Dogs Deserve Better, a non-profit working on numerous fronts to end the suffering endured by dogs that are kept perpetually chained or penned, is offering free memberships for students through January 31, 2008.

"A large percentage of our membership and volunteer base is young people," explains founder Tammy Grimes, who started DDB five years ago after watching her neighbor's dog endure years of loneliness and neglect, chained to a dog house in the yard. "Without the energy and ideas that young people and students bring to our group, we wouldn't be able to rescue nearly the number of chained dogs that we do. Because many students make New Year's resolutions to make a difference, we wanted to reach out to those young people who care about animals – who perhaps are upset by the sight of chained dogs in their neighborhood – and who want to finally take a stand.

Students wishing to take advantage of the limited-time free memberships can visit http://www.dogsdeservebetter.org/home.html";.