Why Adopt From a Shelter!!!??? Why Would You NOT Adopt???

Honestly, Anyone who knows me will say, I am never at a lack of words for things to say about certain aspects of animal welfare. In this case, I found that, it is not so much I am lacking the words, but lacking the words to explain such a huge matter without writing a book about it and what I have seen and what I know about the number of animals each year that get euthanized (kinder word for being killed) in Animal Shelters each year.

If you are an animal lover...which you probably are if you are on this site...there has to be more outrage over the issue of pet overpopulation and what is being done about it and what is NOT being done.

First of all, let me share some basic facts, which I have learned from working with animals in shelter and rescue about why their is a still problem with Pet Overpopulation:

People continue to Buy from a Pet Store and Breeders.

There are several terribly wrong things about this:

1. If you buy from a Pet Store you are supporting, what are commonly know as, "Puppy Mills". Puppy Mills are horrible...the animals are bred over and over again until they are too sick to breed anymore only to be "tossed"away after they are of no use. Also, due to the implorrible conditions the animals are forced to live in, often times, more times than not, the animal is sick and the animal, often times, needs a lot of medical care which can cost hundreds of dollars. For information on Puppy Mills go to www.NoPuppyMills.com.
2. If you buy from a Pet Store, every animal you buy another animal dies due to a lack of a good,loving home. Let me be perfectly clear on this issue. (which I think sometimes is misundertood by the general public.) Animals in Shelters are not the throw backs of society. For example, often times animals come from homes that someone was allergic and had to bring the animal to a shelter. I have seen several times animals being surrendered because their family was moving and unable keep their pet. The other scenerio is their owner passed away and the animal is sent to a shelter.
   Notice: None of these reasons are due to the pet being at fault.
3. If you buy from a breeder, you are doing just as much harm to animals in shelters just as if youwere buying them from a Pet Store. Again, everytime you buy another animal dies due to a lack of a good home. I am not saying that all Breeders are bad, although many run backyard "Puppy Mills", some are great. They care about their animals and make sure the animal is happy and healthy. But what I never understood is, if these people are such animal lovers, why contribute to the problem, knowingly, adding more animals onto the earth, while so many are still dying, everyday waiting to find a family. That is not my idea of an animal lover.
   
   For those of you who want to adopt a certain Breed...very simple solution...go to a Breed Rescue. They have breed rescues all across the world! So go to a site such as www.Petfinder.org (highly recommended by many shelters and people who were looking for a specific breed) and type in the state you are in and what species, breed, size and age you are looking for. It scans a database of all the shelters in the US for a match for you in the desired location. Pretty neat!!!
   Or you could go to other Breed Rescue sites which list all of the different breed rescues, such as: www.canine-connections.com , or another one called www.haldago.org (this is a great resource site...it has Breed Rescue in all of the US and all different types animals.
4. Lastly...please educate yourself by going to the following site.
   The Humane Society of the United States (the "HSUS") has a page which lists each year's Pet Overpopulation Estimates. It is a real eye opener...it breaks down everything clearly...just go to: http://www.hsus.org/ace/11830 .
   This will probably be one of the main reasons for people to finally STOP BREEDING AND BUYING WHILE HOMELESS ANIMALS ARE DYING.

That is it for now...I could go on and on...I deal with this EVERYDAY...so please take my words for what they are...the truth about a situation that gotten terribly out of control!

If you have any comments regarding this article, click on the Comment Envelope under the message or email me at Bun-E-Mail on the Mainpage.

Thanks for reading this and please pass on your knowledge of problems in the world today to others, so we will all benefit.(Both Animals and Humansalike)

Florida Disaster: Wish List for Shelters

Hello,
In a search to find out what could be done to help the thousands of animals effected by the Florida Disaster. I went looking for items that are needed by the shelters who are temporarily homing the lost or abandoned animals. I have highlighted the "wish list" in red. These are things that you may have lying around your house and other things are very inexpensive to donate. So take a look at the following information I got from the ASPSA website. Anything anyone can donate would mean the world to the animals and the shelters.

ASPCA National Shelter Outreach department has distributed $15,000 in funds to help the four-legged victims of Hurricane Charley.

The complete list of shelters that received assistance follows, along with contact information if you wish to send them additional much-needed funds:
* Suncoast Humane Society, 6781 San Casa Drive, Englewood, FL 34224; (941) 474-7884.The SHS is directing the relief effort in the Englewood area, and is currently dealing with hundreds of animals, with countless more expected. Most of the animals are storm-displaced strays, and will most likely have to be housed for at least 30 days. If you would like to help, mail a check or money order payable to SHS, or call to give via credit card.
* Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, 3519 Drance St., Port Charlotte, FL 33980; (508) 479-8484. The league’s roof collapsed, leaving the main kennel and cat area unusable. In addition, the outside fencing was destroyed, and much office equipment was lost. The group needs funds, dry dog and cat food, canned foods, blankets, towels, computer systems and a fax machine.
* Humane Society of Tampa Bay, 3607 N. Armenia Ave., Tampa, FL 33607; (813) 876-7138 or 7310. Coordinating efforts in surrounding communities, the society is collecting garbage bags, newspapers, towels, cat litter, dog and cat food, shampoos, toilet paper, first-aid kits, paper towels and funds to distribute through No More Homeless Pets of Hillsborough County. Designate checks for “DISASTER ASSISTANCE from Hurricane Charley in the surrounding counties.”
* Desoto County Board of County Commissioners, c/o Jim Selph, PO Box 310, Arcadia, FL 34266. The animal control building was completely destroyed by Charley. Designate donations for: “REBUILD ANIMAL CONTROL.”
* Humane Society of Polk County, 555 Sage Rd., Winter Haven, FL 33881; Lisa Baker, (813) 324-5227. The society’s building was nearly destroyed, and will have to be replaced. The mobile spay unit/bus flipped over and was wrecked.

Thanks everyone,

Chrissy

Feed An Animal In Need With Just a Click a Day

This is a website that really needs exposure...why???
Everytime you go to this site and click on the "Purple Paw" money is sent to feed an animal in a shelter or sanctuary...they explain it better...

As the site says:

"In 2003, we gave more than 28 million bowls of food to abused and abandoned animals living in shelters or sanctuaries.
Help give even more food and care to even more animals in 2004 by telling friends about this fast, free way to help animals. It's simple... the number of animals helped depends on the number of people who click on the "Feed an Animal in Need" button. More clicks mean more food for animals in need! "

There is no cost to you because funding for the food is provided by the sites sponsors!!!!

So go to www.theanimalrescuesite.com and click on the purple paw. Your click provides the value of .6 bowls of food and care to a rescued animal in a shelter or sanctuary.

So save the link and click on the Purple Paw everyday...why not???!!!