There’s various causes I support, but animal rescue is always dear to me. Having volunteered for shelters, I can tell you the reasons/excuses that people have for bringing in their pets are many. There are legit reasons, of course - owner died, kids have developed allergies too severe - but people who work at shelters see reasons as blatant as “animal didn’t match my furniture”, “cat shed too much”, “don’t want anymore”, etc.
A friend of mine who works in pet rescue wrote the above. Sadly, this isn’t the exception when it comes to pet rescue - it’s often the norm. If you’re in the Georgia area and interested in the dog in question above, contact Clayton County Animal Control to adopt ASAP!
Pets, like babies, are a commitment. They take time, effort, and yes, money. You’re responsible for that life for as long as they live. If you’re broke or have a short attention span or you’re getting a pet as an accessory, then don’t do it. Those animals deserve better than short-term love/attention then a trip to the shelter, where they’ll likely be destroyed.
Please support NO-KILL shelters. There’s nothing wrong with older cats/dogs and in fact our shelters are loaded with plenty of healthy, well-trained older cats & dogs (and other pets). The most precious commodity that shelters across the country need is man-hours: volunteer your time, I guarantee you that it’s rewarding!!
If you can’t give time, then please give what you can. Shelters have ongoing need for all of the following and more; check the website for your local shelter or call them up and find what they could use! It is not cheap to run a pet shelter, and many run completely on volunteer donations.
- Food
- Cat litter (and for those shelters that take in ‘exotics’ like rabbits/guinea pigs/etc, cedar bedding)
- Clean, used towels (used to line living areas as well as for cleanup)
- Chew toys / cat toys
- Cleaning supplies (bleach, etc)
Get your pets spayed. It’s not the animal’s fault when it follows the call of nature and gets pregnant, it’s YOUR fault for not fixing them in the first place, and now you’ve added to the pet overpopulation. And no, your children do not “need” to “witness the miracle of birth” by letting your pets get pregnant. You want to show your kids the miracle of birth, buy them a video.
TRAIN your pets. 95% of “bad” behavior can be prevented or trained out. Some things (and some pets) are tougher to fix, but for every bad behavior, there’s usually an underlying reason or lack of training to blame. Patience, understanding, and kind methods of training can fix most problems.
