Petfinder Blog

A while back I posted some photos of cool animal-rescue tattoos and asked you to send in yours. Well here are the results!

Kelly writes:

"I saw the pictures of people's rescue tattoos and definitely thought my friend Lisa from Athens, GA, should be added to the list. She is extremely dedicated to animal welfare and takes her rescue efforts very seriously -- especially the spay and neuter part, as the photo shows! Thanks for letting me share and remember to always SPAY and NEUTER!"



From Kay:

"Here's my contribution. It's my dog's actual pawprint. I took an ink pad and got his pawprint. I had the guy tattoo everything that came out on the piece of paper, even where his fur had smudged the ink.

"The pawprint is of my 11-year-old dog, Simba. I've had him since I was 10 years old. He's the whole reason I got into rescue and I love dogs so much. He's taught me so much and he'll forever be a part of me, not only on my skin, but in my heart. Now I share my heart with three other rescued dogs and it's all thanks to him."

More pics after the jump!

One of the best things about being part of a big company like Discovery Communications (which acquired Petfinder in 2006) is getting the support and enthusiasm of hundreds of our fellow employees.

Petfinder and eight local rescue groups felt the love on Oct. 21, when we held the second annual Petfinder.com Adoption Event, in honor of Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, at Discovery's Silver Spring, Md., headquarters.

Hundreds of Discovery staffers turned out for the event and met more than 30 dogs looking for their forever homes. Already several adoption applications have been submitted to the rescue groups, and our fingers are crossed that many of the dogs will be joining their new families soon.

More photos and a list of rescue groups who attended are after the jump.

In its new cover story, "21 Ways to Serve America," TIME magazine has one suggestion we're all for: fostering a pet!

The magazine notes that, with 1.2 million homes in foreclosure, pets, just like people, are being displaced in record numbers. What you can do:

Sign up to house and care for a pet until its owner finds a residence or the animal is adopted. Use Petfinder.com to find local groups like PetConnect Rescue, which places dogs and cats in foster care.
(Read the article.)

Many thanks to TIME for driving home an important message: Even if you can't adopt, fostering is one of the best things you can do to help homeless pets.

By fostering, you'll help keep pets out of shelters and, if the pet can't go back to her original owner, you'll make her more adoptable by sparing her the stress of living in a shelter and serving as her personal advocate to adopters.

You can sign up to foster through our volunteer database, or find a shelter or rescue group near you using Petfinder. Give them a call -- responsible fosters are always in demand!

Check out this segment from Today featuring Emma Jackson, the remarkable 15-year-old author of A Home for Dixie: The True Story of a Rescued Puppy. The book tells the story of how Emma adopted a dog from Petfinder member Aunt Mary's Doghouse in Montclair, NJ. When Emma learned about the plight of homeless pets, she made it her mission to tell the world -- and especially kids -- about the benefits of adoption.

Best of all, part of the proceeds from this sweet children's book benefit Aunt Mary's Doghouse!

Linda C. Greenberg from Marblehead Animal Shelter in Marblehead, Mass., has written a book called No Fleas on Us about her years as adoption coordinator at the shelter and the many animals she and her colleagues have saved.

Petfinder even gets a mention! Linda tells us, "Petfinder is mentioned in chapter six, titled 'My Favorite Day,' in the segment subtitled 'A Huge Miracle.' The miracle was Petfinder. I can't tell you how positively it changed our shelter for the best."

Check out Linda's book -- and if you live in the Boston area, check out Marblehead's adoptable pets!

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!

Kristen Powers, 14, is the daughter of Petfinder VP Ed Powers. She is the founder of the environmental group Green Teen Clubs.

I was recently working as a counselor-in-training for Piedmont Wildlife Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
It amazed me at the dedication kids there have for learning how they can respect and learn about the nature around them.

These kids, ages 4 to 11, have a desire to learn about anything and everything related to animals. Watching them was brilliant because I knew that I could make a difference in their lives.

While I was at the summer camp, I was carrying my Petfinder.com lunch bag. A little girl in my group came up to me and looked at my lunchbox. Suddenly, her eyes popped and she exclaimed, "I have that same lunch box. Petfinder is awesome!" It's always a wonderful feeling to know that Petfinder has not only reached people looking to adopt, but it is helping to mold the way young children are seeing animal adoptions.

If you or someone you know (like the person who pet sits for you) provides a service to pet owners, Petfinder's new Local Services & Supplies Directory is the perfect place to advertise.

Visitors can search by keyword and location, so whether you're a dog trainer in Duluth or a pet photographer in Petaluma, you can grow your client base by advertising to Petfinder's millions of pet-loving visitors.

A listing with your business name, address, phone number, ratings and reviews is free.

You can also upgrade to a basic ($9.90/month), premium ($19.90/month) or showcase ($29.90/month) listing with additional features. But if you sign up with the coupon code pflist40, you'll get 40% off any upgraded listing.

To sign up, go to https://resources.petfinder.com/advertise.php.

Please feel free to cross post this message and please share this discount code with any pet service provider you know!

You can help spread the word about adoptable pets by posting them to your Facebook mini-feed.

When you're logged into Facebook, just do a search for Posted Items and then download that application. It will let you post any URL to your mini-feed, including Pet Notes pages.

The app also has a "Share on Facebook" button you can drag to your bookmarks bar, so that when you're looking at a cute pet, you can just click the button and it'll add him or her to your mini-feed automatically.

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!)

TIME magazine has named Petfinder one of its 50 best Web sites of 2008! This is huge news for us. This type of media exposure has a direct impact on our traffic -- which means, quite literally, that pets' lives will be saved. Thank you, TIME!! Now, we could use YOUR help -- go on TIME.com and rate Petfinder on a scale from 1 to 100. We're currently ranked #4 by readers among all the sites on the list -- show the world you think pet adoption is #1!

For Adopt-a-Shelter-Cat Month, Petfinder and Cat Fancy asked readers to create an ad for our feline friends. The winning entry, from Cleveland's Randy DeMuesy, lists the many reasons to adopt a cat, and sums them up with, "Have a low-maintenance love affair." (See all the finalists here.)

DeMuesy, 43, serves as creative director, copywriter and producer at his own ad agency, DeMeusy Creative. His wife told him about the contest after seeing it in USA Today.

"I'm actually a dog person," he says, "but last summer a cat started hanging around our house. We'd leave food out for her, and she wouldn't let me touch her, but then one day she jumped up on the patio" and became a part of the family. "She's like a dog, what can I say?" Randy says of the cat, Lamont, who now keeps him company while he works. "She'll beg at the table; she's very vocal." But unlike a dog, Lamont doesn't require a lot of walks. "She sleeps all the time!" Randy laughs.