euthanasia.

Erica Daniel, a Florida woman who fosters dogs that need extra care, saved a pit-bull puppy from the trash and nursed it back to health from a debilitating, life-threatening medical condition. 11-week-old Harper was born with a condition called pectus excavatum, more commonly know as "swimmer puppy disorder," according to NBC's "Today." Puppies afflicted with the disorder lie flat on their chests with their arms splayed out, resembling a swimmer in mid-stroke. Most puppies with pectus excavatum don't survive, and Harper herself came very close to being put down before Daniel stepped in. Daniel had not originally intended to keep Harper alive, but simply to give the puppy one day of love ...

AP It's traumatic enough to have to put your dog down. it's even more shocking to wake up and find the animal you thought was dead still sitting at its food bowl the next day, waiting for you to feed it. When his 10-year-old rottweiler, Mia, suffered from a debilitating spinal issue that let her barely able to walk, Matt Olivarez made the tough decision to put his faithful friend down. Sure he was making the right decision, Olivarez took his suffering friend to the Westcott Veterinary Care Center for her lethal injection. After saying his final goodbyes, Olivarez took Mia's body home for a fitting burial. However, before he could get her in the ground, the pouch shrugged off her blanket ...

Six to eight million dogs and cats end up in U.S. shelters every year. Photo: Jennifer Leigh/Flickr Every year, six to eight million unwanted cats and dogs enter shelters in the U.S., and three to four million are euthanized according to the animal welfare organization Found Animals. Now American billionaire Gary Michelson -- a surgeon who has invented hundreds of patented medical devices and procedures -- has decided to tackle the problem with $75 million of his own cash! Through the organization he created, Found Animals, Michelson is offering $50 million in research grants to scientists with promising approaches for inexpensive, one-dose, surgery-free methods of sterilizing cats ...