Animal Shelters

[Greenchoice]

Hey guys.

Did you guys know that every year 17 million people are looking to get a new pet yearly? That's a lot of pets! To top it off 8 million dogs and cats are available from shelters annually, sadly though 3 million of these are euthanized every year. As environmentalists our goal is partially to save and reduce waste, the protection of these lives seems a worthy extension of our perspective.

My job(i work for a marketing company) recently started a project with Maddie's Fund, The Humane Society and the Ad Council, to reduce the number of animals put down in shelters. We're going about this by trying to change the image of the shelter animal so that people know that the shelter animal is a reliable friendly future member of the family.

Check out this fun website it has a tool to find shelters in your area: http://youcastcorp.com/shelter_pet

I have 2 cats, one is a foundling, ino, and the other is a shelter cat, neko. Both are amazing pets and are those most loving cats I ever had, what are some of the experiences you guys have had with saving shelter animals?

[canadaguy]

Hey guys.

Did you guys know that every year 17 million people are looking to get a new pet yearly? That's a lot of pets! To top it off 8 million dogs and cats are available from shelters annually, sadly though 3 million of these are euthanized every year. As environmentalists our goal is partially to save and reduce waste, the protection of these lives seems a worthy extension of our perspective.

My job(i work for a marketing company) recently started a project with Maddie's Fund, The Humane Society and the Ad Council, to reduce the number of animals put down in shelters. We're going about this by trying to change the image of the shelter animal so that people know that the shelter animal is a reliable friendly future member of the family.

Check out this fun website it has a tool to find shelters in your area: http://youcastcorp.com/shelter_pet

I have 2 cats, one is a foundling, ino, and the other is a shelter cat, neko. Both are amazing pets and are those most loving cats I ever had, what are some of the experiences you guys have had with saving shelter animals?

I, reluctantly, take a different view on this. I love animals of all kinds, including both cats and dogs (I never understood the rivalry there.) I used to be a big supporter of no-kill shelters. So long as people are going to have pets, it's much better to place abandoned pets with a family or individual that will care for them. At the same time, we have too many of them. What we need most is to enforce laws on spaying and neutering so that we don't have an access of animals no one wants to care for. In the end, though, we may have to euthanize some of them, as even most no-kill shelters eventually came to realize.

So, I completely agree with trying to maximize the matching between those who abandon pets, and those who want them, as well as screening people to make sure they are committed before purchasing or adopting a pet. However, while I usually don't agree with PETA (I used to love the alternative acronym People Eating Tasty Animals), their views on pets are fairly sensible:

http://www.peta.org/campaigns/ar-petaonpets.asp

I don't agree with the anthropomorphizing they sometimes do, but on this issue, they are right. We keep pets because they make us happy, and while most of us treat them well, they are, essentially, an affectation. Even worse, which PETA fails to mention, we spend a lot of money and resources on our pets, who are often much better provided for than many people in this world.

If our goal is truly to reduce emissions and reduce excess consumption, we must, unfortunately, give up the idea of keeping pets. I think what really made this hit home for me is when I was reading the news a few years ago and, just by chance, there happened to be two news reports about the same time and place in Afghanistan, by unrelated reporters, which completely blew me away.

The first article was about how British troops had stormed a house and (I can only assume mistakenly) killed a lot of civilians, women, children and an old man, but there were no insurgents there. The second article, apparently about the same place, talked about British soldiers saving an abandoned dog and taking him home to the UK to care for. The second article was the longer one. I couldn't help but speculate if a troop of British soldiers had just killed a bunch of people, then, taking the moral high ground, saved the dog whose masters they had just killed. It puts things in perspective.

[outsidethebox]

Hey guys.

Did you guys know that every year 17 million people are looking to get a new pet yearly? That's a lot of pets! To top it off 8 million dogs and cats are available from shelters annually, sadly though 3 million of these are euthanized every year. As environmentalists our goal is partially to save and reduce waste, the protection of these lives seems a worthy extension of our perspective.

My job(i work for a marketing company) recently started a project with Maddie's Fund, The Humane Society and the Ad Council, to reduce the number of animals put down in shelters. We're going about this by trying to change the image of the shelter animal so that people know that the shelter animal is a reliable friendly future member of the family.

Check out this fun website it has a tool to find shelters in your area: http://youcastcorp.com/shelter_pet

I have 2 cats, one is a foundling, ino, and the other is a shelter cat, neko. Both are amazing pets and are those most loving cats I ever had, what are some of the experiences you guys have had with saving shelter animals?

When my wife got cancer she was miserable nothing could make her happy, so when she said she wanted a little lap dog I said sure that would be great. She had already called the SPCA and they had described and picked one out for her that they would save for her until we came down. Well she fell in love with it, just what the doctor ordered. Anything to improve her mood was good for me. We got a very intelligent loving little terrier mutt I am very happy with this dog. All my wife did before getting this dog was be miserable. The change over her was instantaneous once she had this little dog to cuddle, she began to smile again.

One thing good about the SPCA is they have a return policy if the pet doesn't work out for you or your family. We had this happen when my wife got a dog for our dog to make him happy. Well he was already ecstatic and all the other dog did was to depress him. I had to bring the other dog back after a month and they were understanding at the SPCA, the terrier mutt we have likes to be the only dog with all the attention.

[TreeHuggerForever]

I have 2 kitties from Love A Stray. One was found in a bad part of the city hiding beneath a car, about a few months old. A few local teens had abused her so badly that she lost her voice from crying out. Her whiskers were so dirty and matted that they had to be cut. She looked like a skeleton when my family went to the volunteer's house to see the cats. Her name is Marshmallow because she is all white.
Our other one has a little more of mysterious history, but we know that she was about to be euthanized the day that she was rescued. Her name is Panda because she is black/white.
They are now both three years old and extremely happy, well fed, well loved and spoiled rotton. They always lick and play with eachother and are very affectionate with us too! They still hate when people come to visit though, and Panda is very afraid of plasitc bags,( which we sometimes use to reuse)

[tigerlily78]

My oldest cat was adopted through the Humane Society.

My middle cat was adopted through Southern Hope Animal Shelter. She was one of two kittens left behind in an apartment when a tenant moved out. Her brother got adopted before her. The lady who fostered the kittens for Southern Hope did a really awesome job, ours is really playful, affectionate, and well mannered.

Our third cat (which we never intended on having) was a stray in our neighborhood. She was pretty scruffy and dirty when we took her in, but as an indoor cat she actually has wonderfully soft fur like a rabbit. She does have some bad habits that we just don't seem to be able to break, but she is also extremely affectionate. If I would let her she would sit on my lap pretty much all day, every day. Sometimes I wish we had tried to find her a new home right away when we got her, she'd probably be happier as an "only" cat.

[AnEducatedForester]

I actually agree with canadaguy, even though as a child I had several shelter/barn cats as well as a mutt dog (not from a shelter, but an otherwise unintentionally created puppy that needed a home). My wife has a registered miniature pain in the...err...dachshound, but even she can't stand it sometimes. She freely admits that now that I'm around, and we have a child, that the dog is just too much to worry about for any reward we get out of it. But at the same time, she got the dog before she met me, and in doing so committed to taking care of it for its life...no matter how annoying it is sometimes. If all animal owners were forced to make this committment under legally/financially enforcable measures, there would be much fewer shelter dogs because there would be much fewer pets in general. As with everything, personal responsibility is lax on this issue, always has been.

I am basically committed to the idea of no more pets, for the rest of my life (haven't had one since I was 17). I realize most people aren't willing to take this step, for any reason. So we will always have animal shelters to clean up after their choices and abicated responsibilities. But some people, like outsidethebox's wife, could use the love and affection of an animal, particularly children I think...because it teaches them to learn about, appreciate and connect more with animals. It may anger some people for me to say this but I truly believe that adults shouldn't really have pet animals, except in some extreme cases or at least with restrictions and rules.

The bottom line is, as with everything, we need more moderation in the pet business. Less pets overall, less breeding programs, better placement/care for strays and dumped animals. It's only a problem because there's too much of it to deal with.

[TreeHuggerForever]

EducatedForester: Pets are not just good for kids and the elderly. Pets are good for anyone with a compassionate heart who has love to give to an animal. Pets are like teachers, showing us how to care for something that needs us and is much like an eternal child. They show us unconditional love, unlike so many humans I know. They are loyal and won't betray you or judge you. They have been used as therapy for people ailing in hospitals. They help aid depression.
What do you suggest we do with all the pets still homeless out there? Just euthanize them all? (I'm not being sarcastic, I really am curious)
Pets also help us open our hearts to all animals, including those in the wild, promoting awareness. This is the first step to conservation.
Like children, pets can sometimes be difficult to care for. I feel sorry for pets whose owners see it as a burden that they are stuck with for life. It takes a special kind of person to take care of them.
People need to be responsible with their animals and not just dump them like a bad habit when they are bored, overwhelmed or can no longer afford a bag of cat food. We don't just abandon our children on the side of the road when times are tough.

[AnEducatedForester]

EducatedForester: Pets are not just good for kids and the elderly. Pets are good for anyone with a compassionate heart who has love to give to an animal. Pets are like teachers, showing us how to care for something that needs us and is much like an eternal child. They show us unconditional love, unlike so many humans I know. They are loyal and won't betray you or judge you. They have been used as therapy for people ailing in hospitals. They help aid depression.
What do you suggest we do with all the pets still homeless out there? Just euthanize them all? (I'm not being sarcastic, I really am curious)
Pets also help us open our hearts to all animals, including those in the wild, promoting awareness. This is the first step to conservation.
Like children, pets can sometimes be difficult to care for. I feel sorry for pets whose owners see it as a burden that they are stuck with for life. It takes a special kind of person to take care of them.
People need to be responsible with their animals and not just dump them like a bad habit when they are bored, overwhelmed or can no longer afford a bag of cat food. We don't just abandon our children on the side of the road when times are tough.

I agree with your opinion of children, people in therapy in hospitals, the elderly...these are groups that for mental health reasons actually have something to gain from keeping a pet. Most healthy adults shouldn't need unconditional love from an animal all the time, I really think an adult should grow out of this indulgence, barring special circumstances. These special cases you mention are a perfectly acceptable location/use for shelter animals that are suitable, other shelter animals that are too old, have serious mental/physical problems probably need to be put down unfortunately. Don't blame me for pointing out the grim reality of other people's mistakes and lack of responsibility for their pets...blame them. My wife and I take full responsibility for her dog and will take care of it as long as it lives, that's our lot. My daughter may eventually get an animal of her own, but I'm going to weigh that decision carefully...she already has learned to appreciate animals from interacting with our current dog. I actually think I will pay for her to get horse riding lessons instead, as she seems to love horses.

I think that many adults buy these pets for less admirable reasons than unconditional love however, and these are the owners that end up dumping these animals or abusing them. Also, you mention animals providing unconditional love...but that is something that is rarely returned to the animal providing it, is it not? And even if it was, unconditional love is like a drug and can be abused...like people having 18 kids because they just love babies and taking care of them. As I said, all in moderation is fine, the problem is moderation went out the window when it came to pets a very long time ago...there are just too many now. If we could license and regulate pet owners like we license other things that get out of hand like this, perhaps we wouldn't need so many shelters because less people would "buy" pets in the first place.

[outsidethebox]

The one thing I find strange and disturbing is when people love their pets more than people. They buy everything under the sun for their pets yet would look the other way at a starving child. When people use pets to isolate themselves from the rest of the human race it's strange. No matter how bad our species is please don't give up on all of us. woof.

[paris04]

My birthday wish was for our local SPCA shelter to finally open, and I did a lot of fundraising. They started rescuing animals on my birthday! My fiance adopted a cat in July, he is great! My best friend adopted a cat yesterday. The shelter opened the beginning of August, and I volunteer whenever I can. I have three cats, and show two in cat shows... two of my cats were feral kittens I rescued myself (before we had a shelter here). Our shelter doesn't euthanize for space.

I have autism and working with the animals helps me a lot.

[greenteadrinker]

I wish sometimes I could make it to the shelter but all the animals in my life (present and past)
have "come" to me in one form or another. Most are street rescues, or animals that I found after
*&^%$* abandoned them at apartment complexes.

(Off topic-outsidethebox-
I speak for everyone here in hoping your wife is feeling better soonest, and winning her
battle with cancer)