Two art exhibits in Syracuse, New York feature the works of an artist who aims to change the perception of pit bulls as fighting dogs.

Cyrus Mejia, a Best Friends Animal Sanctuary founder and painter, created 22 striking portraits of former football star Michael Vick’s dogs who are now living at Best Friends and are called the Vicktory dogs.

Click here to check out the portraits.

Halo is a big supporter of Best Friends, and now many of the Vicktory dogs are enjoying Spot’s Stew.

The Humane Society of the United States just announced the winner of its 2009 Dogs of Valor Awards — Baby, a Great Dane from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Here is Baby’s story:

After an exhausting stretch of cancer treatment, 82-year-old Elwood Cardon wanted to get away. He knew his family worried about him, so one night he decided to quietly slip out of his daughter’s house with his dog, Baby.

On the way to his mountain home, Elwood became disoriented and took the wrong turn. As he turned the car around, his tires slipped off the road, and the SUV plummeted 20 feet downhill where it wedged upside down between two trees.

Pinned inside, Elwood honked the horn and screamed for help. No one came. The passenger side window had shattered, and as it grew colder the 5-year old Great Dane snuggled with Elwood, keeping him warm and alert.

Several times she crawled out of the SUV to seek help, but each time she returned alone. Ten hours later, Baby finally got the attention of one of the remote area’s few residents.

The woman followed the dog, and when she saw the wreckage she quickly called for help. Fortunately, firefighters were able to pull Elwood to safety. He was treated for a cracked spine. Elwood Cardon passed away on January 28, 2009 at his home in Jemez Springs, N.M.

Click here to meet all of 2009’s Dog’s of Valor.

Dogfighting is all too common in the inner-city, and Sean Moore, now 38, was once a part of that scene, fighting dogs in his Chicago neighborhood beginning at the age of 12.

He participated in this horrid pastime until 1997. And for the last two years, Moore has been an angel for the dogs.

Working with the Humane Society of the United States in its End Dogfighting program, Moore goes into neighborhoods where dogfighting happens and teaches kids a whole other way of looking at dogs.

“It’s a sad situation what I’ve done to these animals that haven’t really asked to have anything done to them,” says Moore, who now owns three pet pit bulls. “[I thought] that’s what pit bulls are supposed to do; that’s what we were taught.

“I could bring you into the ‘hood right now and we could get a 7- or 8- or 9-year-old boy or girl and ask them what these dogs are bred for—and they’ll tell you these dogs are meant to fight,” he says. “That’s what I’m trying to change in my community.”

As many of you know, most of football player Michael Vick’s dog fighting pit bulls were sent to Best Friends Animal Society for rehabilitation. Halo is honored to support Best Friends.

A fan of Halo Spot’s Stew made on unexpected appearance on the Ellen Show this week, showing off some great doggy discipline. Ellen exclaimed, “I don’t know how he does it! I can’t even keep Mamma out of the liquor cabinet.” Enough said.

See the link to the Halo Spot’s Stew fan clip here.

This post comes to us from Alana Taylor, a social media marketing consultant for Halo. She is currently living in the East Village and double-majoring in Journalism and History at New York University. She also writes for Mashable.com and PBS.org. Alana will post here on occasion to teach us all how to use social media to help pets!

Our first blog post on using social media highlighted Facebook groups and fan pages as well as ways to use blogs. This time around, I’m going to give you a heads up on Twitter, DIY (do it yourself) social networks and social bookmarking — all ways you can spread the word about holistic pet care!

Create Your Own Social Network

If you are more of a leader and organizer than a participant, then do your part by creating your own social network where other like-minded pet owners can join and start discussions.

Ever heard of the site Ning.com? The popular and fast-growing DIY social network site is easy to navigate and set up. Anyone can do it. All you need is a positive attitude, a niche interest, and a reason for people to join. Before you know it, you’ll be running your own social network!

Some examples that are popular are Pet Lover’s Paradise, The Million Pet Network, and Kitty Happy.

Talk on Twitter!

If you don’t have a Twitter account yet, then you’re certainly out of the loop when it comes to virality and word-of-mouth marketing online! Twitter is a micro-blogging site that acts as a never-ending chatroom where people hold conversations, share links, and follow interesting people or brands.

Twitter has proven to be one of the most effective ways of sharing information with people online having news spread fast. Really fast. Once you get your account started, you can begin by following pet-lovers, pet companies (like @HaloPets!), and other interesting people in the community.

Some pet-loving Twitter users I like include:

@HelpAnimals
@AboutExoticPets
@WeAreTheCure
@Paw_Naturaw
@AlleyCatAllies
@PetHabitats
@HealthyPet
@ASPCA
@Kat5Rescue
@Action4Animals
@Liberty4Animals
@EcoPup
@SSPets
@AnimalActivism
@WoofWellness
@BFNetwork
@DogQuality
@PetReLocation
@Bideawee
@HolisticHealing

Begin by listening to what they have to say, and then be useful by contributing to the conversation, re-tweeting their messages and links, and getting people to follow you back. One tweet, much like the wings of a single butterfly, can create a great wind that can make a difference.

Subscribe and Share

Lastly, one of the most simple but extremely effective ways of helping to spread the word online is by subscribing to RSS feeds and e-mail newsletters of important pet sites, companies or organizations so that: a) You can stay aware, and b) You can forward the information to your friends, family and online network.

Even something as simple as sharing a blog post from your Google Reader feed or sharing it on a site like FriendFeed can make a difference. Start to build up your credibility as a person who is up-to-date with the latest news by consistently sharing important links and people will slowly start turning to you as their source. That’s how you become important on the web, by filtering information for people and sharing only the most important things.

So, there you have it! These tips should be a starting point for you to get the ball rolling and be more active online.

Have tips of your own? Success stories? Share them in the comments! (Don’t forget to use the social bookmarking tools below to share this post and your other favorite posts with friends!)