As most of you know, I'm an avid supporter of Best Friend's Animal Society and especially of their Puppies Aren't Products Campaign. With Mother's Day around the corner, they are promoting the sale of I'm Tired of Puppy Mills bracelets, dog tags, and keychains. Part of the sale of these products go to the Puppies Aren't Products Campaign to get the word out about Puppy Mill breeding and bringing a stop to it. I ordered a keychain for myself to help out the campaign, and hope everyone would try to make a donation as well.

For those of you that don't know who Best Friend's is. They have a show on National Geographic, DogTown, which was made famous with the rescue of the Michael Vick dogs. Although, the organization is much more than that. They are a no-kill rescue organization located in Utah and have made a tremendous breakthrough in stopping puppy mills, killing of animals in shelters, and much more. I attended their No More Homeless Pets Conference in Vegas last year and learned SO much about how I could help animals in my own community. I want to go again this year, but will have a tiny little baby attached to me this time, so I don't think I'll be able to go. Anyway, the purchase of the I'm Tired of Puppy Mills products are a great help to fighting puppy mills around the nation, and I hope we can all come together to make a difference.

You all know that I'm more than just a pet sitter… I'm a crazy animal lover & animal rights activist. I like to do for animals because they don't have a voice to speak up with. They can't say when they need help, are being neglected, or being abused. We have to find out the hard way most times, and there are a lot of people out there that have no idea of our pet overpopulation and continue to breed animals for a living. So, with that said, I want to extend some information out to you all about how you can help homeless, neglected, or abused animals. This can be a simple monetary donation, making beds for local shelters, fostering animals in your home, and many more.

As most of you know, I am a foster for the SPCA of Texas and have spent time volunteering at their shelter in McKinney TX as well. It doesn't take a whole lot of money or time to foster, but it does take a lot of heart. I grieve every time I have to give them back, but I know that it means that animal has a new chance at life and to find a forever home.

Volunteering doesn't have to take a whole lot of time either. Most shelters require at least 4 hours per week. You could do that in one week day! If you don't want to interact with the animals directly, there are also opportunities to volunteer on the phones or behind the desk.

If you don't have a lot of time to give up, but still want to do something to help out animals, donations are always a plus! That can be in the form of money, food, or supplies. Your local shelter will thank you!

If you're interested in finding out more about volunteering/fostering or just want to see how you can help out, there are several area shelters to choose from. Some of my favorites are: SPCA of Texas, Frisco Humane Society, & Operation Kindness.

For more details on how to make a difference, click here. There are so many ways to help out animals in need, and if we all participated, the impact would be tremendous!

Here is a pic of one my most recent fosters. Enjoy!

Words can't express how influential the Best Friend's Society No More Homeless Pets Conference was, but I will try my best to describe how great it really was.

The event began on Friday morning (Oct. 23rd) and ended on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 25th) and was held at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. They began the conference with a speaker's panel that consisted of several directors, founders, and managers of animal shelters & other animal organizations. The audience was given the opportunity to ask the speakers questions and get their opinions on current issues in the animal world. Each morning there was a new panel of speakers and the remainder of the conference was broken up into individual workshops. During each time bracket, one would choose from 4 different workshops to attend, which included topics such as Disease Control, Feral Cats, Dog Training, Fundraising, Rescue Centers, & Puppy Mills, just to name a few. The decision of what workshops to attend was hard to make, but everyone who attended the conference will have the opportunity to view all of the presentations online within a few weeks.

Lunch was provided each day and gave everyone a chance to network with the other attendees and speakers. Friday's lunch room was set up with tables from similar states. For example, those from Texas would sit with other Texans as well as Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, etc. This was a great chance to find out who else from your area was attending the conference and why. I met several people from my state and even my city, and we shared our reasons for being at the conference and how much helpful information we were learning from it all.

Saturday's lunch was even better! The tables were set up with one conference speaker at each table, and you got to choose which table you would like to sit at and got time one-on-one with one of the speakers. I chose to sit at a table with Jamie Katz, owner of Woof Worx. Her story was awesome to hear! She began working for a pet store in Bel Air, CA named Pets of Bel Air, when she graduated high school. After working there for several years, she began to question how the store was able to have such a large selection of puppies at any given day of the year. Once she found out how Pets of Bel Air was getting their animals, she began to start a movement of converting the store from puppy mill dogs to rescue center dogs. By this time, Best Friend's Society was stepping in to petition the store's involvement in the cruel act of selling puppies from puppy mills. There was a large lawsuit filed against the store and more information on that can be found on the internet, just Google: pets of bel air lawsuit. The owner was forced to close his doors on the store, and Jamie jumped on the opportunity to start her own pet store. Woof Worx opened its doors earlier this year as the first Best Friend's Society endorsed pet store. They only provide animals from local shelters and rescue groups rather than puppy mill dogs. Jamie also spoke in one of the workshops I attended that described the program that Best Friends and other organization are involved in called Puppies Aren't Products.

I could go on all day about all of the wonderful workshops I attended, but I really suggest that anyone that is interested in helping animals should attend the conference. You don't have to be involved in an organization or have your own rescue center. I met several people that went just because they want to do more in the animal community and didn't know which direction to go just yet. Over 650 people attended this year and I felt so at home with everyone I came in contact with. We all shared so many stories of how we were yearning to do more for animals and how much they influenced our lives.

I took a couple pictures from the conference shown below. Also, if you want more information on the No More Homeless Pets Conference, click here. I will keep you all posted on what I decide to do with all of this new information!

Registration table at the conference

Introduction to speaker's panel

Beginning of the conference

The speaker's panel on the 1st day

The speaker's panel on the 2nd day

One of the many workshops. Faith Maloney, co-founder of Best Friends is shown in the red shirt.

I am so thrilled to announce that we will be attending the Best Friend Society's Annual Conference in Vegas this year! The event is called No More Homeless Pets and is being held at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas on October 23rd-25th. The event is going to be very informative and will relate to anyone that has a love for animals. They have a ton of speakers this year and will address several animal-related topics from how to get involved with your local shelters to how to start your own shelter.

For those of you that have never heard of Best Friend's Society, they are a large rescue sanctuary in Angel Canyon, at the heart of the Golden Circle of national parks in southern Utah, is home on any given day to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals, who come from shelters and rescue groups around the country for special care they can only receive at Best Friends.

Most of the animals who find their way to Best Friends have special physical or behavioral needs, and our expert staff of veterinarians, trainers and caregivers offer them all the help they require.  Most of them are ready to go to good new homes after just a few weeks of special care.  A few, who are too old or too sick, or who have suffered extra trauma, find a home and haven at the sanctuary, and are given loving care for the rest of their lives.

Best Friend's Society is especially known for its work with the Michael Vick dogs. They took in all of the dogs from that case and got their own television show on Animal Planet called DogTown.

We are so excited to gain some great information from this conference and use it in our own animal community. I only wish I could make as much of an impact as the Best Friend's Society has. Upon our return, I will be sure to post pictures and comments from the conference. Can't wait!

Check out the website for the conference (there is still room available to sign up): http://www.nomorehomelesspetsconference.com/default.cfm

Also, check out Best Friend's Society website: http://www.bestfriends.org/