He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Unknown

As a shelter scout and adoption volunteer, I run across hundreds of homeless animals who need homes. The local shelters and rescue groups have a never-ending supply of dogs and cats just waiting for new guardians. And, haven't you heard, it's now "cool" to adopt. So grab on to the adoption option and hang with the in-crowd!

Before you go to the pet store or an unprofessional breeder for your next four-legged family member, research your local shelter or rescue. Afraid of the common misconceptions surrounding "pound pups?" Don't be. Shelter dogs are mainly in that situation because their former owners didn't care enough about them to keep them safe and in loving environments. Shelter dogs do not all have issues and problems. They are not all Cujos or high-strung freaks. With a lot of love, some patience and some training, these "unwanted" dogs can become the best pets you'll ever have. For more information (and inspiration), read my shelter dog story from Dog Fancy Magazine.

The homeless problem is too huge and overwhelming for one person to fix. But don't let that stop you. Consider for a moment one of my favorite stories, "The Starfish." It's been retold so many times, but the message is still the same as was written by anthropologist Loren Eiseley (1907 - 1977).

       "Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surf's edge and and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached, he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.

    The man was stuck by the the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached, the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf.

    As he came up to the person he said, "You must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You can't possibly make a difference."

    The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and pick up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, "It sure made a difference to that one!"

So remember, no matter how small the action, every little bit makes a difference in the world. And sometimes, what you do makes a world of difference to one animal.

Check out these sites when you're ready to adopt (and don't forget about your local animal shelter):


• Friends of Orange County Homeless Pets

• Karma Rescue

• Petfinder

• Adopt-A-Pet

• ICARE of the Eastern Sierra

• German Shepherd Rescue

• Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue

• Rescue a Golden of Arizona

• Underdog Rescue

• A website filled with links to various rescue groups nationwide.