Monday Wag June 1

* Thinking of opening your home to a homeless feline? June is National Adopt a Shelter Cat month and with good reason: Kitten season is here and shelters throughout the region are overflowing with needy cats and kittens. Click on to the Pennsylvania SPCA web site  and find your forever friend. The adoption fee is $75 for kittens under six months and $50 for cats over six months. All adoptions include spay/neuter surgery, microchip, three weeks of free clinic care and all necessary vaccinations through the first year.  Unable to adopt a cat, but want to help? Consider sponsoring a PSPCA cat. A gift of $150 for a cat or kitten will cover all expenses for that special animal while he or she waits to be adopted, including medical costs, food, spaying or neutering and behavioral training. Donors will receive a photo and the story of their sponsored animals. For information, contact Emily Simmons, PSPCA development associate, at 215-426-6304, ext. 265 or esimmons@pspca.org.

* Update on the rescued chows of Lancaster - The Humane League of Lancaster County reports that most of the 90 dogs seized from a breeder/hoarder last month have either been returned to their owners, adopted or placed with shelters and rescue organizations. Thirty-eight dogs were placed with rescues or shelters, four were euthanized because they were so ill, malnourished and injured. Sixteen of the dogs found living in filthy conditions were returned to their owners. The show quality dogs had been take there for breeding purposes. [How a pet owner could deposit their animal at a facility without examining the conditions inside is hard to imagine.] Eight of the 32 remaining dogs at the Humane League are available for adoption but the rest have behavioral and/or medical issues that make them unadoptable. The league is working with National Chow Rescue to place those dogs. The owner, Teri Palmer Roper, once a nationally known chow breeder, is facing ten counts of animal cruelty and citations from the Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement for operating an unlicensed kennel.

*Hero dog of the week - Brittney, a nine-year-old bulldog dying from cancer, saved the lives of her owner in Grand Rapids, MI, by barking until he woke up, allowing them to both flee their burning home last week. Scott Seymore of Grand Rapids, Mich., told the Grand Rapids Press that Brittney woke him by barking at his bedside. Seymore woke find the roof of his home being consumed by flames. Seymore learned earlier last month that an ultrasound indicated there were several tumors on Brittney's stomach and that he may want to consider euthanasia. But Seymore declined, opting to allow his faithful friend to live out her life at home. That home was destroyed a few weeks later but, thanks to Brittney, Seymore is safe.

*In case you are planning a long road trip with your best friend this summer, you may want to know beforehand which hotels will leave the light on for you. The website Petside ranks the top five pet friendly budget hotels. Leading the way is Motel 6, which has been welcoming pets - fee free - since 1962. If you are looking for spankier digs in the heart of Philadelphia, check out Loew's in the historic PSFS building on Market Street. The rooms cost more and they tack on a $25 pet cleaning fee, but you can't beat the location.

*In other pet travel news, Southwest Airlines is now taking small pets on board. Starting with tickets booked June 1, for travel June 17 or later, you'll be able to bring a small cat or dog aboard for a fee of $75 each way. Pets will still be banned from the cargo hold. Get details here.

* A new summer fire hazard. Just when you thought it was safe to leave your dog's water bowl on your deck comes this: Fire investigators in Bellevue, Washington suspect a glass water bowl left in the hot sun deck is to blame for a house fire that destroyed the deck and an adjacent kitchen. The bowl was elevated on a wire stand and apparently acted as a magnifying glass that ignited the blaze.