Who would have thought that a former fighting pit bull owned by disgraced NFL football player Michael Vick would end up as a docile darling visiting young schoolchildren?

Thanks to the efforts of our friends at Best Friends Animal Society, former fighters such as Hector have transformed into loving pets. The trainers at the Utah-based Best Friends took this fighter with battle scars scattered about his compact maple-brown body and trained him to love: he is now a gentle therapy dog who visits nursing home and hospital patients. And thanks to you, our loyal customers, Halo was able to donate 43,000 cans of Spot’s Stew to Best Friends to provide the animals at the Best Friends sanctuary with top-quality nutrition.

Hector now lives with a Minnesota family, and he’s appeared at a local elementary school as part of a lesson on compassion and empathy. Says teacher Amber Anderson: “I hope that these children never forget Hector’s story, and that they learn to treat animals and people with compassion; there is a connection between how we treat animals and how we treat people.”

When Spencer Paige was just a toddler, his family adopted a Golden Retriever-Irish Setter mix from their local shelter. The two of them grew up together at their home in Brunswick, Georgia, with the dog– named Cuddles — providing countless hours of playtime with Spencer.

It only seems a given that, as Freekibble.com announced a contest for kids to write an essay about why their local shelter is special, Spencer, now 8, composed a moving essay to thank the Glynn County Animal Services for Cuddles.

“My shelter is special to me because they keep dogs like Cuddles safe and feed them until they get adopted to families like mine,” writes Spencer. “He makes me feel good when I come home from school. I think Cuddles is a lifesaver for me. Sometimes when I come home from school, I feel kinda sad and tired. Cuddles is there to greet me with slobbery kisses and a happy wagging tail.”

Freekibble.com founder Mimi Ausland, 13, was moved by Spencer’s words. “This one I absolutely loved,” says Mimi. “I love the part that Cuddles is a lifesaver to him, and I can relate to the part about being sad and tired after school. His essay makes me want to go over there and give him a hug.”

Mimi picked Spencer’s essay as one of five winners of the Kibble Krusaders Kontest, chosen from almost 500 entries from all over the country, and earning the Glynn County shelter $1000 worth of Halo Dinner Party. Says proud mom Vicki Nixon: “He’s a smart little guy.”

Spencer, a third-grader, lives in a home filled with animals: Cuddles, four rescued cats and a litterbox-trained bunny. A favorite pastime of Spencer and Cuddles is visiting the beach and playing fetch with a tennis ball. “Two years ago you couldn’t say beach around him because he would go nuts,” says Spencer. “He would start running around the house and and he would tell us he was ready to go.”

Spencer frequently visits the home of his aunt, Becky Kryos, who helped him write the essay, a home where he plays with her five rescued cats. And Spencer’s mom notes that when there is a stray in the neighborhood, people know to bring the animal to their home. Naturally, this ethos has rubbed off. As Spencer writes: “Maybe more people need to visit their animal shelter to find a lifesaver like Cuddles. I think shelter animals know they are special and that they can give love and kindness to a person as much as a person can give food and shelter and love to them.”

The Humane Society of the United States has partnered with clothing, jewelery, and a host of other companies for the holiday gift-giving season. Every gift you purchase through one of these sellers benefits the Humane Society, which promoted Halo’s and Freekibble.com’s Hi-Five event on its website.

Other gifts include a coffee club membership and magazines. One cool aspect of buying the reasonably-priced wines from Caravintas Winery — you can even create a label using your own dog. For more infomation, click here.

Here’s a unique gift. Adopt a rabbit, goat, llama, sheep, even a horse to benefit the hundreds of animals living at Green Chimneys in Brewster, New York, a one-of-a-kind school and wildlife center that uses animals to help rehabilitate troubled kids. Halo thinks so highly of this group that we made a $25,000 donation to Green Chimneys.

The animals you adopt will remain at Green Chimneys, but you or your gift recipient receives a certificate of adoption with a photo of the animal and his or her life story. And you can even visit him or her on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Your donation will help with food, veterinary care and shelter for your animal, and make sure he or she lives a happy life. Prices range from $25 for the adoption of a rabbit, pig or goat; $50 for a bird of prey, llama or sheep; and $100 for a horse or sheep.

For more information or to adopt, click on Green Chimneys Adopt A Animal or contact Lillian Roode at (845) 279-2995, ext.106, or by email at lroode@greenchimneys.org or visit.

You can do your holiday shopping at the ASPCA this year, with all proceeds going to support ASPCA programs.

There are colorful collars, T-shirts, jewelery, ornaments, doggie jackets and sweaters, hand-blown candles, and pet memorial bracelets and pillows.

You can learn much more about the ASPCA gifts at ASPCA Store.