Hi, I've lived in Israel most of my life, I volunteer at JSPCA and would like to explain a little:
Israel is not war zone, it is a modern, Western country with buildings, schools, universities, traffic, chain stores and all, just like any other European or American country. There are very few and small areas where there is continual military activity, and fortunately this is far from the central cities. Of course we all hope peace is around the corner, but until then, at least the animals aren't suffering from direct contact with armed forces.
Cats - Almost all cats are street cats, the public opinion for some reason is that cats are an unsanitary nuisance. Children are discouraged from getting anywhere near them, people who provide them with food and water are considered weird, and drivers barely slow down when they see a cat. The saddest thing is that their life expectancy is about 2-3 years. I've had my heart broken several times, it's terrible. Spay Israel is a great way of making sure less cats have to go through a life of pain and suffering.
Dogs - The dogs in the shelters are a mix of stray, abandoned home dogs and unwanted litters. It's awful, people just don't feel obligated to their pets, they think they're like toys - once they are slightly inconvenient, they are sent to a shelter. I've seen dogs thrown out of the house after years, only because they got older, became blind, peed in the house or because the family went on vacation, had a baby or similar reasons. These poor dogs don't know what hit them, and suffer terribly from life in the shelter. Also, most people who want a dog don't adopt from a shelter, but go to to the pet shop. Some dogs suffer violence and arrive at the shelter terrified of humans. Unwanted litters are especially sad, as they are mostly not "traditionally cute" or pedigree, and people seem uninterested. Most of them live to adulthood in the shelter.
My fiance and I volunteer at JSPCA on weekends, cleaning the cages and yards, and walking the dogs. Both cats and dogs are so loving, so trusting and friendly, it breaks your heart every time you lock the gate behind you and see their hopeful eyes lower in acceptance of their plight.
I think it's time people shifted the focus from only themselves and their own needs and started focusing on others that need their help - the environment, animals, humanity etc. A little goes a long way. I wish people would make even a small effort to change their way of thinking, notice their surroundings and do some acts of kindness, like adopt a pet, put out water for cats in sweltering heat, volunteer at an old-age home, buy and waste less etc.
Alicia does a wonderful job educating, enlightening and inspiring so many people every day. Let's all take her important posts to heart, and try to make it a better world for all of us!

I just adopted my second cat. One from the Humain Society las year and the second from a woman who had a family abondaned their cat and drop it off at their house. She was going to be put to sleep so she kept it and found out she was pregnant now I have little Rue only 8 weeks old and Luna one and half! But when I was young we used to buy our pets at the rescue shelters.

A great animal organization here in Los Angeles is the Beagle FReedom Project. They rescue beagles that have been used for medical research, or cosmetic and household product research. After these animals live a life of abuse and torture, they are put to death. The Beagle Freedom project rescues these sweet dogs and finds good homes for them. Last year they rescued 40 beagles from Spain, one of which I was lucky enough to adopt. These poor animals go through legal abuse supported by our buying habits. If you can't adopt, at least buy cruelty-free products!

I never saw Cats in the condition and numbers anywhere else like I saw in Israel. Particularly on Mt. Carmel where their climbing prowess had them literally all over the place. It blew me away.

and yes! you can adopt a dog from overseas, contact the JSPCA for details :-)

Thank you for posted this! Also Puerto Rico has a huge problem with stray dogs. Over 100,000. Here's a doucmantary called 100,000 which won an emmy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NnnZbZiy9M&feature=player_embedded#! I recented resuce a dog from Puerto Rico through a Program in New York. We are so Happy he such a great dog!!!