Happy New Year!

Well, 2010 was an active year in so many respects, but it was certainly a banner year for animals! Many, many puppy mills closed down, hoarders raided and the animals moved to sanctuaries where they'd be properly cared for, and FINALLY some legislation with teeth regulating puppy mills in Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma.

There were, inevitably, major setbacks as well: hundreds if not thousands of birds, fish and other wildlife injured or killed in the Gulf oil leak disaster; dithering on "crush" video legislation; and a few games' winning performance causing selective amnesia in football fans where Michael "The Dog Torturer" Vick is concerned.

But especially for special needs pets, it seems 2010 was a year of major progress. The rise of pet bloggers and the huge success of their own professional conference, "Blogpaws," brought many of our issues to the fore. The momentum continued right into the mainstream press with several articles touting the adoptability of disabled pets, and that's a REAL victory!

But I believe it was a grassroots readership of blogs far and wide -- that may or may not have ever made it to Blogpaws -- that began this groundswell of visibility for the plight of disabled pets. I say this because many of us were blogging long before there was such a thing.

So, at this time when we're looking back over the year just past and forward to the New Year ahead, I'd like to give props to some of my fellow bloggers who have worked to make special needs pets more visible. Some of these are blogs dedicated to special needs pets, others have simply used their regular pet blogs as a platform from which to discuss this previously neglected topic. Doesn't matter -- whoever takes the time to speak out for our Almost Perfect Pets speaks out on behalf of us all. I just wanna say a great big "thanks!" from all of us here at Almost Perfect Pets.

Joyful Paws - Home of Frankie the Walk 'n Roll Dog and her mom, Barb Techel
Covered In Cat Hair - Mostly True Stories of a Life Spent With Cats
Pet News & Views - For pet and wildlife lovers
EddiesWheels.com - Help for handicapped pets
HandicappedPets.com - It's all about products to help disabled pets.
PeTango - Finding best friends for life.
Animals Reign - Pet News You Can Use
PetSide.com - Part of the iVillage Home & Garden Network
Animal Friends UK - From our friends across the pond
Three Heelers Wild - About three happy heelers, two of them deaf, wild in Texas

I'm sure I've missed many, many excellent related blogs, but these are the ones I'm aware of and whose content has informed and moved me. I also think we owe a great deal to the programming on the incomparable Animal Planet TV channel, which brings us all kinds of heartwarming and sometimes scary, but always thought-provoking fare about our fellow travelers with fins, fur and feathers.

Here's to another great year for our animal friends, with or without all their functions. We love 'em!