By Annie Blumenfeld, Guest Blogger My family searched for years for a loving and loyal friend and we rejoiced when our search happily ended by finding a two-year-old shaggy dog in a Houston, Texas shelter. We brought him home to Connecticut months later and called him Teddy.

Hi my name is Julie Spendal and I am the newest member of the SPCA International family! I am so happy and so honored to be apart of this organization and to help all of our animals around the globe.

It’s hard to stick to a diet on Thanksgiving – yours or your pet’s. Keeping your pet at a healthy weight is every pet parent’s goal, but sometimes during the holidays when you’re splurging – you want to treat your dog and cat to an extra something too. So here are two safe ways to spoil your pet without spoiling their diet this Thanksgiving.

Over the last few days you have heard about the successful rescue of Charlie’s dog Puppy from the Philippines, but Operation Baghdad Pups has been in full swing! In just the month of October, we have also been able to save 3 more dogs and one cat for Americans serving overseas.

It’s 1:09am, and I’ve checked my smart phone 6 times since I went to bed. I cannot sleep until I know that they are okay. I cannot sleep until I get the email that they are safe.

In association with our good friends at Spay Panama, 1,236 dogs and cats were not only sterilized, but received veterinary care and the compassion every animal deserves. And it’s all because of you!

In May, our Operation Baghdad Pups program team was able to ensure some of the most heartfelt reunions - seventeen in all.  These dogs and cats that would have otherwise been left to a horrible fate in Iraq are now living it up in North America!

I've been SPCAI's webmaster for over 4 years, and it's been a privilege to be associated with this wonderful organization. So much so that this past spring, I decided I wanted to devote even more of my time to animal rescue, that's when I discovered a group of people called Park Heights Animal Welfare Group. These dedicated volunteers go into a rough section of downtown Baltimore 4 times a week to care for several colonies of feral cats and have been doing it for 7 years.

This weekend, my friend, Amanda, told me a story about her dear pet of 16 years, Hannah. Hannah was a Jack Russell Terrier that she adopted from a shelter when Hannah was just 9 months old. Hannah lived in a loving, safe home where her every need was met and she was doted on with healthy food, free reign of the house, and lots of toys Sadly, the first 9 months of Hannah's life impacted her so deeply that even 16 years of love, stability and safety couldn't shake Hannah's fear of linoleum…

In 2009, we created a group to help the state of the dogs in the local animal shelter here in Moscow, Russia. Our region is continuously overcrowded with stray animals, and the shelter simply could not provide more space for the abundance of animals in need, so a group of volunteers independently came together and began doing what we could for these helpless and defenseless animals. Fittingly, we named our group, “Let’s Help Together”.