Pet adoption usually refers to the process of taking guardianship of and responsibility for a pet that a previous owner has abandoned or released to a shelter or rescue organization. Common sources for adoptable pets are

Dogs adopted from shelters are often referred to as shelter dogs or pound puppies; dogs adopted from rescue organizations are often called rescued dogs or rescue dogs (not to be confused with search and rescue dogs). Similarly, cats adopted from rescue organizations are commonly known as rescue cats. Many shelters and rescue organizations have put together informational websites to help the public choose the right pet for their family.

Pets are taken to animal shelters for many reasons.

The Dogs were a 1990s hip hop group consisting of Disco Rick, Keith Bell, Labrant Dennis and Fergus "Cracked Up" Smith, best known for "Crack Rock," their hit single with the chant "Yo' Mama's on Crack Rock!" The group released three studio albums The Dogs in 1990, Beware of The Dogs in 1991 and K-9 Bass in 1992.

Labrant Dennis was arrested in May 1996 for the double murder of Marlin Barnes, a University of Miami football player, and Timwaneka Lumpkin, his exgirlfriend.

Glenn Ross (born 27 May 1971 in County Down, Northern Ireland) known by his nickname "Big Daddy", is a Northern Irish International Strongman and Powerlifter who has represented Ireland and the UK in several World's Strongest Man competitions and various World Grand Prix and European Team competitions. Ross is the founder of the UK Strength Council and Irish Strength Association and creator of the UK's Strongest Man competition as well as several regional and national qualifying events.

Ross is a 5 time winner of UK's Strongest Man - 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.

Ross is also a 3 time winner of Britain's Strongest Man - 1999, 2000, 2001.

In 2003, Ross lifted three cars with the rear wheels completely off the ground, the combined weight including the frames of the three Citroen Saxos was almost 3 tonnes.

He has competed in the World's Strongest Man competition on five occasions.

It should be noted that in car-lifting events of the sort mentioned above, the full mass of the vehicle is not lifted. Instead a system of levers is used to raise one set of wheels off the ground. The load at the competitor's hands is therefore of the order of 4000 Newtons (i.e. would feel like lifting a 400 kg barbell). The exact load depends not only on the vehicle mass, but the distribution of that mass, which axle (front/rear) is lifted and also the geometry (i.e. lengths etc.) of the lever arrangements. This means that performances from one competition to another cannot be reliably compared.