“Obesity is the number one issue that we see in our patients, both dogs and cats,” says Dr. Mark Wenner, a veterinarian at Cascade Animal Medical Center in Rochester. “Everybody loves to watch their dogs and cats eat, so they feed, feed, feed. And we give them tons of treats, and those treats are calorie loaded.”

Obesity can put pets at risk for joint problem such as arthritis, diabetes and heart, liver and kidney diseases.

It’s easy to tell if your pet is getting too large. Just take a look. “Dogs and cats should have a waistline,” Wenner says. “They shouldn’t look like roly-poly little sausages with legs.”

Cats should not have a belly that swings when they walk. On a dog, you should not see the dogs ribs, but you should be able to feel them under the fur. “If you have to really press to feel the ribs, or if you can’t feel the ribs, they’re overweight,” Wenner says.

Just as in humans, diet and exercise are the keys to loosing the extra pounds on your pet. Wenner recommends a low-carb, low-fat, high-fiber diet for dogs. That diet, in combination with increased exercise from walks, games of fetch or trips to the dog park, can help dogs slim down.

For cats, a low-carb, high-fiber diet can work, or owners can try a high-protein diet. “It’s like the Adkins diet for cats,” Wenner says. To provide a high enough level of protein, the diet uses canned food in place of dry kibble. As with any diet, calorie intake is limited.

Your vet can help you determine the number of calories your pet needs.

Taking your cat for a walk probably isn’t practical, but you can get your feline moving with a cat toy or a laser pointer light to chase.

You can also encourage pets to move by stimulating their hunting instinct. Hide part of their daily food in small portions around the house.

“First, put it in really easy places for them to go find, then start making it more difficult,” Wenner says. “Now they have to be active and go search out their food.”

If you find it hard to say no to that cute face begging for food, increasing your pet’s fiber intake can help her feel full and curb begging. Carrot chips or green beans can be very satisfying for dogs. Many cats like a spoonful of canned pumpkin mixed with their food to increase the volume they eat without adding many calories.

Wenner says that the biggest problem for pet weight loss is the owner, not the pet. Owners need to control the calories the pet eats. You can’t leave food out all the time, he says.

Weight loss for pets should be gradual. Cats should lose no more than a pound per month. A large-breed dog can safely lose up to 5 pounds in a month.

Animal lovers and their dogs, cats, rabbits and birds filled the St. Paul School gymnasium to, in the words of Msgr. Richard Pricco, “honor God for all his creations.”

Msgr. Pricco spoke about St. Francis, the patron saint of animals and plants, and reminded those in attendance to treat their pets humanely.

“We have to take care of them,” he said, “and it taking care of them we are doing God’s work.”

St. Paul’s has held the St. Francis Pet Mass for over 25 years, and the event also collects donations of supplies and food for the McDonough County Animal Shelter.

“We have four boxes by our mailbox that kittens are dropped off in,” she said. “We found a mixed litter of kittens in an empty, duct-taped beer case that that was close to the end of our driveway, almost in the road.

“When we brought them in, the kittens were vaccinated, de-wormed and soon found loving homes.”

Such drop offs are evidence that the economic woes in Michigan are hurting not only its residents, but also their pets. The number of pets abandoned or dropped off at shelters is rising because owners can’t afford to keep them, according to the Michigan Humane Society.

She said if more animals are neutered, the number of unwanted puppies and kittens will decrease.

Although the economy and education of pet owners may affect future abandonment cases, Francis predicted an increase in adoptions in the holiday months.

Nino the dog plays tug of war with anyone willing and strong enough to hold the other end of the toy.

Then, volunteers take the dog outside to see if it will persist in hunting for a toy and if the dog can handle being startled.

One test includes opening an umbrella in the dog’s face.

The successful search and rescue dog must stay focused and ignore a distraction, like clanging pots and pans that erupt as it’s searching for a toy.

Volunteers will challenge the dog to find the toy, even when it’s turned around.

And lastly, a volunteer has to find out if the dog have enough drive to even scale a tree to get the toy.

Carr, an interior designer for Dick and Fritsche Design Group, has volunteered for the Arizona Humane Society for about five years, tending to strays in its clinic and taking some abandoned pets for extra TLC.

“It’s not really glamorous,” she said, referring to the towels she fetches and the paperwork she files at the clinic. “But I’ve learned how to give vaccines, I’ve shaved cats and I’ve helped with puppies being born and made sure they were breathing. I sit with the animals when they’re coming out of anesthesia after surgery.”

The same usually can be said of Claudia, who was adopted from the Humane Society, as well as Porter, Sadie and Oscar, each from animal-rescue groups. They check out the new arrivals, bring them out of their shells and teach them how to play.

Returning a foster animal to the shelter is a sad but rewarding moment. The stray, after recuperating in the healthier, less stressful environment of a home, is ready to take a permanent place elsewhere.

Carr always cries, but she rejoices when she sees one of her charges leave the Humane Society with its new family.

Several dogs from the Dogs and Cats Forever no-kill shelter will be on hand and available for adoption. Two are dogs that survived Hurricane Katrina after their owner, who refused to leave New Orleans without her animals, died in the flooding.

Young people at the church, including Sunday school children ages 2 to 13, have adopted Dogs and Cats Forever as their charity for the year and have been conducting fundraisers.

The rescue mission, Operation Baghdad Pups, was organized by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals International, which has brought scores of Iraqi strays to the United States since 2007.

One cat became sick, though not rabid, during the trip and was immediately euthanized. The other animals were quarantined, as is normal, at the Newark airport. Three days later, Crusader, an 11-month-old black Labrador mix that had been adopted by a soldier on a military base in Baghdad seven months earlier, was hospitalized with signs of illness, including fever, diarrhea, wobbly gait, agitation and crying, the report said.

On June 10, the remaining animals were shipped to 16 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia and Pennsylvania, according to the federal report.

The dogs and cats in this shipment got rabies shots only a few days before the flight, however, and as a condition of shipment, prospective owners had to sign agreements to keep them at home for a month to prevent the potential spread of undetected disease, Dr. Marano said.

Once Crusader’s illness was diagnosed, C.D.C. officials grew concerned about the possible exposure of anyone who came into contact with the other dogs, including people who attended events welcoming the pets.

Rabies is still common in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and parts of Latin America, killing about 55,000 people a year, most infected from dog bites.

“Travelers should be aware of the risk of rabies exposure when traveling to countries where rabies is common in dogs and should not import animals to the United States without properly vaccinating them against rabies and adhering to animal importation laws,” the agency said.

C.D.C. reports generally keep identities confidential, and the report did not name the soldier or Crusader’s destination.

As Jennifer Albanese explained, their decision to acquire a new pet unfolded with the same precision a family might employ to shop for a car or a vacation home. First they drew up a timeline: Albanese hoped to have the dog arrive right after their July vacation, so there would still be plenty of time left before school started for her two children Nicole, 10, and Peter, 6 to become acquainted with the pet. To choose a breed, the Albaneses took an online quiz designed to match a family’s personality and preferences with the ideal breed. The verdict: a Brittany spaniel.

The Internet and in particular Petfinder, which serves as a clearinghouse for abandoned pets nationwide is changing the way people look for pets. No longer is a search for a dog or cat limited to the local animal shelter and the classified ads. These days people are adopting animals from hundreds and thousands of miles away and getting very specific about what they want in a pet.

When Patricia Higgins of Winthrop recognized that the cat she had loved for many years was nearing the end of his life, she turned to Petfinder with several requirements. She knew exactly what she wanted in a feline: a large, long-haired, adult male. She used these parameters to find Pasquale, who was living in a shelter in Brighton at the time.

The proposed bylaw, which seeks to consolidate a number of bylaws from previous council administrations, limits the number of dogs over the age of six months that may be kept on a single premises within a residential area as well as the number of cats.

The proposed animal bylaw also regulates working horses and donkeys. These animals will not be permitted in any public place if they are found to be incapable of pulling an animal-drawn vehicle. All working animals must carry the name and address of their owners.

Residents will not be permitted to keep any other animal or poultry on any premises without the permission of council.

The council may from time to time determine the kinds, numbers and sex of animals and poultry for which a permit is required.

Contravention of any aspect of the bylaw carries a fine or imprisonment for not longer than two years.

In the case of a continuing offence, an additional fine or imprisonment for a period not exceeding 10 days for each day on which the offence continued, may be imposed, or both a fine and imprisonment.

Any court convicting a person of keeping an animal which is not under control in accordance with the provisions of the bylaw may in addition to penalties imposed, order the destruction of the animal concerned .

Once adopted by the council, the bylaw will repeal 10 existing bylaws of former municipal administrations that relate to the control of dogs.

Rev. Gilsdorf also asks participants to bring a can or bag of dog food for donation to a dog rescue near Port Huron. After the brief service, participants gather around picnic tables for refreshments while their furry companions snack on homemade treats. Nancy Ridella, a Troy resident and member of the congregation, makes “a great big cake” of ground turkey and other canine-friendly ingredients, topped with mashed potatoes.

Unity Church of Rochester and many other churches nationwide schedule annual pet blessings to coincide with the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, which is Oct. 4. The patron saint of animals and founder of the Catholic Franciscan Order of Friars wrote “All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures,” in his Canticle of the Creatures, according to the americancatholic.org Web site.