The next time you walk into a pet store or any other place with cats and dogs and look at them playing or sleeping in cages, think for just a moment that most of them are all on a journey to hopefully a good life in what they hope will be a forever home. If you are one of those who falls in love with one or more of them, adoption will be in the air, and it will be a win for everyone.

Sadly, not every cat and dog is so lucky. Rather, many are left alone outside with no one to care for them, and the only food and water they have is what they find on their own.

Others are picked up and turned into a shelter which keeps them for a time, but if time goes by and on one comes for them, they may not live much longer. They will be put to sleep.

Why is that? Who decides when an animal's time on earth is up? What, if anything, can be done about it?

We are taught that in competition, we want always to be Number One, or close to it. But in the euthanasia business of animals, California is Number One, North Carolina is second, followed by Texas in third place. These are the rankings where you want your state to be at the bottom.

Carla Roshitsh, President of Paws for LIfe, a non-profit in North Carolina, whose sole reason for being is the finding and protection of our four-legged friends with the ultimate goal of finding them a home.

This is tough work. Cats and dogs sometimes have a tough life. I hope you will listen to this podcast interview with Carla as she will take you inside the ongoing struggle to make the world a better place for animals.

Volunteers in Paws for Life and other such organizations all over the country work every day to save lives. There are times of hope and joy and success. There are also times of disappointment and sadness.

Still, Hope springs eternal...their website is www.pawsforlifenc.org.