In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, a lot of little things get overlooked, buried under the stress and exhilaration of the season. One of the most overlooked things every year are the nonhuman animals with which we share this world.

If you can find an hour or so of your time to spare, here's one way you can help remember our fourlegged partners, and it's really really simple.

Collect a few inexpensive things such as cat litter, dry and wet cat and dog food, towels and bedding [in good condition, please], cat and dog toys, and litterpans, and take them to your local animal shelter. Or even just collect whatever money you can spare and give it to the shelter. Believe me, every tiny little bit helps.

The holidays are a bad time for animal shelters. One of the biggest problems for already-overfilled shelters happens in the 2-3 months *after* the holidays, when the cute little puppy or kitty that parents have gotten their children as a holiday present turns out to be more than they can handle. Often it's through no fault of the pet -- prehaps there's an unforseen allergy problem, or it's a family that is unwilling or unable to afford the time and expense of properly raising a pet, and just discard Fluffy at the local shelter when it becomes too inconvenient for them.

Animal shelters in the US and Canada are already bursting at the seams with unwanted pets due to human stupidity. I can't speak for other countries, but I'm willing to bet the situation is the same.

But even just donating a bag of dry dog food or cat litter, or even just some bedding for cages, is an incredible help to the shelters, which are often barely getting by on donations and grants as it is. Please take a little time this holiday season -- and every holiday season -- and lend a helping paw to our homeless fourlegged sisters and brothers.