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Please read Donna Alvis-Banks' story about VA PAWS, a New River Valley-based group that was instrumental in saving dogs from the Bland and Carroll County puppy mills in 2007.

Think very seriously about where you get your next dog. Yes, the puppies at a pet store look cute and yes, it would be great if every pup had a home, and yes, the pet store might even make you a deal on the price.

But buying a dog at a pet store supports the puppy mill industry. And it could result in heartache for your family when you fall in love with a puppy only to find it has serious emotional or health problems, like little Foxy Stella, the puppy referred to in the article.

The American Kennel Club opposes the bill described below the photo with the story. They fear it will impede on the rights of responsible breeders.

What do you think? Should the legislature strictly limit the number of dogs a breeder can have at one time? Will this bill be the solution to the puppy mill problem? Or will it only drive it underground with even less oversight than it has now? If nobody's buying, there’s no profit in breeding, so is the only real solution to the problem of puppy mills consumer boycotts?

(Photo by Justin Cook, The Roanoke Times)

Roanoke's annual St. Patrick's Day parade is scheduled for Saturday, March 15 at noon. Look for many local breed rescues, like the Dalmatian Rescue of Southwest Virginia, the Great Dane rescue and my personal favorite, Star City Greyhound Adoptions, to march in the parade.

If you see a pooch you like in the greyhound group, let me know and I can probably hook you up.

However, the beautiful hound in the emerald green Happy Wag jacket already has a loving home.

An editor forwarded this letter and picture to me today:

My name is Judy and most of my friends already know what a dog lover I am. I work full time and like most of you who do, spare time is limited to “essential errands and must-do-projects”. That’s what I thought until I happened upon the Humane Society of Montgomery County several months ago.

I’d heard about their great work with such limited means and thought I’d just drop off a few items they have on their wish list. Well, I did indeed drop off a few items and took a quick tour of their facilities and met their family of dogs of cats. One look at those animals and reading the brief history on each of their cages was quite a wakeup call.

Some of those dogs have been there for 2 or 3 years. Little Joey has been there since 2004 and she runs the show – just ask her! Some of these dogs can be seen on the HSMC’s Web site, although not all are listed there. The HSMC is a non-profit organization that is fully funded by community donations. No money is provided by federal, state, or county governments.

It is a no-kill shelter filled with beautiful, well-cared for dogs. Each dog has their own little bed and their cages are filled with toys and treats. The staff at the shelter has done a wonderful job and these dogs and cats are their family. Unfortunately, space is limited.

What I thought would be a one-shot deal instead has brought me back time and time again, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself I have more important things to do. I go as often as I can with rawhides or toys; the dogs eagerly grab them. All except for one – Mary.

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Happy Wag blog reader Kim sent me this picture of her pooch, Cali.

"Here, she is anxiously awaiting the treat I had in my hand to get her to sit still long enough to have her picture taken! She is a 4-year old mixed breed we adopted from Mexico. As you can see, her cute little face is what makes my sister Lindsey melt whenever she visits!!"

Aunt Lindsey Nair, a fellow Roanoke Times blogger, said of Cali: "She's a sweet baby. One of only two dogs I know right now that I would gladly dognap."

Send me those photos of your cuddly critters. I will try to feature at least one a week.

I am shamelessly stealing an idea from fellow blogger Lindsey Nair and asking you to send me your favorite snapshot of your happy critters.

The Happy Wag is all about creating a sharing community for pet parents and the four-leggers who rule their lives. What better way to create that community than sharing pics or even video files?

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There's an old saying that it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog, that matters. (It's a metaphor, not a statement supporting dog fighting. Don't hate.)

Apparently, a pint-sized hero in Utah proved that old saying to be true.

According to a story in the Salt Lake Tribune, Hercules, a Yorkiepoo, defended his territory by scaring off a would-be burglar last Saturday.

Apparently someone broke into a condo in Orem, Utah, filched a purse from the kitchen counter and was on his or her way through the home when Hercules, clearly living up to his name, barked his tiny head off and awakened his sleeping family.

The startled perpetrator dropped the handbag and scurried away with nothing.

Good job, little guy.

I am quite convinced that my two dogs, each between 65- and 70-pounds of pure muscle, would happily show a robber where we keep the good jewelry if offered a belly rub and a few cookies. Perhaps we need to get a pocket pooch to watch over us.

(iStock photo)

After all the tragic stories from Arkansas in the wake of the tornadoes earlier this month, here's are a couple of stories with happy endings

Tim and Katresa Harris suffered more than damage to their Gassville, Ark. home on Feb. 5; their dog Pongo, 9-year-old basset hound/blue heeler mix, went missing when the tornadoes hit.

For three weeks, the Harris family has left food out for the dog at their uninhabitable home, hoping the pooch would show up. They also posted flyers and checked with the local animal shelters. Pongo was one of at least 30 animals in Baxter County, Ark. that was reported missing after the tornadoes.

Yesterday, Pongo found his way back to his dog house, hungry but otherwise healthy. His family said they never gave up on him.

Michelle Aaron and her family were not at home when the storms hit; when they returned they found their fence and their dog house toppled. Their 10-month-old golden retreiver, Brady, was lost.

Aaron posted a message about Brady on a Web site for lost pets. Another user who had found Brady and taken him to a shelter let Aaron know where to claim her dog.

In honor of Spay Day USA, the Humane Society of the United States is sponsoring a photo contest.

Submit a digital photo of your pet along with a very short narrative about how this special sweetie has improved your life. When you submit your entry, you can make a list of up to 10 e-mail addresses of family, friends and co-workers who can be notified to vote for your pets.

(This is not the photo I submitted of my pooches. I swear I am not soliciting votes here, just wanted to give you an example.)

After your entry is accepted, you will get an e-mail with a URL you can forward to more friends and family to stump for votes. Only one vote per e-mail address is allowed, so no stuffing the ballot box.

The entry with the best photo and story combination will be determined by a panel of celebrity judges that includes Patrick McDonnell, the creator of the daily newspaper cartoon, MUTTS, and dog trainer and author Tamar Geller.

And what goodies await the grand prize winner? Prizes include a studio session with Amanda Jones, a nationally renowned and amazingly gifted pet photographer, a selection of Nature’s Miracle stain-removing products, a GPS pet locator, a shopping spree at the HSUS’s online store and, the best of all, a $5,000 grant to a non-profit organization that participates in Spay Day USA.

Another 35 runners-up, as determined by the judges, will also get an assortment of prizes, and the 500 top vote-getters will also win a prize from Nature’s Miracle. Winners will be selected by March 19.

If you enter, post a comment with your pet's photo URL.

Did you stay up late last night to watch the Academy Awards? Yeah, neither did I. One of the drawbacks of getting older is you can't stay up late and still make it to work the next morning.

Well, while we are still in the mood to talk about movies, let's chat about our favorite pet movies.
I got an e-mail last week from Petside.com, a Web site sponsored by Iams pet food, which is polling to find America's favorite film featuring pets.

The Web site writers claimed to have watched dozens of movies to come up with their top ten choices. I would suggest they try another Blockbuster, join NetFlix, whatever, because these movies seemed like odd choices to me. Either I am too young or too old to have seen more than half of these movies, and of the ones I have seen, only one, "Best in Show," was a memorable film and would make my top ten list.

It's a relatively new site; you have to join it to vote for your favorite film. It only has 156 members, and only seven had voted before I cast my ballot. Singlehandedly, I put "Best in Show" in first place.

For my money, "As Good as It Gets" was the best film in recent memory featuring a dog. Little Verdell, a Brussels griffon, was as much of a star of the film as perennially-cool Jack Nicholson. I also have a soft spot for Mr. Jinx in the "Meet the Parents" movies and the hillbilly hounds in "A Christmas Story."

What's your favorite film featuring a furry four-legger?

(Photo: Tri-Star Films, 1997)

Tomorrow is Spay Day USA, a program of the Humane Society of the United States. Events are scheduled all over the country to encourage people to stop littering by getting their pets spayed and neutered.

Spay Day USA takes place each year on the last Tuesday of February. Created by the Doris Day Animal League (DDAL) in 1995, Spay Day USA became a program of the HSUS when it combined operations with DDAL in 2006. Many animal welfare organizations plan month-long events and campaigns to promote sterilization for pets.

According to the HSUS Web site, Spay Day USA participants spayed or neutered an estimated 1,387,000 animals in the last 13 years. A female cat can give birth to 18 kittens each year and a female dog can give birth to 20 puppies each year, and let’s not even speculate the number of babies an unaltered male can create.

So needless to say, sterilization campaigns like Spay Day USA have prevented millions of births of unplanned and potentially homeless animals, helped millions of people afford to keep their pets safe and healthy, and saved millions of taxpayers' dollars.

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