Great news from Los Angeles — in a partnership with Pet Connections Inc., a retail pet store is no longer selling dogs from puppy mills, and will instead be offering shelter dogs and cats for adoption.

Here’s a video from KABC, which covered the story:

A pilot program has already been run; it was so popular that in March, the Barkworks chain will be transforming one of its stores into an adoption center. If all goes well there, it will convert the rest of its stores too.

“I just think it gives us a great opportunity to help the county and the city of L.A. and surrounding areas diminish the amount of dogs that are euthanized every year,” said Barkworks General Manager Darren Letterman.

Let’s hope this idea spreads across the country and leads to forever homes for many more dogs (and cats!).

Alice is a springer spaniel puppy. Just look at that face.

A breeder abandoned Alice because she was deaf. In one of life’s beautiful moments, Alice has now found a home with a deaf couple, who are training her to understand sign language. Here’s the video.

It’s a story almost unknown among crowded shelters: an animal who stays for years. But this cat was special.

Nikki, renamed Michelle, outlasted thousands of pets and dozens of employees and volunteers at the Kansas City shelter. She got so used to being there that she stopped trying to make friends with potential adopters.

Then, one day, Dona Corben came in. She wasn’t looking for a kitten. “This is an old chick. I need an old cat.”

She took an instant liking to Michelle — and after reading the note that was attached to her carrier when she was first left at the shelter, thinks she just might go back to calling her Nikki.

The Kansas City Star has the rest of the story.

The US Postal Service has introduced a new set of stamps, 5 dogs and 5 cats, to raise awareness about shelter adoption.

They’re part of a Stamps to the Rescue campaign. You can learn more about the campaign here, and order them online from the USPS here.

Buddy, an 8-year-old Golden mix, was taken to a vet to be put down because his owner couldn’t/wouldn’t care for him anymore. Instead, the vet took him to the Denton, TX animal shelter.

After a month, though, Buddy still hadn’t been adopted, and his time was up. That’s when a volunteer Canine Underground Railroad (CUR) was organized so that a series of drivers could take Buddy all the way from Texas to Michigan, where a new home awaited him.

Buddy’s well on his way now. Here’s a photo of him with our own Rick Fish of Dogstuff. Look at that face! Buddy knows how lucky he is.

And here’s another pic of Buddy, enjoying the grass for a few minutes before embarking on another leg of his journey.

Kudos to all who lent a hand in helping Buddy out.

We’ve written before about Sable, who was trained as the world’s first sewage-sniffing dog, specializing in identifying E. coli and other contaminations in water.

Sable’s exploits have been so successful that he now has two canine colleagues. And all three are about to break more new ground:

Environmental Canine Services LLC (ECS), in Vermontville, MI, was recently awarded a grant from the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to take Sable, the first dog in the world to be scent-trained to track sources of human waste in storm drains, to Santa Barbara, California. The City of Santa Barbara Creeks Division will collaborate with Sable and his trainer/handler (Scott Reynolds of ECS), along with Dr. Patricia Holden of the University of California at Santa Barbara, to test canine scent-tracking and confirm the results with microbial source tracking (DNA-based techniques) for human fecal markers, at the same sample locations.

The research may be the first of its kind. The results of the study could provide valuable information about the ability of scent-trained canines to discriminate between human sewage and animal fecal sources in stormwater and surface waters. This would make it easier to target the sources of E. coli contamination that cause beach closings and contaminate lakes and streams.

“We are really excited about being a part of this research project with the City of Santa Barbara and WERF,” says Karen Reynolds, president and canine handler at ECS. “This could really open the door for using scent-trained canines to assist agencies with a rapid screening method for stormwater monitoring.”

Karen Reynolds is training with Logan, a two-year-old collie mix, with a strong nose and an even stronger personality. Karen and Logan will accompany Scott and Sable to Santa Barbara as a source of secondary confirmation of Sable’s findings. Daniel Ringel, Environmental Technician for ECS, is also training with his Akita mix, Sky. Dan will be assisting with the technical reports at the end of the study.

All three ECS canines were adopted or rescued, and trained as scent-detection dogs to help protect the environment.

You can learn more about ECS and their services at www.ecsk9s.com. For more information about WERF, please visit www.werf.org.

Congrats to Sable, Logan, Sky, and their people at ECS. Let’s hope this research proves an important step forward in protecting our water.

Playing cards from Dogstuff

It’s Hollywood’s fault, really. Well, that and irresponsible breeders.

First there was Legally Blonde. Then came The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and her dog Tinkerbell, followed by Beverly Hills Chihuahua. And, of course, Gidget, the star of those “yo quiero Taco Bell” commercials.

Chihuahuas have been portrayed as cute little accessories; demand has soared; and breeders have overcompensated. The result? Chihuahuas have surpassed pit bulls as the breed most surrendered at animal shelters.

The problem is particularly acute in California. A third of the dogs in San Francisco’s city shelter are all or part chihuahua. In Oakland, it’s more than 50 percent. And in Los Angeles, there are so many chihuahuas that they’re being airlifted to other states to find them homes.

Chihuahuas are cute, no doubt about it. They’re also nervous, high-strung, fragile, and not a good fit for most families.

Officials hope to stop irresponsible backyard breeding of Chihuahuas with new regulations and an education program. In the meantime, the airlifts and “Chihuahuapalooza” adoption programs will continue.

Dogs at risk are being rescued -- with your help

You already know that a portion of every online purchase at Dogstuff.com goes to support rescue. But we thought you’d like to know about a specific case of your rescue funds in action.

This weekend, K9 Northwest, a training and rescue facility in Tacoma, is on a marathon mission to rescue dogs from Camp Wolfgang, a rescue operation with 200 dogs (primarily German Shepherds, but other breeds as well) near Dallas, Texas.

Camp Wolfgang was forced to close by budget problems thanks to the struggling economy, and had to empty its facilities on short notice, leaving dozens of dogs at risk of euthanasia.

We’ve gotten word that the good folks at K9 Northwest reached Camp Wolfgang last night, and are on their way back to Tacoma with 27 dogs. We’re delighted to help sponsor this generous and compassionate effort with donations from the Special Rescue Fund at Dogstuff’s Rescue First program.

Thank you again for your support of rescue operations like this one.

There's a better way to get there (card from Dogstuff)

A little-known group of pilots donates their valuable time and skills to help animals find loving homes. Pilots N Paws flies animals from kill shelters around the country to places where willing adopters await. There’s video at the link.

Nothing to fear (card from Dogstuff)

Columnist Mark Morford talks about BBDS (Big Black Dog Syndrome).