Petfinder Blog

When a fellow animal rescuer dies, the loss is felt by every person and animal touched.

On November 13, 2008, longtime animal rescue advocate Ingela Levett passed away after a long battle with leukemia. After her retirement form the corporate world, Ingela devoted her life to animal rescue, creating Rawhide Rescue in 2001.

Based out of New Jersey, Ingela worked hard to create a phenomenal network of volunteers and foster homes across the state with the mission of saving homeless dogs.

The organization she created has re-homed thousands of dogs since it began. In addition to helping the animals, Ingela inspired countless people to become involved in animal rescue.

On behalf of everyone at Petfinder, we are honored to have known and worked with Ingela.

Visit Rawhide Rescue on Petfinder.

Everyone knows that there are adoptable cats and dogs on Petfinder -- but we list many other homeless pets in need as well. One example: ferrets.

One of the liveliest household animals, ferrets can always keep their pet parents entertained with their antics. But when households have questions about the care of ferrets or can no longer care for the pet, there are ferret-specific rescue groups with expertise that can help.

Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue is part of the Ferret Lovers Club of Texas, a group that provides expertise to the general public, pet stores and existing and potential ferret parents. This is an invaluable service that not only strengthens the bond ferret guardians feel to their pets, but can also offer the support needed to help a ferret stay in his or her current home. But when ferrets are in need of re-homing, the rescue division of the club steps in and helps.

Visit Texas Ferret Lovers Rescue on Petfinder.

There are more than a dozen Petfinder member organizations who specialize in rescuing and re-homing senior dogs.

Personally, I am grateful to any organization that handles senior pets of all kinds. Exactly four years ago, when I was looking for pictures to use in an Adopt-a-Senior-Pet Month promotion, I came across a little senior shepherd mix. I fell in love immediately, and Dexter has been one of my best friends ever since.

He was 10 years old when I adopted him -- he's now 14. He moves pretty slowly these days, but his adorable gray face always attracts attention from passersby on our walks. Below is just a sample of Petfinder members specializing in senior dogs.

St. Louis Senior Dog Project, St. Louis, MO

Senior Dog Rescue of Oregon, Philomath, OR

Libby's Haven for Senior Canines, Canterbury, NH

Senior Dog Adoptions, Cold Brook, NY

The Senior Dog House and Rescue, Columbia Fall, MT

The Sanctuary for Senior Dogs, Cleveland, OH

I have been lucky enough to have the pleasure of visiting Tabby's Place in Ringoes, NJ, in person a few times. Therefore, I can attest to the sheer beauty of it -- both in aesthetics as well as its mission. Tabby's Place opened its doors in October 2003 and is able to care for almost 100 cats.

These aren't just any felines -- they are all senior or special-needs cats. Ranging in age from 1-19 years old and having special needs from FIV to cancer, the cats get the best possible care while being housed at Tabby's Place.

According to their Web site, they provide communal living environments for cats, with plenty of horizontal and vertical space for exercise and play as well as outdoor enclosures for cats to enjoy fresh air and sunlight.

October 25 is Pit Bull Awareness Day, so in its honor, we're highlighting a group doing amazing things for Pits: BAD RAP, which stands for Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pitbulls.

The San Francisco-based organization provides rescue services as well as extensive educational opportunities.

BAD RAP made national news last year when it was called in to evaluate 48 dogs from the Michael Vick case. Several groups stepped forward to foster the dogs, and 10 Pits came back to the Bay Area with BAD RAP. The dogs' amazing progress is detailed in the group's Vick Dog Blog.

In addition to its hands-on rescue work, BAD RAP offers a gamut of services to the local community as well as to animal welfare professionals. Most notably, it offers weekly Pit Ed classes to help educate the parents of these special dogs. According to the BAD RAP mission, Pit Ed participants "learn basic handling skills, dealing with breed traits and responsible ownership protocol."

All animals are special. Some are extra-special, and have needs that go beyond the scope of normal pet care. For pets in loving homes, getting these needs met can be challenging at best. When these pets end up homeless, it's often impossible.

Pets with Disabilities in Prince Frederick, MD, gives animals who have been injured through trauma or disabled by illness the time, care and attention they need -- often for the first time in their lives.

The animals in their care include cats who are FIV-positive or blind and dogs who are deaf, paralyzed or missing a leg -- and pets with just about every condition in between.

Not only does Pets with Disabilities nurture the pets in its care, it also lists adoptable special-needs pets for other shelters, rescue groups and veterinarians. The group also offers support to the families of these special pets, including advice on pet wheelchairs and an active message board.

Pets with Disabilities is more than a rescue and adoption agency -- it's a lifelong source of hope and support for the pets and their adoptive families.

Visit Pets with Disabilities on Petfinder

A captive audience can lead to amazing things. When half of that audience consists of inmates serving time and the other half are adoptable pets waiting for their new homes, it leads to remarkable changes.

SOS Pen Pals in Richmond, VA, works with six different correctional facilities in the state of Virginia. According to their Web site, they promote inmate rehabilitation and increased positive communication and interaction between correctional center staff and the rest of the inmate population.

The Pen Pals program gives inmates job skills to help their transition out of the corrections system. The animals chosen for the program live in the prison with the carefully chosen inmates to learn the skills they need to transition into life in a home. For the cats, this means socialization and for the dogs, training.

Two animal trainers oversee the program and focus on positive reinforcement. Through the program's efforts, more than 4,000 pets have found new homes!

Visit SOS Pen Pals on Petfinder.

New blog feature! Each week we'll highlight Petfinder rescue-group members with unusual adoption programs, fun event ideas and other things that make them distinctive.

Dogs for the Deaf in Central Point, Oregon, selects dogs from shelters and rescue groups and trains them to be Hearing Dogs.

The dogs are trained for four to six months at their facility. Once a dog has completed training, the group does several days worth of in-home training for both the dog and his or her new family to get everyone acclimated. Dogs for the Deaf stays in touch with the family for life.

One of their clients describes her Hearing Dog:

"D.J. is my electric blanket, my vacuum cleaner, my Activities Chairman, my alarm clock, my protector, my significant other." --Jane F.

Hearing Dogs are invaluable to the people who depend on them, but what happens when a dog isn't quite up to the task? They have a "Career Change"!

Dogs for the Deaf created this special program for the dogs who are determined not to be suitable as service dogs. One example is Sasha (pictured): a 4-year-old Australian cattle dog/blue heeler mix who was released from training because some sounds scare her. Sasha and other Career Change dogs still make wonderful pets, and the group works to place them into adoptive homes.

What a great way to make the rescue cycle come full circle! Check out Dogs for the Deaf on Petfinder.

Do you know a shelter or rescue group doing something creative and/or different? Let us know at outreach@petfinder.com.

Black cats are hard to find homes for. So are pairs of cats. Also, adolescent cats. What happens when all three of those are combined? You get some very long-time fosters.

Friends of Homeless Animals in Hawthorne, NJ (where I found my special-needs cat, Gretel), has been fostering best friends Teddy, a 15-month-old black male, and Duffy, an 18-month-old male tabby, for many months now.

They are handsome and affectionate, bonded to each other and great with other cats, but are passed over time and time again for younger and more stand-out cats.

What suggestions do you have to make Teddy, Duffy and other hard-to-place cats more eye-catching to potential adopters?

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!

My most-recent addition (and Petfinder alumna!) has not had an easy life. Adopted from Friends of Homeless Animals of Northern NJ, 10-year-old Gretel is missing an eye and part of an ear, is FIV positive and had been shifted through several homes due to unforeseeable tragedies. 

Gretel joined my senior-focused household in March and shares the space with a tabby named Lucy (adopted at the age of 18) and a 13-year-old German Shepherd mix named Dexter (adopted at age 10).

 

While Gretel seemed to fit in seamlessly (she LOVES Dexter), something was brewing underneath. Her blood work kept coming back anemic and finally two ultrasounds determined she had mast cell tumors in her spleen. Shortening a very long story, off we went to see the fine folks at NYC Veterinary Specialists.