Ranging from the mundane to the extreme and furry, for 240 MS Points, the following can be yours to love like your own!

Large Dog, Pug Dog, Dog in Bag, Cat, Siamese Cat, Long Haired Cat, Goldfish, Guinea Pig, Monkey, Bird, Snake and a Pony.

If I had an extra 240 MS Points kicking around I’d most definitely buy myself any of those creatures, I mean, who hasn’t dreamed of owning a pony I’m not actually a 12 year-old girl?

Here’s a look at how you’ll look with a cute little pet in tow.

Yes you can haz Pony via Major Nelson

The report was compiled with public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; the animal rights group euthanizes an average of 5.8 pets every day at its Norfolk, Va. headquarters. The records showed that 2,124 pets were put to sleep last year and only seven were placed in adoptive homes. Since 1998, a total of 21,339 dogs and cats have been euthanized.

“PETA hasn’t slowed down its hypocritical killing machine one bit, but it keeps browbeating the rest of society with a phony ‘animal rights’ message. What about the rights of the thousands of dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens that die in PETA’s headquarters building?” said CCF Research Director David Martosko.

In defending the organization PETA spokeswoman Ashley Byrne said CCF is only concerned with protecting their interests rather than protecting animals.

“I think that there are two things that need to be mentioned. First, the fact that CCF is a group that is funded by the meat, alcohol, pharmaceutical and tobacco industries and most of those industries try to use their money to hide their bad practices. They know PETA is doing anything they can to expose the their wrong doings and they’ll do anything they can to fight back as well,” said Byrne.

The campaign manager added that euthanasia is not a subject people like to discuss critically, but that is used to point the finger. Because of “casual” pet acquisition, as Byrne put it, many animals that can be adopted at shelters are left without a home whenever people buy a pet from a breeder or a pet store. Furthermore, Byrne said that PETA puts pets to sleep only in cases where the animals have severe behavioral issues, like aggressiveness, or are too old or sick to be adopted.

“We think ourselves as the shelter of last resort because a lot of shelters give us animals that are not adoptable, they are euthanized just as they would be at other shelters and at least with us they are given a last resort in a loving and peaceful environment,” Byrne added.

But despite having a $32 million budget, PETA does not put that money or corresponding effort into an adoption shelter. The organization uses money from that budget to create campaigns like Animal Birth Control (ABC), which educates and encourages pet owners to spay and neuter their animals so that those at shelters do not have to compete with newborn kittens or puppies, amongst others.

“People who do care about these issues can help by never buying form a breeder or pet store but only adopting from a shelter and spaying and neutering pets. Our t blog is filled with photos of animals and the type of cases that PETA handles for euthanasia. After you read stories and look at photos to understand the way these animals are suffering, you can see why we have to do this,” said Byrne.

A tiny Yellow Labrador Retriever puppy had its leg pressed against its cramped metal cage. It was cut and bleeding badly. She asked to see the puppy immediately, and as it clung to her she knew this wasn’t the first time this animal had felt pain.

Many people are simply unaware that many pet store animals come from “puppy mills,” high-volume, sub-standard dog breeding operations.

Unfortunately this is a story that is repeated time after time at pet stores across the United States. According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 6-8 million pets enter shelters each year. With so many animals in need one wonders why there is a need for Pet Stores at all.

Howard went about contacting several animal rights groups in the Atlanta area to address the pet store issue with little success. Steadfast and tenacious, she heard of a young gentleman who had taken a job at one of the Docktor Pet Centers merely to help the animals. She met him, rented a video camera and documented many sick and dying puppies.

Footage in hand, Howard partnered with animal abuse investigator Robert Baker. Their efforts led to a series of exposes on ABC’s 20/20 as well as People and Life Magazine in which the Docktor Pet Stores were named directly. They also showed the horrors of puppy mills.

Docktor Pet Centers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 1993. The company had more than 300 franchises at the time. Howard and Baker went on to start the Companion Animal Protection Society in Cohasset, Mass. It is the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals.

Since that time Howard has worked with Dateline NBC, CNN, Hard Copy, and Numerous Newspapers around the country, as well as an HBO documentary that will air the end of 2008.

The Companion Animal protection society will be holding their first ever “Claws and Paws Shop” online auction to raise funds and awareness for their critical mission from November 5-30. Items include trips to Australia, Bermuda and signed memorabilia from the Boston Red Sox. There are also a ton of Pet items! Visit www.caps-web.org for more information.

Courtesy of Image Unlimited Communications. Blast Magazine edits commentaries for style only, and they do not necessarily represent the opinions of Blast Magazine, its editors or its publisher.

This case occurred a few days after Halloween, and the pet had been left at home all day with ready access to Halloween candy. Dr. Hammer estimated that the dog consumed the candy that morning, and, by the time the pet owners returned home, it was already too sick to recover. The dog died a short time later. This isn’t the only patient that Dr. Hammer has lost due to chocolate poisoning, especially after Halloween. Sadly, it’s relatively common.

That’s why Dr. Hammer, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), advises all his clients to take caution during holidays when there may be sweets around the house, particularly Halloween. Holidays are a lot of fun for families, but may be dangerous and stressful for animals, particularly dogs.

Dr. Hammer says that Halloween candy is unhealthy for dogs in two ways: chocolate toxicity and bowel obstructions. Chocolate is poisonous to dogs. The darker the chocolate, the more deadly it is. That’s because it’s the cocoa — which some researchers say is beneficial for people to consume — that is the deadly ingredient for dogs. Baker’s chocolate is the most dangerous because it has the highest cocoa content. But even if candy isn’t chocolate, it can still be potentially deadly for dogs. For instance, an over excited dog may swallow a candy whole, resulting in a bowel obstruction a few days later.

“Obviously, the solution for that is to put the candy up,” Dr. Hammer said. “Many children like to come home after going house to house on Halloween and dump their bags out on a coffee table or on the floor to see what they’ve got. Put the candy away in a cabinet. Don’t leave it unattended.”

Dr. Hammer noted that among his clients he’s noticed that dogs most commonly suffer unduly with stress on Halloween. Naturally protective of their home, dogs are sensitive to having many strangers stop by for a short visit on the front stoop and ring the doorbell.

Cats, alternatively, may be a little scared on this holiday, but they generally deal with it by hiding until it’s over, Dr. Hammer said.

For dogs that do find Halloween overwhelming, Dr. Hammer said that there are medications available.

“Sometimes I advise clients that an anti-anxiety medication is a good idea for a dog that is having troubles on Halloween, and sometimes a tranquilizer can help the animal deal with it,” Dr. Hammer said. “If you know your pet is prone to problems on Halloween, speak to your veterinarian now and make plans to help relieve the stress on your pet, or, if necessary, to remove your pet from this stressful environment for a day.”

The AVMA website offers a great deal of information on this and other health issues for pets.