One of Bo’s pals, Scamper,  informed him that it’ time to get ready for Woofstock 2008,  an event in Eureka, CA.  You can enter your best friend in the 13th annual mutt strut or just sit back and enjoy all the fun and activities. The annual festival is held to raise funds for the Sequoia Humane Society, a wonderful no-kill animal shelter.

Join us Sunday, September 7th at Halvorsen Park for the biggest canine event of the year! 100% of all funds raised go to support the adoption, spay/neuter & education programs of the Sequoia Humane Society. Spend the day in the sun with your canine companion-there will be Live Music, Local Vendors, Dog Contests, Food and Fine Brew. All ages are welcome!

The mutt strut raises money in support of homeless animals. Walkers raise pledges from friends, family, and co-workers. Scamper along with a few pals put together a group, Ladies And The Tramps,  in hopes of  raising $500 for this terrific cause.

The group is already up to $430, let’s see if we can help them reach their goal. If you would like to support Ladies And The Tramps you can go directly to their Woofstock page and make a donation.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Of course for most of us, our heroes share our homes, couches and sometimes the bed. No, I’m not talking about our significant others but our fuzzy loveballs.

For six abandoned kittens, they’ve just found their hero…and whaddya know, he’s an abandoned mutt himself.

On Monday, six orange tabby kittens were rescued because of the keen senses of Angel, a boxer/pit bull mix, who was recently surrendered to the Nevada Humane Society.

Frank Gomez and his 9-year-old stepson, Joel Fontes, have been regular volunteers at Nevada Humane Society this summer. The pair were volunteering on Monday, walking their favorite dog. Angel, a 2-year-old dog that came to the Humane Society’s shelter after her owners moved without taking her along.

I just have to say to all the volunteers and shelter workers out there that are helping to make this a better world for animals, my hats off to you! You are truly special people!

Gomez assumed it was Angel’s inquisitive personality at play and didn’t take it seriously. But Angel refused to give up and Gomez discovered six 3-week-old orange tabby kittens in a box where they were abandoned.

Humane society staff were summoned, but not before one of the kittens escaped from the box. After returning to the scene, Angel led Gomez to the lost kitten, who picked her up and handed her over to safety.

The story is both heartwarming and tragic. I just can’t understand why some people think animals are throwaway items. Have they never looked a dog in the eyes and seen the spirit within? The willingness to please? The joy of being a part of a family? It’s the same with our feline friends. I don’t get it.

Angel is one of many dogs available for adoption at the Nevada Humane Society. So, if you’re inclined to own a dog hero and would like to adopt Angel call 856-2000 or e-mail info@nevadahumanesociety.org.

The kittens are available too!!

How many of you knew that tomorrow is National Homeless Animals Day? I know I didn’t. Here’s a little information from the Humane Society of Naples.

(Naples, FL) Saturday, August 16th is “National Homeless Animals Day,” a day that animal shelters around the nation note to call attention to the millions of homeless pets that suffer every year because they have no home.

Some private shelters such as The Humane Society Naples are no-kill shelters and don’t kill pets to make space. However, unlike private shelters, most public pet shelters don’t have the option of turning pets away when there’s no space. They are forced to perform the sad duty of eliminating pets after holding them a certain number of days to make room for more intakes.

In addition to pets who die in a shelter, there are those pets in the wild who suffer as well. Dumped and abandoned by owners who can’t or won’t take the time to find them a home or deliver them to a shelter, these pets try their best to survive on the streets and in the backwoods. There, they face disease, parasites, hunger and death by humans and other animals.

Here’s what you can do to help:

People who care about this problem can help by contacting their local pet shelters and rescue groups to lend a hand and start or increase spay/neuter efforts.

How great would it be to celebrate this day by adopting a deserving fuzzball? C’mon, you know you want to do it!

OK…so you’re full up on cuteness and love. Here’s another way you can help.

The Humane Society Naples has a special fund set aside to help cover some or all of the cost of pet sterilization for pet owners of modest means.

This Spay Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) has provided over 50 free pet sterilizations this year, preventing the birth of hundreds of unwanted pets. The program will continue as long as there are funds available. To contribute to this fund, contact Andy Reed, The Humane Society Naples Development Director at 643-1880 x 21 or andy@hsnaples.org.

As always, your kindness and generosity is greatly appreciated!!

Just wanted to give all Dogster members a heads up that the voting in the People’s Choice in The Humane Society of the United States’ Dogs of Valor Awards ends today at 5PM.

This is one way HSUS acknowledges the life-saving actions of animals, and there are four incredible finalists who have helped when people needed them most. I urge you to head on over and read about their achievements. Then just select the finalist whose story makes you all wobbly in the knees.

Don’t walk, run over to the site and cast your vote now!

You can watch humanesociety.org/dogsofvalor on Friday, when the People’s Choice winner and the Valor Dog of the Year in the Companion and Working Dog categories are revealed.

You can see more about the program and the link for voting on Wayne Pacelle’s blog at HSUS.

Thanks to Meghan Goss at HSUS for the reminder.

Here’s an article on what’s being done to help family pets in the flooding that’s occurring in Iowa.

As the situation deteriorated, flood victims, many staying in hotels, shelters or cars, began dropping off pets at the college. Others, who had been forced to flee without their pets, began calling in with pleas for their animals to be rescued. Within days, what had started as a makeshift shelter had grown into a sprawling operation housing nearly 1,000 animals — dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, lizards, even a red-eared slider turtle — in three buildings.

With the influx of animals came an infusion of aid. Several national chain stores donated supplies. Veterinary technicians came from as far away as California to volunteer, and legions of veterinarians, groomers and even flood victims soon arrived at the shelter wanting to help.

It’s great to see people and organizations aiding those affected in the region. Also nice to see is that we are learning from past disasters.

One of the lessons driven home after Hurricane Katrina — in which an estimated 200,000 animals were displaced — was that some residents risked, and lost, their lives rather than leave a beloved pet behind.

“The biggest thing learned by everyone from Katrina is the importance of animals in people’s lives,” said Diane Webber, disaster preparedness director for the Humane Society of the United States. “They can’t be excluded from disaster planning and response. People aren’t going to function and they’re not going to evacuate if their animals aren’t provided for.”

Still, there’s much pain and sorrow inflicted by the persistent rains. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for many an owner-pet reunion in the near future.