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Nursing homes and senior-living residences are rewriting their old-fashioned rules and increasingly allowing pets to move in, USA Today reported today.

Dogs, cats and rabbits — even a kangaroo –  are roaming the halls, lounging on sofas and sharing rooms at a growing number of retirement homes across the country, and in the process making them more loving places.

Some have been adopted as communal pets, rescued from shelters to live in a facility full time; others are animals that residents brought with them.

“Animals are all-accepting. They don’t care about whatever issues a person might have,” said Noralyn Snow, administrator at the Silverado Senior Living Aspen Park Community in Salt Lake City, where seven dogs, six cats, 40 birds and a baby kangaroo live with 100 memory-impaired residents. “And having pets around adds excitement and spontaneity.

“People grow up with animals, have had them all their lives, and this is their home now, so why wouldn’t they have pets here?” says Helene King, communication coordinator for Levindale Hebrew Geriatric Center and Hospital in Baltimore, one of 300 facilities worldwide operating under the “Eden Alternative” philosophy, which integrates animals, plants and contact with children into daily routines to keep the elderly engaged. “It makes such a big difference in their lives.”

Traditionally, most administrators frowned upon animals living in residences for the elderly, citing allergies, and liability cocerns related to residents getting knocked down, bitten or scratched.

USA Today concludes there have been few problems. “We just haven’t experienced a downside,” King says.

A little dog named Tiger from Bakersfield, Calif., reclaimed the title of of America’s fastest Chihuahua over the weekend, beating out 14 other tiny champs at the fourth annual PETCO Unleashed National Chihuahua Race finals in San Diego.

The 4-year-old pooch, PETCO Unleashed National Champion 2006, passed up the entire bunch of the nation’s fastest Chihuahuas – including the popular 2007 winner, Maddy of New York City – covering the 35-foot-long (1/18th furlong) track in just 1.9 seconds. Petco, which sponsors the competition, recaps the race on its website.

The 15 finalists – including Poppy, a Chihuahua from Annapolis — raced in front of thousands of cheering baseball fans at PETCO Park in San Diego between innings of the San Diego Padres-Colorado Rockies game on Sunday.

Nearly all of the almost 1,000 dogs seized from a Parkersburg breeding kennel have been transported to out-of-state shelters and rehabilitation facilities, where many of them will soon be available for adoption.

Only 61 dogs remain in an emergency shelter set up by the Humane Society of Parkersburg, said Maryann Hollis, executive director. Most are dachshunds, Jack Russell terriers and Yorkshire terriers. Hollis said the society had received more than 300 applications from people interested in adopting them.

“Local residents get first priority to thank them for being so supportive,” Hollis told the Charleston Daily Mail.  “The demand to adopt one of these precious pups has been tremendous. The compassion of the local community is like nothing I have ever seen before.”

Officials say 982 small-breed dogs and puppies were taken from Whispering Oaks Kennel on Aug. 23 after owner Sharon Roberts agreed to give up the dogs and cease her breeding business permanently.

They dogs taken to a warehouse in Parkersburg, then relocated to shelters and rescues from Utah to Virginia.

Those include: The Washington Animal Rescue League in Washington D. C.; Virginia Beach SPCA in Virginia Beach, Va.; Dashchund Rescue of North America; Danville SPCA in Danville, Ky.; Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah; North Shore Animal League in Port Washington, N.Y.; The Sterile Feral in Georgia; the Ohio Federation of Humane Societies located throughout Ohio; Luv4K9s in Dayton, Ohio; Citizens for Humane Action in Columbus, Ohio; Lucky Star Cavalier Rescue in California; Society for Improvement of the Coalition of Stray Animals; Purebred Rescue of Ohio and A Forever Home in Chantilly, Va.

Both Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and the Humane Society of the United States were on the scene over the weekend to assist with the temporary housing of the dogs.

For more information about adopting the West Virginia dogs, contact the Humane Society of Parkersburg  at 304-422-5541, extension 116.