“Bark in the Park” Chicago!

The 17th annual “Bark in the Park” event to raise funds for The Anti-Cruelty Society is on Saturday, May 7, at Montrose Harbor in Chicago.

Cat savior or cat hoarder?

Craig Grant bought 30 acres in Lee, Fla. where he has taken in hundreds of cats at a place called Caboodle Ranch. He's created a cat village with a town hall, church, cafe and even a Walmart. But he is also plagued by accusations of hoarding and mistreatment of the animals. "They make me love me life," he says. "I never feel alone." Grant is 62. All his life, until about a decade ago, he disliked cats. Today he lives outside a tiny town called Lee, population 355, with hundreds of them. Here on 30 acres, Grant will take your cat for life. Even if it has leukemia. Even if it's feral. Even if it's old. He promises he won't kill it, he won't even adopt it out, he'll just love it. Grant believes his place in the world is to provide cat-topia. He talks about one day having 1,000 cats, maybe even 3,000 cats. Critics, among them a Tampa woman, Carolyn Camp Logan, who had volunteered there, became disgusted and started a website "in memory of the lost Caboodle cats." Coyotes were snacking on the cats, she wrote. Lots of house cats, unaccustomed to the diseases circulating at Caboodle Ranch, got sick or disappeared. "The man's an ignorant hillbilly," she said. "He's out there trying but he doesn't know what he's doing. He's a hoarder. He thinks no one can do it better than he can." Gary Conley said his visit to Caboodle Ranch "changed his life." "Since I've come back, I've not been able to go to sleep at night," he said, "because I know what's happening up there in the darkness." Source AP Photo/St. Petersburg Times, Lara Cerri

Shopping for gifts? Remember homeless animals

During this happy season of gift giving, please take a moment to give a gift to a hard working, tireless, and very worthy Animal Welfare or Animal Rescue organization in your neighborhood. i-pets.com appreciates and supports the hard work and valuable services performed by animal welfare agencies and rescue organizations, so we offer them FREE SHIPPING on their orders. If you are ordering for a welfare or rescue, please e-mail me for the coupon code and you will receive free shipping on any order delivered to a rescue, welfare, or humane society address. If you're looking for the best value, to gift many rescued animals, consider USA Rawhide Seconds/Irregulars, 10 pounds of USA Rawhide (approx. 15 to 25 pieces) for $22.50, or Dog Toys, starting as low as $1.00 each. i-pets.com also has a great selection of Christmas Themed treats and chewies, some in bulk packs of 50 pieces - great gifts to keep homeless pets busy and happy at any time.

Show Your Local Animal Shelter Some Love

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is Nov. 7-13, 2010 The Humane Society of the United States' National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week is a way to honor animal shelters and their dedicated staff across the country. There are approximately 4,000 animal shelters across the U.S., available to serve the estimated 6-8 million homeless animals who seek refuge each year. While 63 percent of American households include pets, only 10 percent of owned dogs and 18 percent of owned cats are adopted from animal shelters. Spread the word about animals waiting to be adopted, and celebrate the many services provided by your local animal shelter. If you'd like to SEND A DONATION to your local animal shelter, please remember that i-pets.com offers FREE SHIPPING on all orders benefiting an animal welfare agency or pet rescue group. That's our way of helping with their very worthy efforts. (e-mail me for the coupon code) link