Remember Bea, the extremely cute dog we told you about last month?

After we featured her on this blog and on our Facebook page, a kind woman spotted her irresistible mug and, well, couldn't resist it. But what really sealed the deal was the fact that Bea was the woman's grandmother's name, so she figured that adopting this winsome little gal was "meant to Bea."

The only hitch in the plan? The adoptive family lives in Massachusetts, 550 miles from Bea's foster home near PETA's headquarters, the Sam Simon Center in Norfolk, Virginia. But PETA fieldworker Kelly Kercheval rose to the challenge and volunteered to make the 12-hour drive to Bea's new home. Fortunately, the pup proved to be an eager traveler and seemed to relish the chance to relax and see the sights.

Bea now has a spacious new 1-acre fenced yard that she enjoys running around in. She has three canine siblings to play with and has already claimed the prime real estate on the couch. Her family reports that she loves having her tummy scratched more than just about anything else in the world.

What You Can Do

If you are interested in adopting an animal, visit your local shelter or keep an eye on this blog for available animals. E-mail Adopt@peta.org if you would like to be added to our list of potential adopters.

For at least three long years, Nigel's "home" was a dark, waste-filled, and dank garage in Hampton, Virginia. Chained to a wall, the dog was never let out of the garage—ever—and was forced to live amid his own urine and feces.

The chain had become rusty and corroded after years of being dragged through his waste, and his feet were covered with sores and urine burns. His eyes oozed pus, probably from irritation caused by ammonia fumes from the urine-covered floor.

After the home was foreclosed on, Nigel's owner moved out—but Nigel was left behind. His owner stopped by occasionally to dump some kibble into a plastic tub. A compassionate neighbor alerted PETA's Community Animal Project to Nigel's plight, and our fieldworker, finding the elderly dog surrounded by pools of urine and piles of feces, unable to reach his food, and with only brackish water to drink, immediately got permission to free him from his prison and swore out cruelty charges. After taking Nigel outside to give him some food, she realized that his back legs were so atrophied from lack of exercise that he could barely stand.

Because of Nigel's advanced age, his many serious medical problems, and his having gone mad from years of solitary confinement in what was essentially a filthy, stinking cave, it was decided that this terrified old fellow had endured enough, and he was euthanized to end his suffering. 

This week, Nigel's owner went before a judge. After seeing the photographic evidence that PETA's fieldworker had provided of Nigel's horrific living conditions, the man pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced him to 90 days in prison but suspended the jail time as long as he stays out of trouble. He was also ordered to reimburse PETA for Nigel's medical care and, most importantly, was prohibited from ever owning animals again.

What You Can Do

If you ever suspect an animal is being abused or neglected, alert the authorities right away. Your call could free an animal like Nigel from solitary confinement and get his or her owner sentenced to jail instead.

Accompanied by his own former "shelter dog", Sky, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill into law last week naming animals adopted from shelters Colorado's official "state pet." Colorado is the first state to distinguish—and promote the adoption of—animals from shelters in this way.

The law was spearheaded by students at Peakview School in Walsenburg and Rooney Ranch Elementary school in Lakewood as part of a school project to learn about the legislative process. Kids attended a Senate committee hearing to testify in favor of the bill. One legislator's rescued dog, Angus, also took part.

At the hearing, 14-year-old Peakview student Roger Arellano reminded legislators that raising awareness about the need to adopt animals from shelters is "a matter of life and death."

In recognition of their achievement, PETA Kids has honored students at both schools with Compassionate Kids awards, and we've also sent thank-you notes and vegan chocolates to the bill's sponsors as well as the governor.

For a dog, being forced to spend every night alone in the dark, locked inside a grimy auto-repair shop, would be bad enough. But Coco's situation was far worse. The tiny poodle was also almost constantly confined to a crate that was so full of dust, dirt, and feces that anyone looking at her would think that her fur was gray or brown—even though it had once been white.

When two patrons of the New Jersey garage spotted Coco on a frigid winter day, the shop was so cold that the water in her bowl had frozen solid. They asked for permission to give her a bath and fresh water and to take her for a walk. The owner agreed, and Coco relished every second of her freedom, sniffing everything in sight, playing with other dogs, and bounding about. The pair begged her owner to surrender her, but he refused, claiming that the crated, 15-pound dog "guarded" his shop. 

Undeterred, one of Coco's advocates contacted PETA. The owner wasn't willing to cooperate with us, either, so we tried a different tactic. We recruited several PETA supporters in the area to drop by the shop to check on Coco and suggest to her owner that she would be happier in a home. We also alerted the local police department, and officers helped by stopping by and talking to Coco's owner about her situation and whether it met legal standards.

Soon, tired of people "bothering" him, the owner turned Coco over to the police. Now she has a loving home, and her filthy crate is a distant memory.

Would you like to help dogs like Coco? Join PETA's Action Team to volunteer to assist animals in your area.

When a PETA staffer left her desk for a few minutes, she returned to find that the sweetest case of theft ever had occurred. The culprit was Franco, a 7-week-old puppy who is greatly increasing the office's cuteness quotient while he awaits his forever home.

When Franco was first surrendered to PETA, we feared that he might have parvovirus. Thankfully, it turned out that his lethargy and anemia were caused by a severe case of intestinal worms, and he is recovering nicely with treatment. And the better he feels, the more his rambunctious personality comes out to play. He stumbles around the office on his wobbly puppy legs, grabbing pant legs and skirt hems and making a toy out of everything.

Like most puppies, Franco has tons of energy. When he wants attention, he will readily let people know by following them around and "talking," and he rewards everyone's affection with a thousand kisses. He is searching for a family that will take him on long walks, give him plenty of playtime and attention, and housetrain him gently. If your home is the perfect place for Franco, please e-mail Adopt@peta.org.

The Food and Drug Administration just lowered the age at which girls can get the Plan B oral contraceptive without a prescription to 15. Critics argue that that's too young, but PETA insists that birth control should start as early as 8 weeks—for puppies and kittens. It's called "prepubescent sterilization," and to illustrate our point, we're planning to place this billboard in Oklahoma, which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country: 

iStockphoto.com/Kati Neudert

Animals can't unwrap a condom, open a package of birth control pills, or walk into a pharmacy and request Plan B. So responsible animal guardians should start their young charges off on the right paw—by spaying and neutering them as soon as possible. This prevents "oops" litters before guardians realize that the animals are sexually mature. Cats, for example, can become pregnant as young as 4 months old.

Sterilization ensures that your animal companions won't contribute to the animal-overpopulation crisis. Just one unaltered female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in only six years. In seven years, one female cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens.

Early spaying and neutering has health benefits, too: It reduces animals' risk of some forms of cancer and other diseases. A study by the University of Georgia found that spayed and neutered dogs live an average of about a year and a half longer than unaltered animals.

Don't let your animal companions qualify for the next Teen Mom cast: Spay and neuter them. 

He might have been burned, either by accident or intentionally by a cruel person. Or he might have been hit by a car and dragged. No one knew exactly how the feral cat had gotten so horrifically injured, but it was clear that the huge, severely infected wound—with dead and dying flesh—that covered most of his side would spell a slow, agonizing death.

The woman who had spotted him on her wooded property in rural Virginia called her county animal control office for help but was told that it handled only dogs. The officer suggested that she call PETA—and she did.

A PETA fieldworker went to the residence the same day to set a humane live trap. Within hours, the suffering cat was caught and mercifully freed from suffering.

This cat suffered for a very long time before someone alerted PETA. We urge all guardians to keep their own cats safely indoors and to get immediate help for those they see who are suffering.

As wildfires tear through Southern California, homeowners are scrambling to gather animals, basic necessities, and prized possessions as they evacuate. And animal advocates have been busy helping to ensure that the families' companion animals are safe.

Groups, including San Jacinto Valley Animal Services, are opening evacuation centers for small animals, and many fairgrounds in the state have converted their facilities into temporary shelters for horses and other large animals. Microchip companies, such as Home Again, are offering mobile apps that allow people to report lost or found animals instantly from their phones.

Just as we and our international affiliates were during Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, Japan's earthquake and tsunami, Pakistan's monsoons, the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and other natural disasters, we are involved in helping animals during the wildfires. This time, we are sending lifesaving information to all relevant media outlets, urging them to inform their audiences about how to protect animals during an emergency. 

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Appropriately, today is National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day. If you live in Southern California, please contact your local animal advocacy groups to learn how you can volunteer to help animals who have been affected by the wildfires. No matter where you live, PETA's tips and "Please Save Our Animals" window cling can help you keep your animal family members safe.

Janice and her son, Jayke, didn't know where else to turn. Penelope, a dog they had adopted from an animal shelter, had gotten out of the yard, been hit by a car, and had injured her right front leg so severely that it dangled uselessly, all nerve sensation lost. Although she had been treated by a veterinarian after the accident, there was nothing more that could be done for her permanently nerve-damaged leg.

Unable to use the numb limb, Penelope simply dragged it around, and it quickly became covered with bleeding sores. The only solution was amputation, but Janice is a single mother on a limited budget who couldn't afford the surgery. Heartbroken, she and Jayke were faced with euthanizing their otherwise healthy, happy dog.

In a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, Jayke describes what happened next: "Finally, I called PETA to see if they could help. They agreed to do the amputation in their mobile clinic and worked with us to make the cost manageable—about a tenth of what I had been told by the vet it would cost me. They saved my Penelope's life and helped us when no one else would. I am forever grateful to PETA for all they have done."

Happy to oblige! We're just glad that Penelope is on the road to recovery and back to greeting Janice and Jayke at the door with her signature hugs, albeit minus an "arm."

What You Can Do

Please support PETA's no-cost to low-cost mobile spay/neuter clinics, which also provide low-cost vaccinations, flea treatment, and the occasional emergency surgery. Because the clinics offer services below cost, they operate at a loss and therefore rely on donations to keep the doors open and the wheels rolling. 

Every day, PETA's Community Animal Project (CAP) staffers respond to calls about animals who are malnourished, feral, sick, injured, trapped in storm drains, stuck in trees, dying on the side of the road, or kept chained 24/7 365 days a year. Mya and Becky are two formerly chained dogs who were rescued, thanks to PETA.

Mya had nothing more than a crumbling lean-to for shelter amid piles of trash. But after a social worker saw her living in such deplorable conditions, she asked the owners to consider parting with her. After they agreed, the social worker immediately called PETA.

Our friends at the wonderful open-admission Virginia Beach SPCA (VBSPCA) shelter accepted beautiful Mya, and she already has an application for adoption.

PETA staffers spotted Becky while they were delivering straw bedding to chained dogs elsewhere. This beautiful dog spent all day every day dragging a heavy logging chain around a ramshackle pen.

After CAP's repeated visits to the home to give Becky straw, toys, treats, and TLC, her owners agreed to give her a shot at finding a home where she would be allowed to live indoors with the rest of the family. Again, our good friends at the VBSPCA stepped up, and now things are looking up for Becky.

What You Can Do

Support open-admission shelters like the Virginia Beach SPCA. Workers at such shelters never turn away an animal in need because they know that animals are more than statistics.