Foster parents have a very special task in life. That task is to be a temporary owner of a dog, give him or her love and care, and then give that dog away to their forever home. When Nicki Clawson fostered a dog for the Northwest Boxer Rescue, she fell in love. The dog, Cookie, eventually had to go to her forever home.

Most of us have seen search and rescue dogs locating lost children or workers in rubble on many of our favorite television shows. On TV, dogs use any means possible to find a lost person, from sniffing an article of clothing to digging through buildings tracking an individual’s unique scent.

Last weekend, an EF4 tornado devastated parts of Western Kentucky. Thousands of homes were destroyed, at least 77 people were killed, and many families were displaced and separated from each other – and their pets.

Pima Animal Care Center have shared with us the beautiful friendship of Jukebox and Agatha, 2 down-on-luck Pit Bulls who come from very different backgrounds. Jukebox is a 1-year-old stray rescue, while 2-year-old Agatha was surrendered to the shelter by her family.

Christmas came early for one Tennessee woman, whose missing dog was hand-delivered by a UPS driver who found the pup along his route. Now the driver is being applauded for stopping to fetch a lost dog during one of his busiest days of the year.

Last winter, Steve was found tied to a lamppost at a bus stop in Canterbury, England. It was the middle of the night, it was freezing cold, and poor Steve was clearly in a lot of pain from what was later determined to be a broken leg.

I, personally, prefer kittens because the potty training is super easy – takes less than five minutes – and once that is over, it’s pretty smooth sailing and hours of fun. But not necessarily with a puppy.

A border collie named Tux found himself in a dangerous situation after he wandered onto a frozen pond in upstate New York. The dog’s hind legs fell through the thin ice, trapping him in the freezing water. Frewsburg Fire Company rushed to save the dog after receiving the early morning call.

Over a million dogs and cats are homeless in the UK, so animal rescues are turning to new ideas to attract potential adopters. Carla Lane Animals in Need located in Melling, Liverpool, has put a spin on the Elf on the Shelf idea to help homeless dogs get adopted.

Milly P Hope was found by a good Samaritan on a cold, wet, busy highway in Lubbock, Texas. Milly was dragging herself down the road in the freezing rain, unable to use her rear legs. She was badly injured and in danger of dying from shock and hypothermia.

Alex Johns from Cincinnati, Ohio, is celebrating a milestone birthday in a big way. He decided he wanted to give back for his 50th birthday and chose the animal shelter, Cincinnati Animal CARE, where he is a regular volunteer.