After writing yesterday’s post about keeping your pets safe from household toxins, I came across an article from the TodayShow.com about going green with your pets. The author mentions using dog shampoos made of natural ingredients and finding leashes and collars that are free of pesticides. You can even buy pet beds and blankets made from organic fabrics.

She also suggests buying organic and natural pet foods so that your pets don’t consume hormones, pesticides or other drugs. I’m sure if you have pets, you remember last year’s pet food scare when poisons were found in cat and dog food. Organic pet food isn’t a surefire way to avoid contamination, so you might even consider making your own (Google cat/dog food recipe and you’ll be blown away at the volume of recipes out there). My mother has spent many weekend afternoons filling the freezer with homemade packets of dog food for the family’s beloved lab and chow mixes, and they get far more excited over the homemade stuff than they do when a bag of store-bought chow is hauled out.

Finally, this article hits the biggest issue that might exist in pet care, and that’s adopting animals from shelters rather than buying them from pet stores or even local breeders. Millions of dogs and cats are waiting for their forever homes, and many of those future family pets will be euthanized if they aren’t rescued. Why pay hundreds, thousands, even, for a pet from a breeder or a pet shop when you can save an animal’s life? Most shelters prepare their animals for adoption with immunizations and neutering, and you usually pay just a small fee to cover the shelter’s expenses. No matter what its pedigree, your new pet will love you from the second he meets you.