MY DOG SITTING SERVICES ARE OFFERED AT A  DISCOUNT TO ANIMAL ALLIANCE DOGS WHOM YOU WERE ADOPTED BY!

REWARDING VOLUNTEER & FOSTER FAMILY OPPORTUNITIES WITH ANIMAL ALLIANCE ARE AVAILABLE IN THE NEW HOPE, PENNSYLVANIA & THE LAMBERTVILLE, NEW JERSEY AREAS. 

Terry the Dog Sitter is also a volunteer with Animal Alliance, a registered, 501(c)3, non-profit organization, supported mainly by volunteers. 

We rescue cats, dogs, kittens  and puppies on "death row" at several  shelters and animal control holding facilities and place them into the safety of our foster care network.  We accept guardian surrenders on a case by case basis, as space allows.

There is nothing "wrong" with the animals we rescue.  They are condemned to death simply due to the hideous pet overpopulation problem in our area. The shelters we work with have no choice but to euthanize (put to sleep) perfectly nice animals to make way for the endless stream of new animals that arrive at their door each day. Animal Alliance believes in the value of the lives of these creatures, and in giving them a second chance at life with guardians who will love and treasure them as members of the family.

Once in foster care, the animals are cared for by individuals and families committed to animal welfare. The animals are carefully observed so that we can place them into the most appropriate permanent living situation; we can assess if they are good with other animals, children, strangers, and so on, and generally have a solid understanding of their personality traits and temperaments. 

Each one of our pets remains in foster care until it is matched with a permanent home.

PENNSYLVANIA &

NEW JERSEY PET EVENTS

My forum is the only place on the web where se Pennsylvania and New Jersey families can locate Pet Adoption, Pet & Animal Welfare related activities ~ and regional Animal Rescues, Shelters &
Welfare Groups can announce their Adoption, Fundraising and Educational Events!

HUGE EDUCATIONAL LINKS HERE TOO.

IS YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND HERE?

Are you travelling from Turks and Caicos back to our area, or into the Philly airport?  Please volunteer to carry a pup with you to their new home or into rescue.

Potcake Place will accompany a puppy to Providenciales airport, check the puppy in to the flight, and arrange for a volunteer to carry the puppy in a special puppy holdall to be stowed under the seat in front.

Potcakes as a 'Breed' are exceptional dogs. They are smart, loyal, loving and incredibly beautiful pets.  Please help change the life of a pup and family, and free up space to save another pup from starvation.

Please help if you can. They need local families to volunteer.  My husband & I have transported Potcakes from the Philly airport back to Lambertville into rescue for adoption, and they are simply adorable!

Interested in adopting or fostering a Potcake in our area?  Please contact Animal Alliance NJ. or the Potcake Place.

PLEASE OPT TO ADOPT

 If you love animals and are ready to care for a cat or a dog for the rest of the animal's life, please adopt from your local animal shelter or rescue organization, where there are dogs and cats galore—tails wagging and hearts filled with hope, looking out through the cage bars, just waiting to find someone to love.

Shelters & rescues receive new animals almost every day, so if you don't find the perfect companion to match your lifestyle on your first visit, keep checking back.

When you find your new best friend, you'll be glad that you chose to save a life—and made a new best friend as well.

-What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die
from great loneliness of spirit.
For whatever happens to the beasts,
soon happens to man.
All things are connected.
-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

"I am only one, but still, I am one.
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something." 
--Helen Keller

"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That is the essence of inhumanity." 

--George Bernard Shaw

Puppy Mills & Backyard Breeders

Pet Shop Puppies
 vs Responsible Breeders http://nppmwatch.com/WhatPM.html

Does it really make a difference where you get puppy, provided you find the breed you want? Yes, absolutely!  If you're not planning to breed the dog to produce winning show dogs or dependable working dogs, it might seem unimportant to seek out a breeder who strives to improve the breed with each litter. Actually, it's vitally important, and ignoring this concern can lead to sad times in your home. The following articles can you you make educated choices.

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1448&EVetID=127513

http://stoppuppymills.org/

http://www.hsus.org/pets/issues_affecting_our_pets/get_the_facts_on_puppy_mills/index.html

http://www.njcapsa.org/index.php

http://www.petshoppuppies.org/

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/puppymil.html

Puppy mills are cramped, crude and filthy places where unhealthy, sickly, sometimes genetically deficient dogs are bred solely for profit. Dogs are bred from the first time they come into heat until they die. Females are bred every cycle and often to multiple males in one cycle. The miller kills dogs that are unable to produce, as they are now no longer of any use. The lucky ones are shot, others are starved to death.

Thousands of puppies are born in mills, usually without shelter from the sun, snow, wind and other elements. Cages are stacked on top of each other, with nothing in between, allowing urine and feces to fall through onto whatever lays below--usually other dogs.

Puppies and adults with acid burns and skin lesions from wallowing in their own excrement are not uncommon. Puppies are taken from their mothers at only a few weeks old, often 4 or less, and sold to brokers. The brokers then pack the puppies into crates so they can be resold to pet stores all over the country. Puppies are shipped by truck or plane, often without adequate food, water, ventilation or shelter. This treatment regularly results in the death of almost half of the animals on board.

Puppy mills and pet stores maximize profits by not spending money on proper food, shelter or veterinary care. The food fed in puppy mills is often purchased from dog food companies by the truckload, and is usually made up of floor sweepings from the factory. The food is so lacking in nutrition that the dogs become sick, sometimes to the point of death.

No matter what pet shops tell you, puppy mills supply 99% of the pet stores in America. Reputable breeders will not ever sell puppies to stores or ship them. Lancaster Pennsylvania is one of the largest puppy mill locations.

http://www.puppymillrescue.com/

What Does the Term Backyard Breeder Mean?

Another attempt to define various kinds of breeders results in the term backyard breeder. This term is used to describe people who breed dogs without knowing what they are doing. The motive may be profit, and occasionally someone of this sort will make a tidy profit from turning out puppies without spending the money to provide them with good care.

More typically they'll produce one litter, find out how expensive, exhausting and heartbreaking it is to breed dogs, and have their female spayed. The American Kennel Club estimated in 1996 that about 70 percent of purebred, AKC-registered puppies were from this source.

The backyard-bred puppy may make an all right companion dog, if the parents were good companion dogs. Genetic health and temperament problems may be waiting to emerge as the pup matures, since this type of breeder isn't likely to have done the appropriate testing of both parents to make a good genetic pairing. It's completely a gamble as to how things will turn out with a puppy you acquire from this type of breeder.

You should expect that these pups will have missed early experiences that a responsible and knowledgeable breeder would have provided. It's also likely some things will have been done that were not good for the future temperament of the pups, such as mishandling by children.

These puppies are probably the cheapest pups to purchase, especially the ones the breeder can't sell at the most profitable "cute" age. Responsible breeders have homes lined up for their puppies in advance. They have acquired reputable credentials on the appropriateness of the parent dogs before breeding, in the form of testing for genetic problems common in their breeds as well as titles or other verification that the dogs are good examples of their breed. As a result, their puppies are in demand. The unprepared, uninformed person who decides to give breeding a try is surprised to find there's no demand for carelessly bred pups, especially at high prices.

Without care for making good genetic matches between purebred dogs, it's the nature of breeding for the healthiness of the breed to deteriorate. Only a strenuous effort to maintain good health in the breed prevents this natural effect. In the wild, survival of the fittest works to preserve a species. Unlike wild canines, dogs who live with people don't have to be able to hunt for their food, and they can live with severe disabilities.

As a result, there is no survival of the fittest among purebred dogs unless breeders make responsible decisions to remove the less fit from the gene pool. Unlike nature wherein these dogs would die, in our homes they only need be spayed and neutered and then live out happy lives with loving people.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/NoPuppyMillsVA/What_is_a_Backyard_Breeder_/what_is_a_backyard_breeder_.html

http://www.dogplay.com/Articles/GuestArticles/breedercomparison.htm