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.

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.

Times are tough for our four legged friends as well as the non-profit organizations dedicated to finding homes for an increasing number of homeless pets. Donations are shrinking and populations are rising.  A study of current giving trends conducted by Dogpile.com found that Americans who typically give to charities are cutting back on their donations by nearly half from last year, and they expect that animal charities will suffer among the most compared to other organizations and civic causes. The situation is compounded by the fact that nearly one in five Americans has had to give up a pet – or know someone who has – due to financial hardship.

Additional information from the Dogpile.com Study:

• Animal welfare organizations appear second on a list of charities that will suffer the most this year. They fall just two percent below The Arts, Culture and Humanities.
• Four in five Americans studied are concerned about animal welfare and 62 percent claim they’re dedicated to animal welfare causes, but they can’t afford to give to animal welfare charities.
• Eighty percent of people surveyed agreed that if they knew there was a way to donate money to charity through their actions – instead of actually spending their own money – they would do it. And, 91 percent said they would give more money to organizations and civic causes if they were in a better place financially.

Now more than ever, organizations like the ASPCA are in need of our help and are getting creative to bring in funding.  Do you have something to sell or donate? If you want to support a worthy cause, forget ebay and craigslist.  The ASPCA has set up a Facebook application for buying and selling  items with proceeds to benefit the ASPCA. 

If your heart is in the right place, but you can’t afford to make monetary donations, buy or sell something at the ASPCA Marketplace. In the meantime, spread the word! Post a link to the marketplace on your Facebook profile and encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Hopefully after reading last week’s post, you’ve decided to join the pet lover community on various social sites such as Dogster, Facebook, or Twitter. That was easy, right?

Now that you’re involved, you are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of animal adoption and hopefully move motivated than ever to help! The next step then, is spread the word to your friends, family and other online communities. 

So you’re on Facebook?  Add applications to your page such as Adopt an ASPCA Pet or Petfinder’s Dogpile and invite your family and friends. Everyone who views your profile will see the causes you support and hopefully help spread the word, as well. Become a fan of Dog Park Mom’s page and find more ways to spread the word.

Big movements start small, and social awareness is the first step.

Today, Animal Rescue Online celebrated it’s first annual (I hope!) Tweet Blast. Tweet Blast got me thinking… how can one person (no matter how little resources or time) help support animal adoption? The task seems daunting, and obviously no one person can correct the problem of over 9.6 million animals being euthanized ever year in the United States. Over 56% of dogs that enter animal shelters are euthanized.

Obviously we have a problem, and I want to help. I don’t have a tremendous amount of resources (time or money) but I strongly believe that if every animal lover can do something small, we can make an impact.

This is the first post in what will become a weekly feature focused on ideas for the everyday animal lover to help find homes for homeless pets and reduce the number of animals that enter shelters each year.

How you can help #1 - Join the community

There are several communities of dog and animal lovers online (Dogster, Doggiespace, Dogbook, to name a few). Join Twitter and follow animal lovers such as @littlebella, @aspca, @BFAS,  @actionforanimals, @HumaneSociety, @DogParkMom (that’s me!) and @aplacetobark. Become a fan of the Dog Park Mom group on Facebook. Join in the conversations that are taking place and express your passion for helping animals. Make connections with like minded individuals who are already doing things to support animal adoption, and learn from them! These contacts, resources and knowledge are your first step to getting involved and helping support this worthy cause.

Today is The Humane Society’s 15th annual Spay Day USA, so if you haven’t already, get out there and Spay or Neuter your pet!

Did you know that more than 3 million cats and dogs are euthanized in shelters every year? These are often the offspring of cherished family pets, even purebreds. Maybe some one’s dog or cat got out just that one time or maybe the litter was intentional, but efforts to find enough good homes failed. 

Spaying or neutering your pet is the only 100-percent effective and proven way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them.

The program must be working because Spay Day 2008 saw 32,509 spay and neuters and over $200,000 raised to support spay and neuter programs.

You can also enter your pet in the Spay Day Online Pet Photo Contest! Visit photocontest.humanesociety.com through Feb. 27 to enter.

I recently discovered the world of Twitter. I’ve heard about its use for marketing and socializing, but once I started a Twitter account  I realized just how connected to the world anyone can be.  You can find just about anyone on Twitter, even  Barack Obama.

Now I’ve discovered my favorite use of Twitter so far – helping a homeless animal find a home!

This weekend, Animal Rescue Online is having its first ever Tweet Blast, an idea I’m surprised no one else has come up with yet!

On February 28th, 2009 everyone participating will post a tweet with a link to the Petfinder profile page of a homeless animal of their choice, encouraging thier followers to consider adoption if looking for a new pet!

Tweet Blast’s aim is to promote individual animals by getting them the exposure they need and cannot otherwise get because the shelter they’re housed at doesn’t have sufficient funds for publicity.

What a great way to help spread the word about the amount of animals in need of a home, and to put a face on this need.  I hope local animal shelters will adopt a similar idea to support local pets in need!

There are only four states in this country that don’t consider animal cruelty to be a felony.  Those states are Idaho, Mississippi, North and South Dakota. Arkansas passed legislation that makes animal cruelty a felony just this month. The fact that there are only four states lagging behind is good news considering animal cruelty was a felony in only seven states in 1993! That’s 39 states that have adopted legislation that makes animal cruelty a felony in the last 16 years. The problem is, even with this crime carrying a felony charge, the majority of states punish even the aggravated felons with less than a year of imprisonment and under $5,000 in fines. The punishment is not fitting of the crime.

What do you think should have been the punishment in a Montana case in which a camper cut off a family dog’s head with a chain saw and threw it at the owners?

Russell Howald, 30, was sentenced to the maximum — two years.

Cases likes this and others about puppy mills, dogfighting, and abuse tear at my heart to the point where I physically feel pain in my heart when I read them. If simply the thought of these crimes makes me sick, what kind of person can actually commit them? Should that type of person really only be put behind bars for less than two months?  

Some of the cases you can find on pet-abuse.com are sad, sickening and enough to make you question your faith in humanity.

The good news is, times are changing. Animal law is the fastest growing field in the legal profession. In 2009, members of  Congress will consider legislation to further increase the penalties against dogfighting (thank you, Michael Vick).

Also in 2009, animal cruelty bills will be under consideration in:

• Alabama — felony cockfighting bill
• Alaska — felony animal cruelty bill (first offense)
• Arkansas — felony animal cruelty bill and felony cockfighting bill
• Georgia — felony cockfighting bill
• Idaho — felony animal cruelty bill
• Illinois — felony animal fighting spectator bill
• Indiana — felony animal fighting spectator bill and a bill to enhance the felony animal cruelty law
• Iowa — pet protection order bill
• Mississippi — felony animal cruelty bill and felony cockfighting bill 
• Missouri — felony animal fighting spectator bill and forfeiture of fighting dogs bill
• Montana — abandonment and/or starvation of horses bill
• Nebraska — pet protection order bill, animal abuse reporting bill and bill to strengthen animal fighting laws
• New Hampshire — bill to enhance animal cruelty law
• New Jersey — pet protection order bill and bill to enhance animal cruelty law
• Oregon — felony cockfighting spectator bill
• Rhode Island — bill to enhance animal cruelty law
• South Carolina — cockfighting bill and pet protection order bill
• South Dakota — felony animal cruelty bill
• Tennessee — felony cockfighting bill

If you are reading this blog, you are likely an extreme lover of animals and dogs, in particular. People like us value our pets like we value our children, because that is exactly what they are to us. Let’s keep the momentum from the past 16 years going. Support the legislation that enforces harsher penalities for those convicted of animal cruelty.

Animals deserve better, and it’s our job as human beings to speak for those that can’t speak for themselves!