Adopting a Forever Friend

This is Otto he is for adoption through Young At Heart Pet Rescue

Thinking about opening your heart and home to a new family member? Before you make an impulse decision to buy that cute ball of fur in the puppy store, stop and consider whether it's the right pet for your family and lifestyle.


Some things to consider:
•How much time do you spend at home? Puppies and kittens need a lot of human attention, especially for housetraining and socialization. If that's not possible, an older pet make be a better choice.
•How involved will the pet be in family activities? If yours leads an active lifestyle, you'll want to consider getting a hardy dog who enjoys the outdoors. These pets must be well-behaved, too, which involves a commitment to ongoing obedience training.
•Are there other pets in the home? Be sure to consider how the resident pets will interact with the new addition.
•Are there children in the family? The age of the children should be taken into account. Very young children may unintentionally injure a fragile small breed dog.

There are a host of good reasons to try your local animal shelter or rescue group for your new pet:
•Puppies and kittens are cute, but the paper-training, teething and obedience skills phase is exhausting. Besides, that cute 8-week-old ball of fur might grow into a 90-pound eating machine!
•Shelter pets, as a group, are healthier than the animals flowing from "puppy mills" into local pet shops. Most are vet-screened and receive good preventative care, spaying or neutering, and vaccinations.
•Most shelters screen for temperament and work to match the pet with the right type of family. Why end up with a cat who hides under the bed when your youngsters try to pet her?
•Shelter pets are a real bargain: you pay only a nominal fee to adopt and most of those first year medical expenses - like spaying or neutering and vaccinations - are already taken care of.

Thinking about a specific breed? Shelters can still be a great option, since they are filled with the most popular breeds in your community. Or contact a breed-specific rescue group.

To locate pets available for adoption in your area, contact your local humane society. Or visit www.petfinder.com to find available pets in your area.

Chicagoland Tails Top Ten Reasons To Adopt

I found this in a recent publication of Chicagoland Tails Magazine. I thought I would share.

TOP 10 REASONS TO ADOPT
1. Rescued Lives

Many people assume animals end up in shelters as the result of abuse or bad behavior, although most often people give up pets for personal reasons. No matter the cause, adopting an animal saves a life and gives new purpose to the guardian’s life too.

2. Healthy Guardians

Pets provide unconditional love and—as research shows—can be psychologically, emotionally, and physically beneficial to their guardians as well. They provide a sense of fulfillment and can lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

3. Community Camaraderie

Shelters provide a community of veterinarians, volunteers, and other adopters ready to share their experience and knowledge. Shelters often organize events for pets and their guardians that provide socialization and a sense of community.

4. Endless Options

Some people avoid shelters because they want a purebred pet and think that shelters can’t meet this need. But shelters host both purebreds and mixed breeds. There are also many breed rescues.

5. Perfect Match

Because shelters often screen animals for particular behavioral issues and temperaments, they can match potential guardians with the ideal pet for their lifestyle, especially among pets coming from foster homes.

6. Good Example

Rescuing a pet sets a solid moral example for everyone in the guardian’s life—from children to friends to neighbors—regarding the value of saving an animal’s life.

7. Healthy Pets

Shelters like to keep their animals happy and healthy (making them the best possible candidates for adoption), so shelter animals undergo extensive health screenings and often receive vaccinations and treatment for any medical issues.

8. Test Drive

Some shelters, like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), offer fostering programs. This enables potential guardians to interact with the animal and decide if pet guardianship fits their lifestyle.

9. Save Money

Shelters charge far less for pets than pet stores and other resources. Typically, shelters also spay or neuter and vaccinate, which adds even more worth to an already valuable deal.

10. Shelter Support

Instead of putting profit above animal welfare, shelters dedicate themselves to finding the perfect homes and guardians for pets in need.

Weekends on a Wednesday...

Toby and I did not see to much going on in the neighborhood this weekend. However it is suppose to be in the 60's Saturday and Sunday, a great time to play at Best Friend's Dog Park! You can purchase a daily pass if you like, or a yearly pass.

Perhaps you are looking for another furry best friend. Sunday from 3-6pm Tails of Hope pet rescue will have an adoption event in our main lobby.

"Pawpawties" for charity

A dog and a cat best friends, pretty crazy if you ask me. A dog and a cat hosting their own twitter site, now that's crazy! Not so crazy for these two friends. Romeo is a Persian cat from North Carolina and Dougal is a cairn terrier from England. Their "human" parents claim they are really the ones behind the screen doing all of the work, but if you ask Romeo and Dougal they'll tell you it is all about them. After all they are the inspiration! Together with their parents they post daily on their websites, twitter,facebook and on their blog! Once a month they host "pawpawties on Twitter to raise money for various pet rescues, and animal shelters. They also have a fundraising program called Furpower, that allows them to collect money for The Humane Society of America, among others. Furpower does have some corporate sponsors so they are usually able to double the amount raised by donations. They just began this fabulous journey in March, and have raised money so far for Animals in Distress in Harrisburg PA, and Kitten Rescue in LA. They use the websites firstgiving.com and justgiving.com to collect the pledges and provide tax receipts to all of the wonderful donors. For more information on these crazy pets you can visit The Daily Herald or any of the for mentioned sites. Toby says to make sure you check them all out, it is a pretty cool thing. He seems to think he needs to have his own thing going on! I told him he is cute and convincing but I am not to sure about having his own site, he does not need to get a bigger head! =)

We need a home!

Are we not just the cutest bunch!

All four of these kids belonged to the same loving family. Their parents were killed in an accident last week, their friends and neighbors are working hard at trying to find them new forever homes. Check out this site for more information.

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-home-sought-four-dogs-of-couple-killed-sep17,0,1859541.story

To all of our cat best friends!

Finally a website dedicated strictly to cats. Almost every site out there has a little tidbit about cats and the rest of the site is all about the dogs. Please, they already think they are all that and a box of biscuits! They don't need any more encouragement about how cool they are! Bet they couldn't jump as high as us, let alone balance like we could. I bet they would not chase the mouse out of the basement for you either! I know I need to be nice! Fine, they're cool, I like dogs. (when they are walking away from me!) Seriously though, I am so psyched about this website I heard the front desk talking about. Check it out..http://www.catster.com/
Oh yeah, speaking of being cool and all... if you think I'm cute come visit me or my other friends at the Prairie View location. We are all up for adoption and located in the front lobby. The Pet Motel fosters us for Young At Heart Pet Rescue. http://www.yahpetrescue.com/

Our foster dog of the month

Hi,
My name is Harley Joe and I am a 1 1/2 year old GSD/husky mix. I may not be a purebred GSD but I AM 100% sweetheart!! I love everyone - dogs, cats and kids! I especially love to cuddle with my special person. People also tell me that I am just an all-around nice guy. I am HW positive and I've received my treatments so now all I need is a wonderful family to fall in love with me. Please give me a chance!!!! I am currently staying with my new best friends at Best Friends American Pet Motel. If you would like to visit me or any of my other friends please contact German Shepherd Rescue at:
http://www.gsdrescue1.org/index.html

Love,
Harley