Every year millions of dogs and cats are destroyed in shelters and pounds. In an effort to help spread the word about how we can all help homeless animals, we’ve provided links to a few shelters and organizations that make a difference every day.

Please remember to spay or neuter your dogs and cats. And, if you can, adopt a homeless pet. You will find photos of animals waiting in shelters and rescues nationwide, and available for adoption today, at www.petfinder.com.

Animal Rescue Force (ARF) rescues pets from shelters that do not have a no-kill policy, fosters them with volunteers during the week and offers them for adoption through their two centers in New Jersey — at Route 18 Indoor Market East Brunswick and Englishtown Auction, Englishtown (in the gray building).

St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center – Located in Madison, New Jersey, St. Hubert’s has been helping animals for over 50 years.

Best Friends Animal Society is located on roughly 350 acres in southern Utah. They provide a no-kill, permanent home for those pets deemed “unadoptable,” as well as shelter for rescued animals that are looking for a good home. Best Friends’ mantra continues to be “no more homeless pets.”

Animal Protection League of New Jersey is a community based, non-profit, educational organization offering programs that promote responsible science, ethical consumerism and environmentalism. APLNJ also provides a free feral cat hot line.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has worked since 1954 to promote the protection of all animals. HSUS is the nation’s largest and most powerful animal protection organization, working in the United States and abroad to defend the interests of animals.

Pets with Disabilities is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the adoption of dogs and cats with disabilities. The organization serves as a rescue and an adoption placement aid for animals that have been injured through trauma or disabled by illness. Pets with Disabilities provides invaluable support and resources for the families of disabled pets and for shelters attempting to place special-needs animals into loving homes. For the animals it helps, Pets With Disabilities is a bridge to a better life and forever home.

The photograph of MacGuffin is courtesy of Rich Yasick.