I've been working with the L.A. city shelters for about two and a half years now. I try to volunteer every week, photographing their animals. That's how I got started. Photographing dogs as a hobby and volunteering at the shelters led me down this career path, which is really exciting. So many more people are becoming aware of their option to adopt, and that's fantastic. Sometimes I think about how people find the right animal, and I think a good picture can really make that connection. The volunteer work is a huge satisfaction, trying to capture these animal's personalities, which will help them find a home and a second chance.

What kind of work do you do besides shooting animal portraits for rescue shelters?
I shoot photos of pets and people with their pets. It's all on location, at the beach, the lawn, depending on what kind of pets people have and where the pets want to go. It gives me an opportunity to find those moments that make them so special. I also work with dog magazines, like Dog Fancy, Dog World and Modern Dog. And I work with many of the calendars you find at the bookstores. You know, "Golden Retrievers 2010." That's a lot of fun, me out on location and doing pretty much whatever I want to do.

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Bob Sargent
Age: 72
Job: Co-founder of The Hummer/Bird Study Group, Inc.

Tell me about your job with The Hummer/Bird Study Group.
We study birds of all kinds, and we operate a big bird-banding station on the Alabama gulf coast. Our specialty is the study of neo-tropical migrant birds that come up from the tropics, do their breeding in North America and then go back down into the tropics for the winter. But our great love is hummingbirds. We band about 800 new hummingbirds every year in central Alabama, and in addition to that we catch about 175 annually that have been here in previous years, some that have been here up to eight years in a row. We put a numbered band on the leg just above the foot, made of a special aluminum alloy that has five letters and five numbers. It takes 5,500 of those tiny bands to weigh one ounce, so they're very small. The bands stay with the bird all its life.

What's the purpose of banding birds?
We can track things like longevity, direction of travel, and if they're migrating, sometimes we can actually deduce the speed at which the bird goes from point A to point B. We age and sex each of the birds as best we can, and we're pretty good at it. So we do a lot of work with the breeding population of the birds and we also band a lot of the nestlings, the babies that are still in the nest.

In fact, the company says Tama has been instrumental in increasing ridership by about 300,000, and they gave her the promotion "in recognition of her contribution to expanding the customer base," the Manichi Daily News reports. Tama will continue to serve as stationmaster while tackling this new role, although she did not accept a wage increase (and her payment currently is rendered in the form of cat food). It also doesn't sound like she'll have to take on any of the more stressful parts of being a corporate executive. Her job description includes greeting customers as they enter the station, posing for photos with tourists, and napping.

The company held an official appointment ceremony for Tama, and about 100 fans came to support the feline, says the Manichi Daily News. In addition, plans are in motion to rebuild Kishi Station into the shape of a cat's face this summer. Success: She has it!

Instead, the traumatic experience created a special bond between the three animals, with Leonardo instantly cheering up when he saw the kitten again during pet therapy sessions. But he was not out of danger just yet. After several months in a county shelter, the kitten and chihuahua were both adopted, but lovable Leo had yet to find a family, and was scheduled to be put down. That's when the local Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) stepped in to give him another chance.

After ARF made his story public, they received a record number of calls about adopting Leonardo. A local couple gave him a comfortable new home last weekend, while the interest raised by the story had the shelter adopting twice as many animals as usual - a much-deserved happy ending for everyone involved.

The Boston Globe reports that Kenmore was first seen by riders between stations, huddling by the rails and dodging oncoming trains. MBTA employees attempted to lure him with water and food, to no avail. Eventually, the cat was brave enough to make Kenmore station his own, lounging on the platform and being snapped for a rare pic that definitively proved his existence to online fans who eagerly discussed each kitty sighting.

Finally, Ingraham became concerned for Kenmore's safety and spent one of her days off unsuccessfully trying to capture him. She did not succeed that day, but another MBTA employee soon did, and Ingraham now has adopted the lucky cat into her home. According to her, Kenmore had never been out of the subway before, but he won't be returning to the rails anytime soon. At least not until Take Your Cat to Work Day!

British comedian Russell Brand, best known in the States for a memorable role in the movie "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", has been spending more time in America now that's he's in a tabloid-fodder relationship with singer Katy Perry. There's just one problem: With all his travel away from London, he's had to leave behind his beloved cat Morrissey (named after the legendary lead singer of the Smiths). Now Brand wants to obtain a cat passport so Morrissey can join him in his travels.

"Disappointingly, there's no photo in them, which I was looking forward to," Brand told to the Melbourne Herald Sun. "I was hoping the passport man would look at the picture and go, 'Not that photo -- your cat's smiling!' but sadly that's not going to happen."

Best friends always show up when you least expect them -- and when you need them most.

Big Boy, a guinea pig so named for his hefty 3-pound frame, was scheduled to be euthanized at a shelter before being taken in by the Cavy House, a guinea-pig rescue shelter in La Honda, Calif., reports Mercury News.

There, Big Boy met Rosie, another guinea pig who had stopped eating after a previous friend had died, and was rapidly losing weight. Their friendship blossomed as they began nuzzling between their cages, and with Big Boy around, Rosie was inspired to begin eating again.

Mercury News reports that things took another turn when Big Boy was diagnosed with lymphoma, which typically claims the life of a guinea pig in a matter of days. But with chemotherapy treatments and Rosie's support, Big Boy made a swift recovery and is now completely cured and active over half a year later. Big Boy and Rosie also fostered two young orphans, helping wean them until they could be adopted into happy homes. The two guinea pigs continue to help others as much as they help each other.

The pair remain in the care of the small, non-profit Cavy House rescue shelter. If you are interested in donating equipment (or just looking at cute pictures of their adoptable "piggies," as they call them), visit their Web site.

Especially during the cold winter months, cats have been known to climb into the small spaces beneath cars, seeking warmth. Axel's story can remind all drivers to be especially careful to ensure no outside animals have taken shelter underneath their cars before pulling out of the driveway.