One of the funnest parts of my job as a Patch editor is working with the shelter in Montville, CT, the town I cover (check out the site I run, the Montville Patch!)

Happily, there are often no animals there to be adopted. But when there are, the animal control officer calls, and I take photos, or sometimes videos, and put them on the site, and who knows, maybe they help. I think they do.

Eager, a three-legged kitten, just got adopted, and I hope Patch had something to do with it. Want to see a video of Eager? Click here. Want to see a video of some pretty funny kittens? Click here. By the way, they still need homes, so if you’re in the market, and feel like traveling to Connecticut, I can hook you up.

A couple of years ago, with an Internet friend, I started the Art for Shelter Animals Project. In it, artists make portraits of animals in their local shelters or with rescue groups, then give the art to the shelter or rescue group. They can do whatever they want with it – sell it, auction it, put the art for calendars or coffee mugs, or decorate their offices with it.

Artists from around the world have participated – everyone from professional, well-known artists to classes of elementary school students, to people making their first paintings.

For an artist, the project is liberating. No one is ever going to be anything but totally and positively delighted with the painting. So you want to try making a purple cat? Cool! The shelter will love it. A pink dog? Great! The shelter will love it!

Check out the blog, and if you’d like to participate, it’s easy. Go to Petfinder, or your local shelter site, get a photo, make a portrait, send me a jpg, and give the painting away. I’ll put the image on the blog, write a little about you, a little about the animal if I can, and a little about the shelter.

I have some posts coming of on the blog animals up for adoption in Montville. One is of one of the kittens and another shows a golden lab with some issues. I made this painting of one of the dogs on the shelter’s Facebook page.