I (heart) Dogs blogfest Week 4!

Welcome in for Week 4 of the I <3 Dogs blogfest, hosted by the awesome blog,Small Town Rescue.

In case you want to join the fun, here are the weekly themes:

Week 1 (2/20-2/26) – Favorite animal organization/rescue

Week 2 (2/27-3/4) – Favorite pet story (Tell us about your favorite pet! Doesn’t have to be a dog).

Week 3 (3/5-3/11) – Favorite animal-related book, movie, song, etc.

Week 4 (3/12-3/18) – What I know about dog rescues organizations?

Week 5 (3/19-3/25) – The gorgeous, the active, and the unique. Tell us your favorite dog breed.

Week 6 (3/26-4/1) – Favorite Dog/Pet Stores in your area.

Week 7 (4/2-4/8) – Favorite dog parks and dog-friendly attractions in your area.

Week 8 (4/9-4/15) – If I had a dream… What would you do for rescue dogs if you could? 

Back home (home being the smallish town of Harlan, KY), my mom's a part of the local humane society. One of the women in charge is an AMAZING woman named Jeannie, who gives everything she has to the animals she rescues. Last tally at her house? Over forty dogs. Forty. And that's not including cats. Or any of the other random animals they seize. Jeannie commits herself to protecting animals from abusive owners and seeking prosecution for them. She's incredible.

Jeannie has seized dogs, cats, horses, mules, you name it, she's seized it from a neglectful owner. She and her fellow humane society members are Harlan's Animal Cops.

She also finds strays, and believe me, Harlan has a lot of them. She's been instrumental in helping to provide affordable spaying and neutering for lower-income families who love their animals but can't afford the procedures. In a town with a high-volume high-kill shelter, these changes carry a huge impact in the community.

One of the HHS's new "pet projects" is getting horses in Kentucky covered under Romeo's Law. For anyone unfamiliar with this law and the case that prompted it, settle in for a brief history lesson.

Romeo's owner was caught on tape brutally beating his dog. Before this law was enacted, dog and cat abuse was only a misdemeanor offense. Under Romeo's Law, abuse is a class D felony--but only in the cases of dogs and cats.

So far, there hasn't been much action on the petition to get horses included under Romeo's Law. So...I started my own online petition. I can haz signatures?

Don't forget to check out the Small Town Rescue blog to read the ladies' contributions AND for deets on how to win some pretty stellar prizes!

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

I (heart) Dogs Blogfest - Week 1!

Welcome to Week 1 of the I <3 Dogs blogfest (AKA an awesome excuse to post pictures and info about totally adorable dogs *and the hot guys who love them, as demonstrated by the yummy Matthew Gray Gubler of Criminal Minds*). The blogfest is hosted by the awesome Small Town Rescue, and its' not too late to join in.

Unfortunately, my giveaway didn't quite pan out as I'd hoped, but that's okay. I'm still going to donate $25 to a shelter and pick a winner, and I'll try to have giveaways throughout the blogfest to encourage participation. I will do anything for puppies, as I have two of my own, and about 10 between my parents, my sister, and myself, most of them adopted (or born under my parents' bed, in Jasper, Max, and Skye's case).

In case you want to join the fun, here are the weekly themes:

Week 1 (2/20-2/26) – Favorite animal organization/rescue

Week 2 (2/27-3/4) – Favorite pet story (Tell us about your favorite pet! Doesn’t have to be a dog).

Week 3 (3/5-3/11) – Favorite animal-related book, movie, song, etc.

Week 4 (3/12-3/18) – What I know about dog rescues organizations?

Week 5 (3/19-3/25) – The gorgeous, the active, and the unique. Tell us your favorite dog breed.

Week 6 (3/26-4/1) – Favorite Dog/Pet Stores in your area.

Week 7 (4/2-4/8) – Favorite dog parks and dog-friendly attractions in your area.

Week 8 (4/9-4/15) – If I had a dream… What would you do for rescue dogs if you could?

For this week's theme, I have two choices, one local to my area and one not. 

First, I want to recognize SAAP, the Stray Animal Adoption Program. Located in Newport, Kentucky, SAAP works tirelessly to adopt out the animals under their care. They don't have a shelter, so all of the animals up for adoption are fostered in homes. The group is solely volunteer-run, and they've adopted out hundreds of animals since the program's founding in 1998.

I have a lot of respect for SAAP and the people who run it. Unfortunately, I haven't participated in a volunteer capacity yet, but I've met a lot of the people who run the adoptions at PetSmart, and they're some of the nicest, sweetest people who adore the animals they're trying to adopt out. Whenever I go out there on adoption weekends, I'm always astounded by how much care and attention they give to the animals. They're also incredibly knowledgeable about them and are more than willing to answer any questions and handle any concerns. I really, really love this group.

My second group is the Best Friends Animal Society located in Kanab, Utah. I've adored this organization since I first watched the show Dogtown on NatGeo. They take in all kinds of animals--dogs, cats, horses, lizards, parrots, wild animals (which they rehabilitate and re-release). What I love most about BFAS isn't that it's a no-kill refuge. It's that they hire people who take time to work with animals I've seen put to sleep on other animal shows (Animal Cops, especially). They'll work with aggressive animals, get to the root of the problem, and either help the animal become adoptable, or they keep it for the rest of its life. I've never seen a dog put down due to aggression--only terminal illness. If only every organization could do that...

Well, those are my picks. As our Wk 1 continues don’t forget to comment here or on any of our blog participants' posts to enter our drawing for the book PRINCIPLE DESTINY by David A. Cleinman or a chance to win a $15 Starbucks gift card! Thank you for your support and your time!

I (heart) Dogs blogfest ***UPDATE***

Hey guys, rescue group Pawsibilities is hosting a blog tour highlighting rescue dogs and the owners who love them. I'm planning on participating (and this does run concurrent with the A Touch AWESOME blogfest for about a month, so you guys will have lots to read!), and I hope you guys will too.

If anyone doesn't know, shelter dogs are incredibly close to my heart, and I'm a HUGE fan of adopting vs. buying from a pet store for a variety of reasons. So I'm certainly looking forward to this.

For more information, click here.

***UPDATE*** I'm going to enter every person who leaves a comment on this post AND participates in the blogfest into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card or a $25 donation to the shelter of your choice. I'll check with Landra and have the drawing on Feb 20th, the day the blogfest starts.***