It took months and several news stories about her plight, but Gracie, the spunky three-legged, earless dog who was rescued by an American soldier in Afghanistan and fostered by PETA staffers, has finally found a home.

After Gracie was featured in The Virginian-Pilot, her story touched the heart of Virginia Beach teacher Beth Hall, whose 13-year-old dog had died a couple of months earlier. Beth sent us an eloquent e-mail listing the many pros her home had to offer ("lots of love and attention," a "3/4-acre fenced backyard," and a "cat companion"). Under "cons," she wrote, "N/A."

Gracie moved into the Hall home on Friday and has already wriggled her way into the hearts of Beth; Beth's 17-year-old son, Andrew; Beth's brother, who acts as Gracie's stay-at-home "uncle"; Beth's mom, who pops in for daily visits; and, of course, Marmalade, Beth's cat, who was adopted from a local animal shelter.

Gracie is safe, but tens of thousands of homeless dogs in animal shelters and at rescue groups are still waiting to be adopted. They don't have the great P.R. that Gracie had—they are simply relying on people to do the right thing by adopting from animal shelters instead of buying from breeders or pet stores. If you have the time and resources, consider adopting an animal!

Update: After nearly two months of rehabilitation, the rescued hyena ate her last meal in captivity and was released back into the jungle one night last week. The area where she stepped out of her transfer cage was close to where she was found. The local forest department reported that more than a dozen hyenas—possibly from the rescued hyena's clan—are known to live in the area.

The following was originally posted November 22, 2011:

Late one evening in the Maharastran countryside in India, a terrified hyena was running to escape a pack of street dogs when she tumbled into a well that was not visible to her in the darkness and plunged 50 feet down to the bottom. She had evaded the dogs, but now she was banged up and hopelessly trapped.

A man happened to witness the hyena's fall, and he jumped into action, calling PETA India for help. The Animal Rahat ("rahat" means "relief" in Hindi) rescue team quickly hatched a plan. The team lowered a large net and, after several tries, was able to scoop up the hyena and pull the scared little animal to safety.

Members of the team took the hyena to the Rajiv Gandhi Rehabilitation Centre to be checked for injuries and treated, and she will eventually be returned to her clan. Hyenas can hear the calls of their clan from more than 2 miles away when they become separated, so it's possible that her family members heard her cries and are anxious for her safe return.

Most of us won't rescue a hyena in our lifetime, but with simple actions like moving turtles off the road and taking stray dogs and cats to an animal shelter, we can save animals whose lives are just as important to them as ours are to us. 

Gracie had been relegated to a tiny cage for weeks when a PETA staffer noticed her and asked her owner if she could give the rabbit a new home. Gracie's owner agreed. After all, she said, she didn't really want a rabbit companion—she'd bought Gracie to feed to her snake, but the rabbit had proved to be too big.

Gracie didn't let her harrowing start to life dampen her spirit, and she became a superstar, posing with actor Charlotte Ross in a PETA anti-fur ad. And in her new home, where she is wanted, Gracie enjoys romping through the vegetable garden and digging holes. She doesn't like it when her chicken companions try to eat her food, but the wily rabbit never hesitates to steal theirs.

While sweet Gracie got her happy ending, she would be saddened if she knew that rabbits just like her are confined to tiny cages every year in laboratories in the U.S. They have cosmetics and household cleaners dripped into their eyes. Their backs are shaved, and corrosive chemicals are painted onto their raw skin and left to burn away the tissue for weeks. Then they are killed.

Show rabbits a little grace. Buy cruelty-free products.

PETCO pledged in 2005 that it would end the sale of large birds in its stores. Last month, a concerned PETCO customer noticed that a PETCO store in his area had a white-capped pionus, a kind of parrot, for sale. The bird had apparently spent 14 months in a cage at the store, waiting for someone to buy her. PETCO's price tag for the bird was $799, but for some time, there was a "Manager's Special—50% Off" sign on the cage she was in, as if this sensitive bird were an out-of-style shirt to be placed on the clearance rack.

PETA reached out to its contact at PETCO's corporate office and got the complainant in touch with the pet trade giant. For once, PETCO did the right thing and allowed the person who contacted PETA to adopt the bird, since named Tegan, for a donation to the PETCO Foundation, which provides funds for animal welfare organizations and spay-and-neuter efforts, among other things.

Tegan now has the run (fly?) of the house and the company of other birds. The kind man who took her in says that Tegan is a very affectionate bird who enjoys taking showers and who spends at least 4 to 5 hours a day riding around on his shoulder, where she seems happiest. You can find tips on caring for birds on our companion animals webpage.

Two important lessons emerge from this case. One: Never hesitate to speak up when you suspect an animal needs help. And the other? Don't support the pet trade—shop only at pet-supply stores that don't sell live animals.

This poor mother dog was so emaciated that she barely had the strength to nurse her six puppies. She was confined to a bare wooden box located behind a pizza parlor and was weighted down with a heavy chain.

After a member of Hoovers Hause All Dog Rescue spotted one of the pups wandering near the busy street beside the restaurant, she soon discovered the mother dog and called the sheriff's department. But catch this: Law enforcement gave the owner two to three weeks to put weight on the mother dog. Hoovers Hause All Dog Rescue had a better idea—the group posted pictures of the dogs on Facebook and asked people to get the sheriff's department to act now.

When a PETA supporter alerted us to the situation, we asked the poster to try to persuade the owner to give the dogs over to her. Bingo! All the dogs were whisked off to a veterinarian (likely the first time the mother dog had ever received medical care). The rescue group paid for the mother dog's heartworm treatment and agreed to care for her and her puppies while screening potential adopters.

The owner had told police that the mother dog was so thin because she had been poisoned, but with simple helpings of good food, this lucky rescued girl has already gained 8 pounds. PETA is now urging officials to pursue cruelty charges.

If you see anything on social-networking sites that suggests an animal could be in danger, please contact authorities—and, if they are unresponsive, call PETA.

Brrr! A cold spell has gripped us here in Los Angeles, with night temperatures dipping down into the 50s—much too cold for Angelenos … and for goldfish. When the guardians of one rescued goldfish, Sadie, turned on her tank's water heater this week, she immediately swam over to bask in the warmth, just like a kitten seeking a sunny patch or a dog seeking a place by the fire.

A sympathetic PetSmart employee rescued Sadie when she was deemed "valueless" because of a genetic defect. She was born with one eye—likely caused by overbreeding, a practice that is rampant in the hideous "pet" trade. The employee, an aquatic animals expert who cautions that caring for fish requires expensive equipment and frequent tank cleanings, subsequently left PetSmart in protest over the way the retailer treats animals as if they were commodities rather than recognizing that they are feeling individuals.

Please, never support companies such as PetSmart that put profit first—at the animals' expense. Reputable local rescue groups and shelters often have fish who need new homes. If you or someone you know has aquatic animals, please also constantly check to be sure that the water temperature is in the proper range for the animal during winter months. After all, they can't dust off their spare blankets or snuggle up with a friend for the night.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

We don't know how long several horses on a property in rural Iowa spent mired in their own waste, but when a witness alerted PETA to their plight, the horses' barn floor was covered with manure up to 4 feet deep in some places.

PETA's Cruelty Investigations Department contacted local animal control officers immediately, and the agency forced the property owner to improve the horses' situation. It took several visits from law-enforcement officials, but the continued pressure was enough to convince the owner to build a spacious new barn. The horses now have a clean, new living space and plenty of pasture to graze.

If you notice an animal who is forced to live in filth or who is in trouble in any way, contact police and/or animal control, and follow up—repeatedly, if necessary—to make sure that the animal gets help. (You can look up the number now and save it to your cell phone or post it on your fridge to be prepared for emergencies.) If you do not get an appropriate response, let us know.

Written by Heather Faraid Drennan

For the past 65 years during Yellville, Arkansas' annual "Turkey Trot Festival," residents have hurled live turkeys out of airplanes at high altitudes for the "pleasure" of watching the wild birds—who naturally only fly short distances at low altitudes—drop to the Earth. Many are badly injured or killed, and others are tackled and taken home to be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. But this year, not only were no turkeys tossed, two lucky birds were also rescued and are now living in a loving home!

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) swarmed the area, promising that any pilot caught throwing turkeys would risk losing his or her license. Apparently, the would-be turkey-tossers decided it wasn't worth the risk—not one turkey was dropped! PETA is also offering a $5,000 reward (which still stands) for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone caught throwing turkeys out of airplanes.

To "get back at PETA" for objecting to this cruel tradition, one woman tried to buy two flightless, domesticated turkeys so that she could hurl them from the roof of the town courthouse! A PETA activist quickly intervened, warning the sellers that they would be aiding and abetting in a crime by selling the birds for this purpose, and she convinced them to give the birds to her instead. After getting veterinary care for one of the birds, who had suffered injuries to her face and neck, likely from abuse, PETA found the birds a wonderful home. Now named Lori and Walfredo, the turkeys are living the good life on a spacious farm with a loving family.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Look at the photo below and you'll see her—in between the fertilizer spreader and the recycling bin. No, that's not a stuffed rabbit in the tiny cage behind the plastic toy truck—that's a living, breathing being consigned to a miserable, lonely existence along with the other things people stick outside and forget about. This rabbit was never allowed out of the cramped metal cage, and aside from her owner's tossing her some food and water once in awhile, she never received any attention at all.

A concerned person saw the bunny and knew that with the harsh northern winter already knocking on the door and only an open staircase for "shelter," the rabbit might not live to see another Easter. She tried talking the owner into surrendering the rabbit to her, to no avail. She called PETA for help, and working with local law enforcement, we put pressure on the owner to provide a suitable home for the rabbit. The owner soon tired of hearing from both PETA and the police and agreed to surrender the rabbit into her rescuer's waiting arms.

Now the bunny is living the sweet life indoors because of one woman's persistence and dedication to justice for animals. She is proof positive that even if you can't change the entire world, with a little work, you can change one animal's entire world. 

Written by Michelle Sherrow

The first four years of Oliver's life consisted of little more than a small patch of dirt, a metal barrel, and a heavy chain. This sweet mixed-breed's owner gave him food and water in dirty, rusty metal bowls—and little else. Day after day, he waited for the kind word or gentle pat that never came.

Desperate to help the dog, a frequent passerby made numerous calls to animal control and the local humane society but to no avail. Faced with the onset of another harsh Midwestern winter, the man then called PETA for help.

It took some persuasion, but we convinced the neglectful owner to surrender Oliver. A PETA member in the area offered to foster him until we found an adopter, but it soon became clear to the foster "mom" that Oliver was right where he belonged.

Now the lovable dog sleeps in bed with his doting guardian every night. Free from the chain, he has discovered the joy of running and makes his guardian laugh while he gleefully zips around 2 acres of land under her watchful eye.

Oliver's story would not have had a happy ending without the persistence of his rescuer. If you know of a chained dog in your area, please help—you may be the dog's only hope.

Written by Michelle Sherrow