During October - 'Adopt-A-Dog’ Month - people all across America are being encouraged to adopt a homeless dog from an animal shelter or from a pet rescue organization, instead of buying one from a puppy mill, a backyard breeder, or a pet store. And they are being encouraged to experience both the joy and the satisfaction of saving an abandoned dog’s life.

Our animal shelters and pet rescue organizations today are all sadly overflowing with far too many abandoned and relinquished dogs that are looking for a little kindness, a little compassion, and a much deserved second chance at life. Millions of these deserving dogs will be euthanized in America’s animal shelters this year because no one is willing to adopt them.

What are you looking for?

• an exercise buddy?
• a best friend and confidant for your child?
• a devoted companion for your favorite senior citizen?
• a furry face to greet you after a hard day at work?
• a new friend for the dog that you already have at home?

An adopted dog can be all of these things -- and so much more.

As a pet rescuer, I sadly know that Man’s Best Friends need all the help that they can get right now in our still struggling economy. All of my dogs were once abandoned and homeless street waifs; and today, they are all extremely appreciative, loving, and loyal companions.

One of my goals these days is also attempting to find loving new homes for the many homeless, and abandoned, and abused pets that we now rescue from the mean city streets, the forest preserves, and the rural areas of America, each and every day. There are so many truly deserving and truly affectionate homeless canines out there right now, who truly need a new friend and a second chance at life.

And one of the animal shelters in your area is the perfect place to look for these deserving dogs of every size, type, breed, age, and personality -- all waiting and hoping for a friend like you, and a loving new home.

If you prefer a particular breed of dog that isn’t currently available at a local shelter, you can easily go online to find a breed-specific canine rescue group in your area that is in dire need of people who are willing to foster and/or to adopt one of their many deserving, left behind dogs.

Why not find out what a shelter or a rescue group canine can bring to your life this October during Adopt-A-Dog Month? Your New Best Friend is Anxiously Waiting to Meet You.

But if you just can’t adopt a dog right now, here are some other ways that you can still help America’s homeless canines this Adopt-A-Dog Month:

Contact one of your local animal shelters or pet rescue organizations and ask if they have a Donation Wish List or Flyers that they’d like to you to post around your office or neighborhood. They may also be holding special Adoption Events this month for Adopt-A-Dog Month, which you can help promote.

Make a monetary donation to your local animal shelter or rescue group in honor of Adopt-A-Dog Month.

Sign up as a Canine Foster Parent or an Animal Shelter Volunteer – just walking a shelter dog once or twice a week can make a big difference in their lives.

And please pass on an understanding of the importance of Pet Adoption to our next generation. Talk to your children, nieces, nephews, and grandchildren about the plight of America’s abandoned pets today, and why Adopt-A-Dog Month, and Pet Adoption over Pet Purchasing in general, is so important today.

-Please Do Whatever You Can To Help Save A Dog’s Life This Month-