If you are thinking of getting a pet.....

[BellaDonna]

Consider adopting an "older" dog or cat from an animal shelter. Also be sure you can take care of that pet. Consider it a commitment. As an animal-lover here is a story and a poem that really touched me:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both were taken from this website: link removed

 

There's other great info on that site too....

 

BellaDonna

[sumguy]

I adopted my dog (5y.o Staffie/Kelpie Cross) - best decision ever. He's trained, He doesn't need a lot of care and attention, He doesn't dig holes or leave messes inside, and you know prior to getting him if he has a good temperment or not.

[justpaisley]

Wow, that just made me cry...

 

I have 4 cats (3 adopted, 1 "saved" from a neighbor whose house had turned into a temporary shelter) and a newborn, and even with our giant backyard, we just can't get a dog right now.

 

Thank you for this post. I'm gonna turn it into one of those annoying forwards.

[doyathink]

This happens more than people realize! I,...was the one who had to kill these animals for several years as I was the director at our local animal shelter. I think that is the period in my life where I started to not trust people.

 

You have no idea how bad this problem is until you have worked in one of these facilities! This changed me in a way ( my feelings towards people in general)that I finally had to resign my position, I couldn't bring myself to go to work in the mornings.

 

Needless to say, I had a farm FULL of animals that I just could not bring myself to kill and found homes for them myself!

[Goodfun88]

Wow, that was quite a story, I'm at work and the tears were just streaming down my face, good thing no one came into my office. If I ever get a pet, I'm going to adopt an adult for sure!

[BellaDonna]

I didn't want to make everyone sad- but sometimes emotion is needed to raise awareness. Thanks for all who took the time to read it.....

 

Doyathink, my dream is to open a no-kill animal shelter.

 

I commend you for doing that kind of job. I have thought about working and/or volunteering at local animal shelters many times, but I stop myself because I know my heart will be broken and I'm not strong enough to have that kind of job. I would end up adopting every animal that was about to be put to sleep. I think my marriage would fall apart as a result. So I do what I can- I donate to local shelters, but try to keep my heart out of it so I can sleep at night.

 

BellaDonna

[FoxLocke]

That made me cry.

 

Anyway, recently, I adopted a 5-year-old cat from a shelter. And people really don't know what they are missing by glancing over the older animals in favor of the puppies and kittens...

And older cat will love you just the same. They have their little personalities and it is a joy to have one walking around the house and jumping on the furniture...

 

And, most important of all, I feel like I've given a beautiful soul a second chance to live a long and healthy life.

 

Please consider adopting an older pet.

 

Personally, I prefer older pets. They are beautiful...Kittens have to grow into cathood...But a full grown cat with beautiful fur and eyes is just...well...The cat's meow!

[DN]

I remember once driving in some hills in South Wales and saw a dog frantically racing along the road. I stopped and he came over - he had no collar but his fur was still showing the marks of where one had recently been. He was well fed and was obviously not a stray. He was friendly enough but kept whining and straining to see down the road.

 

I took him to the RSPCA and they said it often happens. People taking no longer wanted dogs into the hills and abandoning them. I was in the army at the time and there was no way I could take him.

 

Imagine the sheer terror of that dog, and the others like him, to be abandoned like that.

[BellaDonna]

That is terrible. I had something similar happen once. I was in college at the time, driving home, and I noticed a German Shepard loose running down the street (in a very bad neighborhood) . He looked like he was bleeding and had a chunk of flesh missing on his side (it looked like another dog could have bit him) . Cars were beeping at him and someone yelled "Get out of the way!".

 

There was no way I could leave him there so I turned around and followed him. He ran into some housing projects and I stopped my car and called him over. He was terrified of me and was walking sideways with his tail between his legs and his head down.... I kept looking him in the eye, and finally he trusted me and just jumped into the back of my car and suddenly acted like he knew me his whole life. I called the animal shelter on my cell phone and waited there with him. He was bleeding in my car. I sat next to him in the back seat and he placed his face on my leg and just looked up at me while I patted his head. When the animal officer arrived- I felt terrible because they had to use a muzzle on a stick to get the dog into their van.

 

I called every day about that dog. I was so afraid that he would be put to sleep because he was older and also injured. If it came down to it- I was going to adopt him and take him home (I would have had to hide a German Shepard in my room with 3 cats because I was still living at home and my parents would have not been big fans lol) The shelter was going to call me when "his time was up". But luckily I got a call from the shelter letting me know that a police officer had adopted him. I guess the animal control officer had told one of the police officers about the dog because he knew loved German Shepards. This particular officer trained German Shepards for the K-9 units. Although this dog was too old to work with the police, the officer took him as his personal pet.

 

I was sooooooooooooooooooooo RELEIVED!!!!!!

 

 

BellaDonna

[Dilly]

Truly touching, Belladonna! Thank you for posting!!! God, that makes me cry!!!

[coollady1957]

Definitely touching ! It made me cry and recall the day I adopted an older cat. The cat was 13 years old at the time. I had gone to the pet store where my daughter worked. The Humane Society had a section of the store that they used for pet adoptions.

 

There were quite a few big dogs, puppies, ,kittens and a few grown cats. This one cat caught my eye right off. Everyone in the adoption area was "oohhhing and ahhhhing" over the dogs , little puppies and kittens. This one old cat was sitting in his cage and no one was paying a bit of attention to him, but he was watching while all the other animals got all the attention. My heart sank at that moment.

 

I pulled one of the ladies aside and asked her about the story of the old cat in the corner. She told me that he had been given up for adoption by an old man that had cancer and could no longer care for the cat. She stated that the cat had been there so long that he was nearing his "euthanize" status.

 

I asked her to let me hold him and pet him in one of the private adoption cubicles. He seemed so happy to be out of his cage, his ears perked up and his purred so contently when I held him. He seemed to love the human contact and attention. She and I sat there while she continued to fill me in on Spooky's story .

 

Turns out Spooky had arthritis in his back legs and hips due to being so overweight and old as well. He also had some stomach problems and had to have a special diet.

 

While we were talking he curled up in my lap and went to sleep. At that moment I knew I had to have him. We filled out the papers and they did the adoption screening and I came back and picked him up the next day.

 

Spooky lived for another 4 years until he was nearly 18 years old. Even though he needed a bit of extra special attention he was a great ,loving old kitty that thrived on love and attention.

[BellaDonna]

That's such a great story. He is so lucky to have you come and rescue him

 

Just imagine how he was feeling, his beloved owner lost, confused in a cage, depressed. I'm so glad he got a 2nd chance from you.

 

I'm sure you gave him 4 great years.

 

BellaDonna

[FoxLocke]

If I had never adopted an older pet I would have never met Ash!

[Hope75]

Ugh, that story totally made me cry Bella!

 

 

I cannot tell you how many times in the 4 years I worked as a vet tech that people brought in young, middle aged, or older, healthy pets to be put down because they were just too busy to care for them any longer. Many did not try to call the shelter or find the pet another home, others stated that they did not want anyone else to have their pet.

 

Most of the time, between my co workers and myself, we were able to convince them to sign over the pet and allow us to try and relocate it. The good news is that working at the vet's, we also had a long list of people who really cared about their pets and who took good care of them. We made some calls, and were able to place almost every pet. Those who were too old, or too skittish, we ended up taking home ourselves. I have a 4 year old semi feral cat now, and he's a joy to my dog and other cat (he loves them, and he's starting to like us as well, after 3 years of living with us). My old co worker still has the "18 year old cat who puked all over the place so it was time"... it turns out the cat had un addressed kidney disease and with a simple diet, he has continued to thrive at her house for the last 4 years. 18, huh? Another woman we worked with took home a German Shepherd who belonged to a young man, who brought him in to be neutered under court order and never returned to collect him- or pay the bill.

 

I had a Rottweiler for 8 years that someone gave me from a previous job right out of high school, someone who had a baby and wanted to put Jed to sleep without even seeing if he'd get along with the baby. I lived in a no pets apartment and I said I'd take him. I made up lies to my landlord for 5 years that I was dog sitting for my boss every time he saw the dog. Jed was 4 years old, 140lbs, and a big bear of a dog with a head twice the size of my 18 year old head when I got him. I was intimidated by him at first, but we grew to love each other and he was my best friend after that... he comforted me when my ex fiance nearly killed me after years of abuse. I never would have made it through without him. When he died in my arms at the vets of heart failure at age 12, I cried for 2 weeks. I still tear up thinking of him now, 5 years later.

 

I also volunteered at a local animal shelter when I was in high school for 3 years and I cannot tell you how many wonderful animals who were put down because their time was up and there was simply no options left. People left boxes of kittens on the doorstep, dogs tied to the door at night, it was just awful. Many found homes, many did not.

 

I cannot tell you enough how the older, "not ideal" pets I adopted changed my life, and how much they still had to offer. Jed was already housebroken, gotten past his puppy phase of chewing everything up, he had plenty of energy for fun and play, but was also content to just relax with me. That was really nice. I hope next time anyone is considering a pet, they will consider adopting from a shelter an older pet.

 

And remember, when you do adopt, think long and hard about where your life may go while this pet is still alive, and if you can commit for that long. Pets are forever, not just for today.

[BellaDonna]

And remember, when you do adopt, think long and hard about where your life may go while this pet is still alive, and if you can commit for that long. Pets are forever, not just for today.

 

I could not have said it better.

 

I wish more people would simply do that. Of course, some life events can't be predicted, but in most cases, the total disregard for their pet's life that you see when an owner lets a perfectly normal pet be killed, could have been avoided.

 

Spaying and neutering is also very important to help solve the problem of unwanted animals.

 

Excuses not to Spay or Neuter a Pet

image removed

The Ten Worst Excuses Not To Spay or Neuter a Pet

(reprinted from a Dear Abby column)

1. Just one litter and then we'll have Fluffy spayed.

* Studies show that virtually the entire pet overpopulation stems from "just one litter."

2. My dog doesn't run loose, so he doesn't need to be fixed.

* Murphy's law says otherwise.

3. We always find homes for the kittens/puppies.

* And that means that an equal number of kittens/puppies at the pound will be killed.

4. I want the children to witness the miracle of birth.

* Rent a video.

5. My dog is so cute and unique, there should be more of her.

* The shelters and pounds are full of cute and unique dogs.

6. It's not natural.

* There hasn't been anything natural about dogs since we began to develop breeds thousands of years ago.

7. I just couldn't look my dog in the eye if I had him castrated.

*Could you look a shelter dog in the eye when he is getting put to sleep due to overpopulation caused by not neutering your dog?

8. A female dog or cat should have at least one litter for health reasons.

* Medically, factually and ethically indefensible.

9. Neutering my dog will make him fat and lazy.

* Too much food and not enough exercise make a dog fat and lazy.

10. Fixing my pet will change his personality.

* The primary influences on an animal's personality are the kindness and care with which he is raised.

 

Quote To Remember

"People who let their dogs and cats have litters in order to show their children the 'miracle of birth' should come witness the 'miracle of death' performed in the back rooms of animal shelters all over the country."

--Phyllis Wright, Humane Society of the US--

 

 

 

 

BellaDonna

[doyathink]

coolness, you have got to have one of the warmest hearts of all.