ASPCA Helps Celebrate Rescued Pets With #HomeForTheHolidays...Plus Gift Pack Giveaway!

Enter to win a holiday-themed ASPCA Gift Pack at the end of this post!  
                        

                 Hear Ye, Hear Ye! 

The ASPCA has teamed up with senior pet advocate and Instagram celebrity Marnie the Dog to launch Home for the Holidays, a photo contest celebrating rescued pets and the humans who gave them a second chance and a loving home. Just follow the easy directions to share your favorite photo of your pets enjoying the holidays and tell us the best thing about sharing the festive season with your pets! Don't forget to share your photo on social media using the hashtag: #HolidaysWithMyPet.  

But wait, there's more! They'll be prizes for the top three entries, and the Grand Prize Winner will receive $500 for their favorite shelter. Woot Woot! Take a few minutes to enter this fun contest and do your part to call attention to the joys of pet adoption—during the holidays and year-round!

In case you're not the lucky winner of the ASPCA Gift Pack (see below), and even if you are, why not pick up some last minute gifts that also give back to animals? Check out this beautiful jewelry from Alex and Ani, pet accessories from Pottery Barn Teen, and home goods from West Elm. They're sure to please the pet lover on your gift list!

                   Now let's get to the giveaway! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity, courtesy of the ASPCA, to give one lucky reader a fun, holiday-themed ASPCA Gift Pack containing the items featured below. 

Note: The ASPCA reserves the right to substitute an item if it is out of stock... This giveaway is limited to those who live in the continental U.S. and are 18 or over. Void where prohibited by law. 

The pack includes the following cool stuff!

             ASPCA Travel Mug

·         Second Chance Dogs DVD

·         West Elm Animal Ornament

·         Funko Pop! Pets Vinyl Toys

Just follow the Rafflecopter directions to enter. Good luck to all!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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It's Adopt A Less-Adoptable Pet Week!

The good folks at Petfinder have pronounced this week...you guessed it: Adopt A Less-Adoptable Pet Week!

We know that so many of our blogging friends already have opened their hearts and homes to what are called "Less Adoptables": Companion animals who have hit their senior years, have special needs, or just happen to be born black in color or of a breed that some have stereotyped, like Pit Bulls. And you're such good ambassadors for bucking the trends and demonstrating first-hand have much love these so called "Less Adoptables" have to give.

But it remains true that among all the less adoptable animals, it's the senior dogs and cats that have the hardest time finding a new forever home. "...senior pets often spend the longest amount of time at the shelter before being adopted—but many do not get adopted at all...and have higher euthanasia rates or even live out their lives in a shelter kennel."

Yes, there is the potential for higher veterinary costs when you adopt a senior pet, but there may not be, either. Disease and disabilities can strike younger pets, too, and the costs may balance out over the lifetime of care for a puppy or kitten.

Check out this article from our friends at DogTime Media on how you can help the less adoptable pets in your community, even if you can't add a new family member right now. And while you're in the neighborhood, peruse these gorgeous "less adoptables" on PetFinder, just waiting for their forever home. Who knows, you just might fall in love.

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BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

Throughout the dog days of August, our friends at BlogPaws are celebrating Senior Pet Month, with all kinds of tips and tricks to help your aging companions remain vital to a ripe old age. They even have a "Aging Pets Appreciation Photo Contest" going on, complete with prizes!

Apropos, today's Wordless Wednesday theme is "Senior Pets Rock! Don't miss today's featured pet, the 18 years young, Peanut. Don't miss her sweet kitty face!

Meanwhile, back at the Ohio ranch, Parental Unit refuses to admit that we are anywhere near "seniors"...but remember, Parental Unit still doesn't think she's old either (don't old people join AARP? Just sayin'.)

Anyhoo, we'll just keep watching the yard until Parental Unit gets over our snarky remark...

Now, on to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

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Adopt A Less Adoptable Pet Week!

Although orange may be the new black, at least on TV, all black dogs and cats still have a more difficult time with adoption than their counter-parts with lighter colors or different markings. And according to the latest shelter research, although dogs and cats with special needs rank high on the less adoptable list, the absolute hardest pets to place are seniors. What about all that wisdom they've accumulated and are eager to share?

These scary statistics are what gave our friends at Petfinder.com a call to action, and in 2009, they launched the first-ever "Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week", now an annual event  held during the last full week of September. And you guessed it, that's this week, September 23- September 29, 2013!

Dog Time Media and Cat Time Media are also adding their heft to this week's festivities and will be featuring less adoptable pets from around the country all this week on their Save A Dog and Save ACat Facebook pages.

Won't you join in and encourage your friends and family to adopt a "less adoptable" dog or cat this week? And if you're on social media, why not take a second and give a few of these less adoptables  a shout-out-they'll certainly appreciate your efforts!

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BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Pet Blogger Hop!

The "dog days" of August are senior pet month over at BlogPaws, and today they're celebrating with a photo contest-enter pics of your pet, either still with us or over the rainbow bridge. Check it out!

Since neither Bella nor I are officially seniors yet, we'll post a few pics of my predecessor, Mr Carson, who went to the Rainbow Bridge on April 18, 2008, at the age of 16.  May he be young again and having a grand time!

                      Yes, that's the same Ms. Bella...

P.S.  We'll announce the winner of the Zututh Electric toothbrush for dogs later tonight!

Now, it's time to join the BlogPaws Wordless Wedensday Pet Blogger Hop!

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