The Virginia Senate has passed a bill aimed at preventing PETA from killing dogs and cats at their headquarters in Norfolk.

As a dog owner, I feel guilty leaving my hounds in their kennel for even a few hours. Dogs belong with their human companions; curled up by the fire, lounging on the couch, chilling by the fridge hoping to snag a piece of dropped cheese.

In the age of social media and the transparency of everything, traditional sheltering and animal control models that essentially amount to population control by the sanctioned killing of homeless pets just do not stand up to scrutiny.

We have even been known to FaceTime so they can see their granddogs, much to the confusion of Julie and Stephan who look quizzically at the screen when they hear the high pitched voices calling their names.

How do I know who you are? Because the people at Animal Control gave me Cocoa's intake sheet. You know, the one you filled out. The one that said Cocoa was 12 years old and you'd had her all those years. I just couldn't understand why someone would dump a family member.