One of my hobbies is crochet and I’m always looking for ways to use this skill for my pets. They have blankets and toys galore!

I get a newsletter every week that highlights different charity groups and has patterns and things for knitters and crocheters. Well, I found a couple of charities to crochet for. Both of these charities cater to pets and their owners.

The first one is the Snuggles Project. For this one, you knit, crochet, quilt, or sew pet size security blankets. Then, you donate them to your local shelters and let the Snuggles Project know so they can keep track of donations.

There have been over 500,000 security blankets donated to shelters worldwide in the past twelve years. You can check out this project at www.snugglesproject.org [1].

The other charity I found is Tails of Hope. Volunteers knit scarves that are offered in return for donations. The donations are used to provide life saving vet care for animals undergoing cancer treatments.

Another part of this project is their Blanketed with Love program. They send out customized care packages with a handmade blanket, toys and treats for pets in cancer treatments, hospice, or treatments for other major illnesses.

For more info on either of these projects, go to www.tailsofhopefoundation.org [2].

Tails of Hope takes monitary donations to. Both of these organizatons have free patterns for the blankets on their websites.

I also have some more pet descriptions for you. All of these friendly felines are in the pup/cat room at the Suffolk Humane Society, www.suffolkhumanesociet.com [3].

-Casanova is a 2-year-old male Siamese. His name fits him because he is friendly, playful, and VERY loving. He loves to be held and purrs all the time. A real sweetie!

-Stretch is a 1-year-old male domestic short hair brown tabby. He is friendly, loving, and loves to s-t-r-e-t-c-h! He came in as a stray but would make a great addition to your family!

-Zeus is a 4-year-old neutered male orange domestic long hair. He is a HUGE boy and is very fluffy. He loves to be rubbed and cuddled. A very COOL cat!

-Kiki is a 2-year-old female domestic medium hair gray tabby. She is a big girl and could be pregnant. She is very sweet and would love to meet you!

-Goldie is a 2-year-old female orange/white domestic short hair. She is a beautiful sweet girl that loves to be rubbed!

-Fluffy is a 6-year-old female orange/white domestic long hair. She is a sweet cat that loves being rubbed. She just needs a bit of grooming and some TLC!

-Smokey is a 5-year-old neutered male gray domestic short hair. He is a BIG guy with a beautiful color! He is very lovable and has a skin condition that can easily be taken care of. This sweet guy would love to meet you!

-Sheana is a 15-year-old (wow!) spayed female black/white domestic short hair. She is a very sweet cat that doesn't get why she's at the pound. She was turned over because her previous owners had a baby. Could you be the person to love Sheana the rest of her life? Come meet her to find out!

-Kittens, there are 5 of them, 4 female and 1 male (poor guy). They are 8-week-old domestic short haired tabbies and calicoes. They are very sweet and love lots of attention!

If I had more room, I would take Sheana home. She could stay here for the rest of her life. Don’t get me started on what I think of owners who get rid of their elderly pets!

By the way, I finally named the kittens. There is Rascal, Tinker, Bonnie and Wink. Their names fit them well too. Mac isn’t afraid of them anymore either. He’s decided that they look like their mom Abby now. He likes to play with Abby. So, we have kittens as big as my hand playing with a 90 pound lab. It’s a sight you won’t forget.