This week’s featured dog is Jillian. Jillian is a young, super friendly pit bull terrier mix. She is a petite girl – she weighs about 26 pounds when she came to the shelter. She’s only 6-12 months old.

Jillian came to the shelter on August 18, 2011 and has a sad story. Her owner left her with a friend when they were moving and they never came back to get her!

She is very excited at the shelter and just wants to get out of her cage. She’s locked up in a small space for long periods of time and, being a puppy, she really needs lots of exercise and stimulation and someone to teach her how to behave. When she does get out, she is happy to run around and play. She craves interaction and companionship and needs some structure and stability.

Jillian absolutely adores people and can barely contain her excitement when they show her attention and kindness. The shelter staff introduced her to some cats there and she wasn’t very interested in them. The shelter also tested her with some of her dog shelter mates and she did just fine. She was way more interested in attention from her human friends.

Because she can get a little riled up (although she will most likely settle down in a home once she gets a little older), Jillian probably should go to a home with bigger kids (over 5 years) that can handle her playing with them.

The shelter where Jillian lives right now has a very high intake rate and only so much room for puppies. Unfortunately, the shelter has to accept every animal that is dropped at its door! This puts Jillian and her furry friends there at risk every day that they stay there. Even though she’s a young, healthy, super friendly, affectionate girl, her life is at risk! So if you can find room in your home and your heart, please foster or adopt her!

Jillian is up to date on all of her shots, microchipped and will be neutered when you take her home.

Jillian currently resides at the PSPCA’s Animal Care & Control Team (ACCT), 111 W. Hunting Park Avenue. For more information call: 267-385-3800. ACCT is open 365 days a year. If you cannot adopt her permanently but would like to help anyways, you can always consider fostering Jillian until she finds her happy ending.

Update (Sept. 7): We learned that Hickory was reunited with his family two days ago.

This information comes from the missing cat’s owners who live near 46th and Pine:

We are searching for our cat, Hickory. He has been missing for over a week now – he is a wanderer so we weren’t too worried at first but he sometimes strays far and I’m wondering if he got lost or someone took him in mistakenly.

He is black and grey striped with white on chest and paws (I think he is brown as well, but my son thinks just grey), with green eyes.

He usually wears a collar with his name and phone # but I wonder if it came off. He is very friendly and will usually approach people. He is micro-chipped.

If you have seen him or think you have seen him, please let us know. You can call 215-510-7067 and speak to Al. Thanks, he is very much missed.

Reader Kristen wrote us with this information:

This little cat broke into my house and has decided this is where she lives but I think that she might belong to someone else in West Philly.

Found near 49th and Springfield.

I’m treating her for fleas and making sure she is neutered so she might be a stray but before I adopt her out I wanted to put out the call.

Owners can call me at 917-280-4287 and describe the collar (no tags) she was wearing.

This kitten was found last night (around 10 p.m.) near 42nd & Spruce. If you know the owner please reply to this Craigslist email address: comm-utevc-2559261651@craigslist.org

This week’s featured cat is Sophia. She’s currently in the window at Baltimore Pet Shoppe. She is a pretty young cat who nevertheless had kittens by the time she was picked up by someone who took her to the Cat Doctor (a teen mom statistic!).

Sophia is very petite and sweet, she loves to tell her foster mom and visitors how much she adores them. She’s not shy but not aggressive, and enjoys string and her catnip mouse — and especially the catnip mouse attached to string. She is a tabby but her fur looks more like some exotic wood grain, plus she has cool-looking Cleopatra lines around her eyes.

Her foster mom hasn’t witnessed her with any other cats but since she is good-natured and playful, she may benefit from being with other cats, especially youngsters. She’s also a good groomer and has tidy litter box habits.

Sophia is about one year old, spayed, FIV/FeLV negative, FVRCP and rabies vaccinated, received a fecal exam to test for parasites, and was treated for fleas and parasites as needed.

If you want to meet Sophia, stop by Baltimore Pet Shoppe (4532 Baltimore Ave.). For more information about the adoption process and to fill out an application visit the City Kitties’ website, www.citykitties.org. Adoption fee is $85 to help subsidize the cost of veterinary care.

This week’s dog is Petey. Petey (or Sweet Pete) is the sweetest pup at the shelter. He was adopted and then returned after a short while because the family’s youngest child ended up being very allergic. Poor Pete needs a second chance!

Petey’s just a little boy – about 6-12 months old, with a soft, handsome, brindle coat. Although nervous, Petey loves being around people, and seems to thrive on all the hugs he’s getting from his volunteer friends.

Petey did extremely well on his behavioral evaluation, in spite of his fears – he becomes highly engaged around food, but had no problems with his food being taken away from him. He’s interested in toys but isn’t quite sure what he’s supposed to do with them – nobody’s ever played with him before.

His ideal home would be one with a kind human who can show him how much more fun life is when there’s lots of toys to play with. Petey was also great when tested with other dogs – he did best with a calm male who seemed to bring him out of his shell and engage Petey’s playful side. Petey showed a mild interest in cats – nothing alarming, and can be retested with cats at your request.

All in all, Petey’s a young pup with lots of potential that really needs to get out of the scary shelter – maybe you can be the one to help Petey blossom.

Please come meet him today – Petey currently resides at the PSPCA’s Animal Care & Control Team (111 W. Hunting Park Avenue). Phone: 267-385-3800. ACCT is open 365 days a year.