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Pets have the amazing ability to understand when their humans need help. Whether they alert other family members to an emergency or directly intervene in a dangerous situation, some pets are simply heroes.

For more than four decades, the Purina Hall of Fame has honored pet heroes and service animals that have saved lives or improved the quality of human life.

Each year, Purina honors the best of the best pets at an awards ceremony. These special animals are recognized for their heart, their ability to sense a problem/emergency, and respond—often saving lives in the process.

Watch the stories of heroism by the 2011 inductees…

The Wyoming County SPCA in Attica, New York was raided by state police on Wednesday, February 15, 2012, based on allegations of animal cruelty.

Troopers wore HAZMAT suits and spent a good portion of Wednesday cleaning and removing 300-plus cats from the facility as well as three dogs. Tables were set up outside the facility to help Erie County SPCA, veterinarians, and the Attica Fire Department remove and assess the animals. At least six of the hundreds of cats had to be euthanized because of a variety of health conditions like malnourishment and dehydration.

Troopers claim that over the previous two weeks they received multiple complaints of a “hoarding situation” and were initially tipped off by a cell phone video shot by former employee Joe Isriel while he was working. Isriel said that there was not abuse, but the facility was simply overcrowded, dirty, and unsafe for the feline strays.

Allegations of hoarding have been made against SPCA manager Sue Davila, whom Isriel claims started denying potential adoptees from adopting pets for a variety of bizarre reasons. Another volunteer, Chris Wiehe, said Davila is a good person who truly loves the animals but had allowed the situation to become a hoarding problem. However, another volunteer claimed that the animals were well cared for, but that adoptions couldn’t keep up with the number of cats dropped off.

The cats have been signed over to the police and the dogs taken to an animal care facility. The Erie SPCA has volunteered to take the cats to its facility until they can be adopted.

February is Responsible Pet Parents Month and part of being a responsible pet parent is helping to ensure the stray population is low, so that animals have long, healthy lives. Make sure you have your pet spayed or neutered.

Photo credit: Claire Bokor

Each Tuesday, TAILS is asking for your stories on your adopted pets. We will then feature the chosen story on our website. This week’s featured adoption story is about the adoption of a scared, emaciated shelter pup named Ruby and comes to us from her adopted parents, Brian and Claire Bokor of Shelter Exchange:

I received an email on Wednesday 25th May from a member of an animal rescue group in North Carolina. The message read ‘URGENT’ and detailed 9 black Labrador puppies that had been surrendered by their owner and were due to be euthanized on Friday 27th. Sadly this is very common nowadays, people tire of their animals, or the responsibility that comes with owning pets, and they dump them off at a shelter, never knowing what the fate of their animal will be. Many people are unaware of this fact; almost all pets that are surrendered by their owners are the first to be euthanized if space is unavailable at shelters. Read the rest of this entry →

There are many different means to an end. That’s what makes the world go ‘round. But, at what stage do these diverse points of view get in the way of results and jeopardize the common goal? In this issue, we explore how the “No-Kill” debate impacts the animal welfare community, and we investigate a new non-profit group that may be doing more harm than good. Both reveal much more than initially meets the eye.

When reflecting on the current state of animal welfare, I think about Henry Ford’s observation: “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is a success.”

Certainly, enough people have joined forces on behalf of the animals, and we have a solid foundation upon which to build. We have stayed together and moved forward with a fairly cohesive voice—working towards killing fewer animals and treating them with the kindness, respect, and humanity they deserve while they are alive. As a result, we have seen some big wins in the community.

Read the rest of this entry →

Pollydoodles the Beggar and Beckyboo the Patient courtesy of Belinda Morgan

Happy Friday pet lovers! It’s almost the weekend and that means it’s time for our Weekend Pets Photo Contest! The theme for this week’s contest is: sleeping pets. Post your photos of your pets begging for goodies on our Facebook wall and you could win some cool TAILS prizes and be featured on our site!

Are you a Twitter fanatic? You can also Tweet us your Weekend Pet photos using the hashtag #weekendpets.

Good luck! Woofs and wags!

Our Begging Weekend Pets winner is Belinda Morgan with Pollydoodles (begging) and Beckyboo (waiting patiently). There was no way to deny the hilarity in this photo!

Melissa McDaniel is a Philadelphia-based photographer specializing in animal portraiture. Melissa is founder of the Photo Book Projects, a series of photo books, notecards, calendars (and more!) designed to raise awareness about certain issues affecting companion animals, especially those animals that are mistreated or misunderstood, and help promote pet rescue and adoption.
A portion of the proceeds is donated to animal rescues.

See more of Melissa’s work at ThePhotoBooks.com—267.968.9973

In a victory for the State of Ohio and all dogs in Ohio, the governor, John Kasich, signed HB 14 on February 21, 2012 and repealed the state’s breed discrimination law.

Thanks to pet advocates and members of Change.org, Best Friends Animal Society and the Ohio Coalition of Dog Advocates, a petition that garnered almost 19,000 signatures succeeded in influencing the governor to change the unfair law. Read the rest of this entry →

While many of us have to get creative when money is tight, it’s hard to deny our pets the care they need regardless of the cost. Let’s face it–veterinarian care can get pricey, especially without pet insurance.

There are ways to save on pet health costs, and most are pretty common maintenance care that in the lifetime of your pet will save money on medical bills.  Read the rest of this entry →

Photo credit: Sue Yellen

Happy Wednesday pet lovers! We want to see your pets dressed to the nines for Wordless Wednesday! Post your photos on our Facebook wall and you could be featured on our site!

Last week’s winner for mischievous pets is Sue Yellen with “No Toilet Paper Roll is Safe!”

Photo credit: Mariana Figueroa

On February 16, the Michigan Humane Society joined forces with Michigan legislators Vicki Barnett (D-Farmington Hills), Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) and Steve Bieda (D-Warren) to announce the The Puppy Protection Act legislation being put forth in the state of Michigan.

This is great news for the State of Michigan and its animals. TAILS encourages all Michiganders to contact their legislators to ask him or her to sign the Puppy Protection Act and keep puppy mills out of Michigan!

And who said partisan politics got in the way of great legislation?!