Petfinder Blog

I was in Maryland this past weekend visiting my parents. I hadn't even gotten to their house yet when I saw a collarless stray dog dodging traffic. MAN, people who keep driving really make me mad!

I pulled over and called to the dog. She came running right over, apparently grateful to get out of the traffic. I popped my emergency collar on her and she settled in my air-conditioned car and seemed to wonder where we were going next.

I wondered that myself. My parents are fiercely protective of their spoiled-rotten cats, so taking her there long-term didn't seem like a good idea. Plus, this was going to make me late for dinner, and that always ruins Dad's mood.

I called my friend and colleague, Kim Saunders, back in New Jersey and asked her to e-mail a list of local Petfinder rescue-group members to my phone so I could seek help. In the meantime, I stopped by the local Banfield pet hospital to see if the dog might have a microchip. Thus begins the real adventure.

I had the immense pleasure of meeting Dick Schnell, animal control officer at the Minot, N.D., police department, a few years ago when we did an Adoption Options workshop in Fargo.

He had trading cards for the school kids and described his job primarily as "taking dogs home after payday benders." A scuba diver, Dick supplements his income as an ACO by diving for golf balls in the water hazards at the local golf club. So I got a kick out of seeing him mentioned in this story:

Dog Uses Snow Bank to Climb On Roof
MINOT, N.D. - Minot police say they get lots of calls about animals but this one was different. A caller reported a dog on the roof of a house. Animal control officer Dick Schnell said the snow in the back yard of the dog's owner's home apparently was high enough for the dog to walk up onto the roof Tuesday.

The dog, which appeared to be a border collie mix, seemed perfectly content to be there.

"A neighbor from across the street called us and said, 'You're not going to believe this,' " Schnell said.

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.

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

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

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

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

A great story came out of this day.

You may remember that in an earlier post I mentioned Jodi Geschickter and JTG Racing. In addition to co-owning this team, Jodi volunteers for the Animal Adoption League in Charlotte, NC.

Well up until now, JTG Racing has only fielded entries in the Nationwide and Craftsman Truck series, two "lower" levels of NASCAR racing. This weekend, JTG is trying for the big time -- the NASCAR Sprint Cup (formerly Winston Cup, formerly Nextel Cup) Series!

This is a big, bold move and their driver, Marcos Ambrose (right, with his foster dog Max, who's since been adopted), will need to qualify to get in the race.

Animal lovers, cross your fingers for Marcos. He generously donated his time and autographs to us when we were at the race in Texas earlier this year and has also fostered dogs for Jodi (and even taken them through the Starbuck's drivethrough for treats!)

Marcos will be driving the 147 Little Debbie Ford. Qualifying is 10 a.m. EST on Saturday on ESPN. GO MARCOS!

Ryan and Krissie Newman have long been friends of Petfinder and work tirelessly on behalf of homeless pets.

I had the pleasure of meeting them in Texas earlier this year and got to hear Krissie's stories of finding strays on the roads around their property in North Carolina. Sometimes she finds their original owners, sometimes she finds new owners and sometimes ... the Newmans get a new dog!

Their Ryan Newman Foundation raises funds for shelters and spay/neuter efforts. They serve as spokespeople for the Humane Alliance National Spay/Neuter Response Team and they've published a book of NASCAR stars and their pets to raise money for their foundation. Pit Road Pets is a great book with heartwarming stories and huge color pictures of your favorite NASCAR personalities. (I even have my own autographed copy!)

So I'm a NASCAR fan. If it's got to do with NASCAR, I'm into it. And what's really cool is there are a lot of NASCAR people who are really into pet rescue and adoption. So I'll pop in here once in a while to keep you up to date on the happenings of the NASCAR world as it relates to pet adoption -- with maybe a little race commentary tossed in here and there. ;-)

The first person I want to call out is team owner Jodi Geschickter. Along with her husband Todd, Jodi owns JTG Racing. That's the 59 car of Marcos Ambrose and the 47 car of Kelly Bires. They run in the Nationwide series and Jodi has been kind enough to put the Petfinder logo on those cars (and on a CTS truck) on more than one occasion so millions of NASCAR fans can see Petfinder running around the track. Jodi is passionate about pet rescue and volunteers with the Charlotte, NC-based Animal Adoption League.