As a pet owner I was ashamed of what I saw today.
I went to a local humane society for a meeting and I was a little early for my appointment. It was a well maintained, new facility with clean cages and it appeared that they were taking excellent care of the animals. I spent some time looking at the puppies and kittens out front. They are always cute and paw at you through the cage doors. What's not to love, right? I had a little more time so I went to the back room where the older dogs are kept. They also seemed to be very well fed and appeared to be well cared for. I noticed something different through as I made my way down the long rows of large gated stalls. All of these animals used to belong to someone. There were information sheets hanging here that were not on the cages near the cute puppies out front. The sheets had generic information like estimated ages, breed, name, but there was also information regarding the circumstances under which the animal came to reside at the shelter.
I was astounded at the reasons. “Family moved and couldn't keep dog.” “Family decided children didn't like dog.” “Decided upkeep was too expensive.” And my personal favorite, “Family decided dog was getting too big and they could not keep her.” Some were just dropped off. Others were found roaming neighborhoods. The director told me that each morning there are animals just left in the parking lot or tied to the building. The stories he told me would make you want to cry.
I know that I am preaching to the choir here but I just needed to rant for a moment. What I saw today was heartbreaking. If you have a moment, I would urge you to please find a place locally to volunteer. If you have an extra $20, carry a bag of food by. There is never an excuse for behavior like this. I worry even more about the lessons that people are teaching their children about loyalty and compassion when they act in this way. I know, it's just a dog. But, I can promise you that I like my two a lot more than most people I deal with each day.
Please...before you pick out that cute puppy, kitten, or even a baby rabbit for Easter (that is going to grow up and outgrow its cage), make the commitment to take on a heightened level of responsibility and have a plan. They deserve a lot better from us.
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