Every Sunday morning, Needham Patch tells you about an animal up for adoption through the Animal Rescue League of Boston's Dedham shelter in our Pet of the Week feature. Happily, many of those animals—from ducks to dogs to hamsters—have found good homes.

In January, 281 animals were adopted from Animal Rescue League of Boston's Dedham shelter, as well as the ARL's shelters in Boston and Brewster, according to a recent news post from the ARL website.

In total, the following number of animals were able to find new homes in January:

• 202 cats
• 31 dogs
• 11 birds (including two doves and nine finches)
• 12 guinea pigs
• 11 hamsters
• Seven rabbits
• Two degus
• One ferret
• One chinchilla

Meanwhile, a number of older dogs were adopted through the ARL's Animal Care and Adoption areas, including:

• 12-year-old Obie, a Labrador Retriever
• 11-year-old Diva, a miniature pinscher
• 9-year-old Cooper, a cocker spaniel

A number of older cats were also adopted, including:

• 11-year-olds Angel, Fluffy and George, adopted within one week
• 10-year-old Jelly
• 9-year-olds Diamond and Dr. Hazel
• 8-year-olds Bandit, Little Dee, Stormy and Margo

Each week, Needham Patch features a new animal up for adoption at The Animal Rescue League of Boston's Dedham shelter as part of a Pet of the Week series. Shelba, a six-year-old German Shepherd, was the most recently featured pet.

Last July, an eight-year-old cat named Russo was adopted after being featured on Westwood Patch.