Last week all our time here on Scribbles N’ Bits was spent basically talking about ourselves and all the wonderful things pet owners have access to on Petsource.Org. Consequently a lot happened in the news which is what we will be spending most of our time covering starting today with one company’s efforts to donate $1 million dollars to help abandoned pets by the end of 2009.

The results of the recent credit crunch are everywhere. More and more companies are laying off employees every day. Economists are predicting the unemployment rate to grow as high as 12% after the first of the year. CNN is telling viewers that banks are foreclosing as many as 1/3 of all new homes. Now even as I write this Congress is attempting to bail out auto manufactures struggling to stay afloat in the U.S.  With all of this turmoil swirling around us it’s easy to see why pets are being abandoned in record numbers. Unable to do anything about it themselves, our four-legged friends are in desperate need of help from their human counterparts.  Now one company is coming to their rescue in hopes of providing some type of relief to the animal shelters that are overflowing nationwide.  Meet DogPile.com.

The next time you find yourself needing some info and about to click on the omnipresent Google search tool bar, resist the urge and help a pet by going to DogPile.com.  Owned by the Washington state based InfoSpace, DogPile.com is promising to donate a percentage of the revenue it receives every time somebody clicks on a link to one of their sponsors. In an effort to make it easier for people to use DogPile and give money to relocate abandoned pets,  InfoSpace has developed a downloadable toolbar similar to the one used by Google which it calls their “Search & Rescue” toolbar. In the words of Stacy Ybarra senior director of corporate giving for InfoSpace “Most Americans have their hearts in the right place when it comes to animal welfare, but many don’t have the means to give at this time. Programs like Search & Rescue can change the way corporations and consumers approach charitable giving. You search, and together we rescue.” The next time you get ready to Google, remember your favorite pet and DogPile instead.