join for FREE and have fun while helping pets!

The Petfinder.com Foundation is a public charity created to assist Petfinder shelters and rescue groups through problem solving, fundraising, and relief in times of stress or disaster. Petfinder provides a searchable database of animals that need homes from over 12,500 animal shelters and adoption agencies across the USA, Canada and Mexico, free ads for lost, found, adoptable and wanted pets, pet-related message boards, a library of pet information, and pet-related content for kids. Since its inception, Petfinder has helped find homes for more than 13 million pets. Privacy Policy Petfinder is part of: Discovery Communications, LLC. One Discovery Place Silver Spring, MD 20910 © 2008 Discovery Communications, LLC.