It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually, it was the worst of times, followed by the best of times for two dogs who were recently helped by PETA.

One of PETA's Community Animal Project fieldworkers was able to gain custody of this adorable poodle, who had been chained 24 hours a day for at least two years to a dilapidated doghouse in muddy, junk-strewn rural North Carolina yard:  

Prince was a filthy, matted mess when we found him, but he cleaned up nicely after our fieldworker bathed and groomed him. Luckily, Prince is small and young and doesn't shed, so after just a couple of days, PETA was able to find him a loving home with a family who had first called when PETA evacuated dogs during the Gulf oil spill. Here's Prince (post-neutering!) modeling a handsome new sweater:

A West Virginia resident was at her wits' end when she called PETA about a dog who had been chained in a neighbor's yard for a year. The dog was so ignored and neglected that his owners hadn't even named him.

PETA convinced the local sheriff to enforce cruelty-to-animals laws that require that animals at the very least be provided with adequate shelter. Rather than face charges, the dog's owners agreed to turn this sweet dog over.

Forty-eight hours later, the dog had been neutered, placed in a home, and, last but not least, named. This happy guy now answers to "Cal." Here's to Prince and Cal and their loving new homes!

Written by Alisa Mullins

Greg Westfall/CC by 2.0

Here's yet another good reason to give breeders a wide berth and adopt a mutt: Some of the most common breeds of dog are the most prone to cancer, if you go by claims filed with the companion animal insurance company Trupanion. Boxers rank first on the cancer scale, followed by German shepherds, golden retrievers, Rottweilers, and Doberman pinschers.

Many other health problems plague "purebreds," including crippling hip dysplasia, blindness, deafness, heart defects, skin problems, epilepsy, difficulty breathing (in pugs, bulldogs, and other breeds with unnaturally short noses), and screamingly painful disc disease (common in dachshunds, who have long spines). Breeders' common practices of mating dogs who are related and breeding dogs for specific, distorted physical features are to blame. We can lessen our chance of losing a beloved companion too early (and save a life!) by adopting a hardy Heinz 57.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Knowing that millions of cats and dogs of all ages, sizes, and lineages are currently homeless, Oscar- and Grammy Award–winning songwriter and musician Melissa Etheridge knew that she'd adopt—not purchase—and she found two amazing pooches, Cooper and Scout. These lucky pups now live with Melissa and her four children—and love their long walks with Melissa and her son. She's a nice person, indeed.

Melissa tells Peoplepets.com that a bumper sticker reading, "Rescue Is the New Breed," caught her eye recently—and she applauds that sentiment. This pro-rescue slogan honors my household's resident lap-lover, Tom. What's your favorite slogan that advocates animal adoptions over purchases?

Written by Karin Bennett

dougwoods/CC by 2.0

In honor of 10/10/10, here are 10 easy ways to get active for animals this weekend and beyond:

1. Buy a house—a doghouse, that is. Every year, PETA builds and delivers hundreds of straw-filled doghouses for dogs who are chained outdoors in the cold, all winter long—dogs who might otherwise have only a metal barrel or a piece of plywood as shelter from the wind, snow, and storms. So how about sponsoring a doghouse?
2. "Write" animal wrongs. Remember, the pen is mightier than the sword, so take every opportunity to educate and protest by writing letters to newspapers, businesses, and legislators.
3. Purge and splurge. Make over your make-up bag and medicine cabinet with cruelty-free cosmetics and personal-care products. Lose any gruesome garb (made with leather, wool, fur, and silk) and stock up on stylin' synthetics instead.
4. Take the 30-Day Pledge to Be Veg. If you're already vegan, convince others to take the plunge. FYI, pitching the pledge over a delicious vegan dinner is a tasty and effective way to make your case!
5. Enlighten eavesdroppers. Within earshot of other shoppers in the checkout line, talk with a friend about factory farming. Spreading compassion is as easy as spreading the word.
6. Come to the rescue. You never know when you might come across an injured animal, so program numbers into your phone for the local SPCA or humane society, local police and animal control, and local wildlife rehabilitators (numbers are available from humane societies).
7. Demand change for your dollar. Don't support any companies that contribute to the suffering of animals (we're talking to you, KFC, McDonald's, Ringling, and PetSmart). Urge others to boycott animal-abusing companies, and let the objects of your boycott know that they have lost your business.
8. Get active online. Place our banners on your website, stream PETA videos on your personal page, and link to PETA.org in your e-mail signature.
9. Nurture nature. Enjoy autumn and help animals at the same time by taking a nature walk and tackling the task of picking up fishing tackle, soda cans, six-pack rings, and other debris that can injure animals.
10. Be neighborly. Odds are good that somewhere in your neighborhood there's a forgotten Fido who's chained outside 24/7. Offer to walk the dog and encourage your neighbors to bring him or her indoors. Make sure the dog has food, fresh water, and adequate shelter. Look for signs of abuse and report neglect to authorities immediately.

And why stop at 10? There are a million more things you can do to help animals right now!  

Written by Amy Skylark Elizabeth

Richmond, British Columbia, a Vancouver suburb, has become the first city in Canada to pass a ban on the sale of puppies in pet stores. The Richmond City Council will now write the bylaw detailing the specifics of the ban. The bylaw will then undergo a series of public consultations. If all goes as planned, Richmond pet stores will be puppy-free by April 2011.

Richmond's ban comes on the heels of bans in South Lake Tahoe and West Hollywood on the sale of dogs and cats in pet stores.

Flyinace2000/CC by 2.0

The laws are intended to encourage shelter adoptions, reduce the numbers of impulsively purchased puppies who end up being turned over to animal shelters, and crack down on puppy mills, which are the leading suppliers of puppies to pet shops.

That rumbling you hear is the sound of thousands of shelter dogs' tails thumping the floor in a canine version of the wave. 

Written by Alisa Mullins

We've shown you before how PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department (CID) caseworkers move mountains for animals in dire circumstances. Here is just a glimpse of their recent work: 

• We orchestrated the rescue of four pit bulls who had been left to starve on their chains on an abandoned property in Texas. Local authorities wouldn't help these dogs, so PETA got an outside agency to assist and is pressing for charges against the dogs' owner.

• A good Samaritan who found a mouse stuck fast to a glue trap in a Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) building took the suffering mouse to PETA. We put the mouse out of his misery and asked HRT to stop using cruel glue traps. HRT has agreed. 

• Officials in Missouri refused to help a horse whose eye had rotted out because of a cancerous tumor. After CID contacted the horse's guardian directly and explained that the only alternative to letting the horse languish was a painless release, the poor animal's suffering was ended. 

• In rural Ohio, we coordinated a massive effort to trap about 20 feral cats who were suffering from a variety of painful afflictions after the man who was feeding them died. This rural area has no cat shelter and few animal control services, so CID contacted nearby activists and veterinarians who were willing to help. It took multiple visits over two weekends, but these poor cats are no longer suffering.

Please always watch out for animals in need and report all emergencies and acts of cruelty to law-enforcement (police and animal control) officials immediately.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

rsgranne/CC by 2.0

A population explosion, that is. Belgium is planning to tackle its feline overpopulation problem head-on by requiring most of the country's cats to be spayed or neutered by 2016. If funded, it will be one of the most advanced sterilization laws in the world!

While most other countries have yet to fully step up for homeless animals, folks have been successful in getting strong spay-and-neuter legislation passed in many communities. PETA has recently contacted council members in Baltimore, Maryland, asking them to enact their own mandatory spay-and-neuter legislation. If you live in the Baltimore area, please politely write to your council member and ask him or her to propose such a law.

And to find out how you can help in other areas, check this out.

Written by Jeff Mackey

… With a $3,000 suspended fine and two years of probation from the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA)! It's the least that Sun Pet deserves, considering that PETA's undercover investigator took video footage of one of the animal dealer's employees—who has since been fired—placing hamsters in a bag and bashing it against a table in an attempt to kill them. The investigator also documented that other animals were being abusively handled and warehoused in conditions that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

None of this appears to matter to PetSmart or PETCO, whose stores continue to sell animals supplied by Sun Pet despite findings by not only the GDA but also the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The GDA's April 22 inspection found rodents running loose, dead animals (including eight guinea pigs) in enclosures with live ones, food thrown into cages and on top of bedding, and rusty cages with sharp, dangerous edges, which Sun Pet was ordered to replace immediately (but didn't). According to the consent order, inspectors also found live rats climbing out of a trash can.

Eighteen days after the GDA inspection, the USDA—prompted by a PETA complaint—inspected Sun Pet and found the same jagged, rusty surfaces on the facility's chinchilla cages as well as severe crowding, inadequate lighting, accumulations of trash and rodent droppings, and deteriorated animal carcasses. The USDA also noted that in a repeat violation of federal law (which Sun Pet had been warned about in February 2009), the company had been buying animals from unlicensed vendors and selling them to pet stores such as PETCO and PetSmart.

PetSmart's execs apparently need a reading lesson, because in PetSmart's official response—sent to PETA before the GDA's investigation was officially closed—they claim that "the Georgia Department of Agriculture … conducted two thorough investigations since [PETA] issued [its] allegations. The first investigation resulted in one citation for a rusty chinchilla cage which was immediately replaced. The second investigation resulted in no violations." ("Immediately replaced"? Really? Then why did the USDA find the same dangerous cages almost three weeks later?) PETCO has not officially responded to PETA, but as of this week, it is still doing business with Sun Pet, according to its vice president of animal care and education, Marcie Whichard.

More on this soon. In the meantime, we can take "disciplinary action" against Sun Pet and other sleazy animal dealers by never buying mice, hamsters, rabbits, fish, birds, or any animal from a pet store or breeder and by steering others who are considering getting an animal away from pet stores and toward animal shelters.

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post