Ben Stein offers some advice on how to get through tough economic times:

Get a dog. 

I totally agree.

I’ve been a little curious in the past what breeds make up my spunky, personable long bodied chihuahua like dog. The chihuahua part seems pretty obvious, look at the ears. The shelter where I adopted her suggested maybe terrier, as well. I’ve guessed everything from a Greyhound to a Jack Russell, but I don’t think I’ve hit the mark. To be honest, I don’t really care. She’s love-able, sweet as can be, and all mine. I don’t really need to know much else. What sparks my curiosity more is where she came from. What did the first year of her life consist of that brought her into the shelter the days before I wandered in and picked her out? I like to think that she ran with a crew of feral cats. She has a habit of licking her paw, then using it to clean her face.  She also tends to crawl up on my lap in a very cat like manner. Even though I don’t need to know exactly what mix she is, every now and then I get a little curious. Turns out, most owners can be way off when guessing the breeds of their mutts.  One of my favorite sites Petside, lets you test your skills by guessing the breeds of several mutts, the results are revealed on the next page. Unfortunately, none of the mutts resembled Maisey. Maybe I will just have to shell out the $200 find out her ancestry.  Anyone want to place bets?

Porn stars love dogs, too. Adult film star Mia Presley, along with a few other notable names in the porn industry recently launched Porn Stars 4 Pups, the self proclaimed “headquarters for those interested in helping  four legged friends in various adoption places and rescues across the country.”  

Their inspiration for creating the site? According to Mia Presley; ”I think we should use our gaining celebrity for something that is a great worldly cause.”

The site features Southern California rescues, profiles of dogs available for adoption and several photos of the scantily clad stars with their pets.  Also somewhere in the mix is a photo of Ron Jeremy and a turtle. 

On the home page, the porn stars remind us that “Its important for those folks who want to help to know that giving as much as a few cents makes more of a difference then not giving at all… and giving a giving a pup a home is  just as valuable as making a conrtribution” 

Very eloquently put, ladies.  At least their heart is in the right place.

In all seriousness, celebrities and public figures that use their names to support animal well being and adoption are all heroes in my book.

The following is an article from PEOPLEpets.com. If you need a reminder of how much local shelters are being impacted by the state of the economy, this is it.  I couldn’t imagine being in a situation that would force me to give up Maisey. The thought of it breaks my heart. 

It is quiet in the pickup truck as Steve Anaya and his wife Clarissa drive an hour from Stockton, Calif., to Sacramento. In the back are their two pet dogs—Lucky, 7, a shar-pei/pit mix, and Noki, 5, a Lab/pit mix (above)—but for them it’s no joyride, either. Their solemn journey became necessary after Anaya, 30, was laid off from a communications company last November. “I knew in my heart this was something I would eventually have to do,” he says. “But I just kept putting it off and putting it off.”

Finally, Anaya arrives at a Sacramento animal shelter to do what he has been dreading—give away the pets he and Clarissa have raised from puppies. Indeed, the brutal recession marked by so many foreclosures and firings is devastating some families in yet another way, forcing them to surrender pets they can no longer afford. Shelters around the country have reported a spike in the number of animals being brought in, and most of those “have been family pets,” says Betsy McFarland of the Humane Society of the United States. “When people have to move from homes to apartments, oftentimes they can’t take their dogs.” At the Sacramento SPCA shelter alone, nearly 1,000 more animals were surrendered in 2008 than in the previous year. “A lot of people tell me, ‘My animal hates me, my kids hate me,’” says Kimberly Whipple, one of the shelter’s intake clerks. “We just try to make them feel not so guilty.”

By the time they trudge through the shelter’s doors, most pet owners “have already tried many, many things to place their animal—offering them to friends or other family members,’” says the shelter’s executive director Rick Johnson. “Once they end up here, they’ve made a really tough decision.” The shelter does place 71 percent of surrendered dogs in caring homes or with other rescue groups, and that is some consolation for families giving up their pets, but not much.

Steve Anaya—who has two young daughters, one 18 months, the other born in February—managed to find a new job, but at only a quarter of his previous income. Now, he has to watch every penny just to pay his mortgage, and the several hundreds dollars a year it takes to feed and care for Lucky and Noki became, Anaya says sadly, “just one of the corners I had to cut.” He drove his dogs to Sacramento to give them a chance with someone else after a Stockton shelter told him they were so full, most surrendered pets were euthanized.

Still, handing them over is heartbreaking. Anaya leaves his dogs in his truck with Clarissa and his kids while he fills out paperwork in the shelter’s lobby. Finally, at the last possible moment, he brings them in, leaving them with a clerk before hustling away. Even two days later, he can barely recount the moment without tearing up. “I just kind of hugged them and told them that I loved them,” he says. “It’s the American dream to have a house and some kids and a dog, and that’s what I’ve always wanted.” He takes a moment to compose himself. “It’s really tough not having Lucky and Noki around,” he says. “But I know they’re going to bring happiness to whoever adopts them.”

I’m not normally one to participate in such shameless self promotion, but I’m willing to do it for a good cause. My birthday is April 6 and I want you to help me celebrate!

As an ASPCA Ambassador, the ASPCA helped me set up a fundraising page for my upcoming birthday. In lieu of birthday presents, I’d like my friends and family to donate to the ASPCA, and help me reach my birthday fundraising goal of $250.  

Click here to view my fundraising page and make a donation.