Posts tagged "animalsiteswelove"

While you're purchasing holiday presents this year -- whether for human or pet -- there's an easy way to make a difference in the lives of shelter animals at the same time.

At Bring Pets Home, you can shop from approximately 140 online stores, including retail giants like Amazon.com, Macy's, Walmart and Sephora. Do your regular online shopping through Bring Pets Home, and a percentage of your total tab will be donated to the site's foundation, which provides immediate financial assistance to shelters nationwide.

Even better: Sign up for a free account at Bring Pets Home and you can choose the participating animal shelter that will receive your donation. You'll also have a shot at the site's holiday sweepstakes, for $5,000 to you and another $5,000 to your favorite shelter!

Bring Pets Home was started by the microchip pet-recovery company HomeAgain. "We love this program and we're really hoping it hits its stride," HomeAgain marketing director Linda Block told Paw Nation. Besides providing shelter funding, Bring Pets Home -- which you can use year-round -- aims to educate animal lovers about how shelters work. "There's a lot of misconceptions about animal shelters, even with pet lovers or people who work in the animal-health field," Block says.

For example? "A lot of people think shelters receive the majority of the funding from the government, which is not true," Block explains. "And with the economy, shelters are having a really hard time, as donations are down and people in need are relinquishing their pets."

Twitter has exploded this year by providing a new platform for the public to rant and communicate about the things they love. And while the 140 character updates can be mundane, they're not all meaningless. Groups like PetMD, PETA and the ASPCA now use Twitter to post useful information for their followers. And naturally, pet owners and "celebrity animals" like Jenny the Stroller Pug have added their tweets to the mix. Search tools and hash tags such as #TwitterACritter are also used to help facilitate animal adoptions.

On behalf of animal lovers on Twitter, Paw Nation did some research to find the 12 most useful and entertaining animal Twitter accounts for our readers to follow:

1. @ASPCA
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has taken to the Twitterverse to reach out to the animal-loving masses, and it's working. With more than 14,000 followers so far, @ASPCA brings the latest updates about their campaigns, victories and efforts.

2. @TheQuackPack
No, it's not an afternoon animated series with Huey, Dewey and Louie. The Quack Pack's tweets are deployed by the "parents" of two mallard ducks (named Laylah and Saydee) who are being raised as children. Think "My Monkey Baby," with ducks.

We know what you're thinking: By now you've seen so many pets in clothes that you're almost surprised when you see naked pets. Dressed pets are the norm. The novelty has worn off, and you wish people would stop bothering you about it.

But what if there was a site where you could rate pictures of animals in apparel? What if your opinion could be heard? What if you could have a say in what's cute and what's humiliating? Now there is such a site: Pets in Clothes.

The site runs just like that old internet staple HOT or NOT, but without the guilt of objectifying people. You simply cycle through pictures of animals in clothes and rate them between 1 and 10, although the site doesn't really explain what the ratings are meant to indicate. Cuteness? Level of confusion on the animal's face?

So if you're looking for a new timesink in which to dispose of all your productivity, petsinclothes.com offers a distraction so cute that you might just start shouting out ratings to pets on the street.

Cat fancying is tailor-made for the Internet. Never mind that all the things you love about your kitty – how soft she is, how she lays on your chest when you're taking a nap and how she makes that piece of string pay for its sins – are impossible to create in cyberspace.

The Web is full of sites uniting communities of cat lovers, and videos and memes catering to those who find unlikely kitty behavior utterly hilarious. Know Your Meme tracks well over a dozen separate humorous cat trends, from "Keyboard Cat" -- a piano-savvy feline who turns up whenever someone is embarrassing herself -- to "Spaghetti Cat," a Zelig-like, pasta-loving kitty who even has her own theme song and music video.

"Groomer Has It" put down its shears in June, but just because the cameras no longer are rolling on pet 'dos (and don'ts) doesn't mean you have to find another obsession. The marketing wizards behind the Animal Planet show decided to take to the Internets with a silly (albeit ridiculously satisfying) idea that lets you custom-design a stylish new look for your canine.

Upload a photo of your pooch's visage -- or choose from the dozen provided -- and let out your inner fashionista (or, y'know, groomer) by placing on your pooch a brand-spankin'-new 'do inspired by (among others) Whoopi Goldberg, Donald Trump, or Jennifer Aniston.

Doesn't Paw Nation's own in-house guinea pig dog, Atticus, look ready for prime time with "The Jay?"

Awake animals are cute. Asleep animals are even cuter. But awake animals who are struggling to stop from falling asleep are inarguably the cutest. Thankfully, the blog Cute Things Falling Asleep is here to fulfill your droopy-eyed quota. Watch everything from cats and dogs to hamsters and cockatiels slowly succumb to the Sandman right before your very eyes.

Note: This is not a site of already dormant dogs and conked-out cats. Says owner Nick Malis, "This blog is called Cute Things FALLING Asleep, not Cute Things Already Sleeping. The whole idea is to watch cute things fighting, and losing, the battle to stay awake." Duly noted.

We here at Paw Nation are no strangers to breed predilection, and clearly, neither are you. But no matter what breed you think is best, everyone has a soft spot for the beagle (just ask Charles Schulz and Jim Davis*).

The like-minded bloggers over at Have A Beagle and Carry On are dishin' out these doe-eyed doggies on a daily basis. As the name of the blog suggests, log on, decompress with a dose of beagle (seriously, we dare you to take one look at those freckled noses and floppy ears and not grin), then carry on, refreshed and zen-like.

With apologies to an old idiom: Apple a day out; beagle a day in!

[*Seriously -- who knew Odie was a beagle?!]

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Our mom once told us that if it were legal to keep otters as pets, she would gladly give up her bathtub to serve as a faux "river" for her wet would-be friend. Alas, otter domestication is prohibited, so she'll have to settle for staring at pictures of these painfully cute creatures.

Enter the Daily Otter! Yes, the people who brought you the Daily Bunny have -- thankfully! -- dipped their toes into the oeuvre of otters. Whether you like 'em snuggling in the snow, lounging in a lake, or showing some of their characteristic affection, the Daily Otter's got you semi-aquatically covered.

Now you can finally unloop that video of otters holding hands.

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After what felt like an interminably rainy April, spring has finally sprung! The weather has warmed, flowers are unfolding, and dogs are breaking out their bee costumes.

What's that? Dogs aren't boasting bee costumes at your local dog park? Well, no worries – you don't have to miss out on all the bumbly fun. Just head over to Bee Dogs, "The premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes."

As if we weren't already sold on premise alone, Bee Dogs ups the ante by being the most unassuming animal niche site on the internet. On Bee Dogs, all you get is bee dogs. Each page has a dozen or so photos of dogs dressed as bees, and then a cheeky tout such as, "Your daily intake of beedogs has been critically low. Click here or you will die." or "This has been mere prelude to what lies ahead (i.e., lots more Bee Dogs)." No ads, no merch, no pretense. Just bee dogs for the love of bee dogs.

Finally.

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There is a long-held superstition that if you wake up on the first day of the new month and say "Rabbit, rabbit," you'll have good luck for the remainder of the month.

If you're not so quick with a calendar, it's probably best to get into a daily habit of celebrating the rabbit. Fortunately for you, there are multiple Daily Bunny websites out there to help you get your luck on (and coo over cottontails).

Daily Bunny is a round-up of all things bunny, from photos and videos to art and live cams, complemented with lite commentary ("What's this? Noms? No... must be toy... maybe... Yeah is toy.")

If you prefer your rabbits with a little less cheek (figuratively, not furrily), opt for the more straightforward Tumblr-powered Daily Bunny: Every day, a new large, vibrant photograph of an adorable bunny; no narration, no distraction.

Whichever daily dose of rabbit you prefer, your good mood (and good fortune) is bound to jump.

Step aside, precious puppies and cute kittens. Our oohs and awws are now reserved for a more sophisticated breed of baby animal: Zooborns!

On this positively addictive animal site (which boasts "The newest and cutest exotic animal babies from zoos and aquariums around the world!"), no species goes uncelebrated. From a rare newborn clouded leopard to a literal baby baluga, Zooborns hosts the most minikin offspring of the most adorable animals you never knew existed! Even the exotics we're usually "eh" about (we're looking at you, armadillo!) become instantly adorable in infant form.

Even better? You can sort by zoo and aquarium, making it simple to scout which types of tykes have recently arrived in your hometown!

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As long as cats have been domesticated and docile, humans have been putting stuff on 'em. From the standards (like hats and sunglasses) to the bizarre (like poker sets and pinatas), this harmless, hilarious taunting just never seems to grow old.

So thank goodness for Stuff On My Cat, a self-explanatory site that celebrates cats' unfettered compliance with humiliation. Sort by "stuff" like Tech On My Cat, Food On My Cat, and Naughty Stuff On My Cat, create your own witty captions, or, of course, submit personal photos of your cats covered in stuff.

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Although all animals are endearing in their own right, there's a subculture of creatures that has a certain je ne sais cute. You know the type: critters with such an ineffable adorableness that it almost hurts to look at them.

Self-described Chief Cuteologist Meg has made it her mission to compile all such cuteness in one place: Cute Overload. Replete with its own glossary (which combines some elements of LOLspeak with onomatopoeia and portmanteau), Cute Overload is its own precious beast, including franchises like "Cats'n'Racks," "Interspecies Snorgling" and "The Rules of Cuteness."

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Ask the question, "I can has cheezburger?" and people will either LOL or look at you like you're bonkers. But the website of the same name has become the stuff of web legend, having effectively turned a nonsensical meme into an indisputable internet empire.

It all began with a picture of an optimistic-looking British shorthair inexplicably captioned, "I can has cheezburger?" That innocent photo made the rounds online and inspired hundreds of variations (this is called a meme) of similarly designed pictures (known as cat macros), all written with poor spelling and grammar (officially deemed LOLspeak).

The geniuses behind ICanHasCheezburger.com compiled these pictures into one site and spawned an unstoppable force. On the site, you can peruse, vote on, and comment on the cat macros; and even if you're Photoshop illiterate, you can create your own with the site's LOLBuilder. The hardcore fans can even buy merch – everything from t-shirts to magnetic poetry to a plush version of the original LOLcat.

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