Are you ready to open your home to a new, furry family member? If you plan to adopt, choosing a rescue group is just as important as choosing your next pet. Consider this: When you enter into an adoption contract, you are legally bound by its rules for the life of your animal. As with any long-term relationship, it is best to start off on the right foot.

Examine Your Needs

The first step is to honestly assess your situation. Think about “a day in the life” of your perspective pet. How will you manage vet care, exercise, obedience, etc.? Do you have a fenced dog yard? Will you leash walk? Will your cat be indoors or have outdoor access?

While my husband and I more than meet the typical adoption criteria, our 2 dog doors pose an interesting issue for cats. Knowing that many agencies require adopted cats to remain indoors, we could not promise ours wouldn’t learn a way out. Cats are smart. Cats are crafty. And cats are persistent. Realistically, rapid-fire water blasts rarely deter instinctive quests for the natural environment.

Find a Contractual Match

The next step is to research your local rescue organizations for a good fit. Understanding your contractual responsibilities will expedite your connection with the new friend you are meant to have.

We found an amazing cattery with an truly holistic approach. Respecting the life that each cat has previously known, indoor cats seek indoor adopters, barn cats from bad situations seek responsible barn owners, and so on. This seemed like the place for us.

Find Your Perfect Pet

Once you find the perfect place, it’s time to choose your new friend. If you still have questions, find somebody in the know. Then find your new friend.

Although I assumed this organization was a good fit, I explained our circumstances to the woman in charge. She appreciated our honest concerns and happily accepted our application. Because we were all on the same page, our adoption experience was perfectly positive.

Let the Love Fest Begin

I am proud to introduce you to our new boys, Jackson and Jed. You can see their heartwarming adoption day in the video below. We sincerely wish you the same success and incredible joy that we’ve experienced through this process. The love these animals give is well worth the little bit of investigative work it takes to place the right one in the right situation.

Kim Clune writes for This One Wild Life (http://ThisOneWildLife.com), a video blog about life with foster and rescue animals. You can also find her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/kimclune), Facebook (http://facebook.com/thisonewildlife) and YouTube (http://youtube.com/kimclune) more often than she cares to admit.

With “Stamps to the Rescue” being officially available today, April 30th another campaign is following on its heels, “Letters for Pets”. The effort is to continue momentum regarding the ongoing need for awareness of shelter pets and “to encourage the adoption of shelter animals across the country”.

“Our goal is to send 1 million messages to the White House asking for a presidential proclamation to declare April 30th National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day”.

Kudos to the national pet magazine Tails, Jane Goodall Institute’s youth organization Roots and Shoots which is promoting the letter writing in elementary schools. And Halo which is continuing the rallying cry from “Stamps to the Rescue” by donating 5 meals to shelter pets for each picture uploaded to the Tails’ Facebook fan page featuring your stamped letter.

Sample letters to President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, presidential daughters Sasha and Malia Obama, and White House dog Bo Obama, asking them to create a special day for shelter animals can be addressed to:

The White House
Attn: National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500

Extra letters can also be printed for friends and family.

How can the plight of a pug, named Puglet help make a difference in the lives of other pugs and pets that are homeless?  Easy…..Puglet inspired his mom to share him with the world via post. The project helps bring awareness to people that “recycled” pets are just as good as “non-recycled” pets.

According to his mom, and fellow recycled K9, Dutch (the Dalmation) “Flat Puglet started out as just something to write about on the blog (Daily Puglet). Thought it would be cool to visit some of Puglet’s “followers” in other parts of the country”. As “the Flattie prototype” gained traction in public the light dawned that the “Flat Puglet might be able to do some good”. To date there are now 65 flat Puglets “getting around”.

I know I posted yesterday about Earth Day (April 22, 2010), but how can one resist a most engaging and adorable pug? Here’s to “recycled” pets and recycling….

There are so many ways to “GO GREEN”:

Resources:

American Animal Hospital Association

Have a Green Pet

Petside.com

On March 24, 2010 Found Animals Foundation/@FoundAnimalsOrg will launch the national and international Pawdcast from Monday through Friday for 30 minutes from 4pm to 4:30pm PST. The objective of the Pawdcast is to bring more awareness of shelter pets, increase animal adoptions and lower euthanasia rates.

Segments will include:                                                                                                                             Hot Topics – global animal news                                                                                               Things Your Pets Want You To Know – tips and tricks                                                   Ask The Expert – live chat room

There will be special guests at the ribbon cutting ceremony March 24th so stay tuned.

DogTimeMedia has once again enlisted sponsors to support its Facebook applications “Save a Dog” and “Save a Cat”. The mission is to help find animals loving and permanent homes.

By “virtually” fostering a real shelter animal you raise money for homeless pets. The “Save a Dog and Cat” applications allow one to foster an animal in your neighborhood or anywhere in the country.

Points are earned by joining application and performing various “virtual” functions:

1. Log into application
2. Pet an animal
3. Virtually foster rescue animal
4. Invite friends to be on your rescue team

Be strategic with how you earn your points by reviewing the “frequently asked questions” page.    And have fun!

In today’s Boston Globe there is reporting of an abandoned kitten. Pet owners under duress, please do not despair and remember there are many wonderful local, regional and national organizations that can help.  Oprah has been a tremendous supporter and advocate of animal rescue and adoption.  There is donated space in the July issue of O Magazine or go directly to BestFriends.org.  Like BestFriends.org you can get assistance from The Humane Society, Animal Rescue League, Petfinder and the ASPCA.

Mark your calendars!  The week of June 22- 26 is “Take Your Pet to Work Week” sponsored by Pet Sitters International.  It is the 10th Anniversary of “Take your Dog to Work” on Friday, June 26th.  I suspect “Take Your Pet to Work Week” was established as to not offend other animal pet owners like myself (proud cat owner).

www.takeyourdog.com provides information you can download to prepare your pet for the workday and the following for your boss:

Top 10 Things to Say to Convince Your Boss to Take Part in TYDTWDay

10. The squirrels in the neighborhood deserve a break.
9. Wagging tails work great when the a/c is on the fritz.
8. With a dog as your passenger, you’ll be able to use the car pool lane.
7. It’s a great way to lick the work day blahs!
6. My dog thinks you’re grrrrrrreat!
5. Meetings end as soon as Rover starts staring at the conference room door.
4. You can blame those missing reports on one of your employees’ dogs.
3. It’s the leash you can do.
2. Finally, someone at your office will actually be working like a dog.
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON TO TAKE YOUR DOG TO WORK…
1. Friday, June 26, is Take Your Dog To Work Day®!

But most importantly it is meant to confirm what great companions dogs, cats and pets in general really are. And to help save the lives of homeless pets by “encouraging pet adoption from shelters, humane societies and rescue groups”.

Thank you Pet Sitters International for the great work you do!