Saving Shelter Pets is one of my favorite charities and right now, you can buy this very cool painting of a mutt on eBay to support their cause. Only 6 days left, so hurry.

It’s not every day you get a win/win opportunity like this one…only every week. Puppynamer has a great website where you help to name the dog of the week. When your name is picked, you get $10. For every name submitted, an animal charity recieves $.50 and for every vote on the names, the charity earns another $.25. What a great and fun charity idea!

It sounds mean, but there is actually quite a bit of competition for the title of ugliest dog in the annual San Diego competition.This years winner is the “lovely” boxer mix, Chomper, seen to the left. She was the only puppy of her litter to survive and always carries her tongue out, even when her mouth is closed. Lest you worry about little Chomper, she is actually a very healthy pup of 4 years. To see a video of the event, click here. Chomper is actually very cute in the video.

The dog contest is held by the Kiwanis of San Diego and aside from ugliest dog, there are also prizes for cutest dog, best St. Patties Day Contest, best mutt and more. Procedes help animal shelters across the county.

Unfortunately, Mexico is not a forerunner in the animal rights movement. It is not uncommon to see street dogs wandering the city, picking through the trash and getting kicked by local residents. In an area with so much human poverty, it is no wonder that dogs are frequently used as convienant punching bags.

The YouTube clip above is not for the faint of heart. Indeed, it almost made me cry and I am terrified to see the movie it is advertising, Companions to None. But I do think it is an important issue that many people who do not live next to the Mexican border have no idea about. Living in San Diego, I have not only seen the way dogs in Tijuana are treated, but also how well they can recover when taken in by a good family.

I urge everyone to see this film and support the workers associated with it. This is something that spaying and nuetering can greatly improve, and that’s something that we can change with more conciousness of the problem.

In addition, I’d like to refer those interested to the Baja Animal Sanctuary. They specialize in helping dogs and cats from Baja Mexico get loving homes in America. My mother owns a wonderful muttski that once munched on rocks in the streets of Mexico and now she loves to cuddle up with her mom and her stuffed sheep and go right to sleep. The amazing thing about dogs is how many of them can come back from tramautic experiences. The Baja Animal Sanctuary can help. If you’re interested in donating, please click here.

And for those of you interested in helping out good old American born dogs and cats, I always recomend my favorite animal charity, Saving Shelter Pets. They work as hard as they can to keep dogs and cats in over-crowded shelters from being euthanized.