“Hope” in a fur filled world…
April 28, 2008At church this morning with my grandmother, age 84, and my daughter, age 12, I sat between the two of them and listened to a sermon on hope. Hope that each one of us could work as individuals, or as a group, to make the world a better place one problem at a time. I thought about the difference in how each of us interpreted that message – my grandmother focused on hope for the happiness of her family and close friends, my daughter focused on hope of a fun adventurous life ahead, and me – focused on….about 456 things.
I find myself overwhelmed at times with a responsibility to achieve an incredible amount in my life. I’m not sure where it came from although my family is definitely filled with dreamers and high achievers. I worry about the dogs that roam the streets or are abused. I worry about my daughter and her friends and how they will deal with the overwhelming issues that face them as young people in this crazy world. I worry about my family, my boyfriend, my good friends – wanting them all to be happy and fulfilled. I worry about my franchisees doing well and thriving in this time of economic uncertainty. As my good friend Molly told me once, “worry is a debt you may never have to pay”. So why worry?
The problem isn’t necessarily that I worry per say, it’s that my entrepreneurial get it done personality feeds a drive to DO something about it. I can’t just let sleeping dogs lie…I need to find them homes darnit! J All kidding aside, I decided last year to focus on a problem that I have the resources to help solve. I have 160 franchisees and over 80,000 Camp clients nationwide that can help me make sure that our furry canine friends are taken care of. Gandhi once said something to the effect that “a culture is judged by how it treats it’s animals”. So with all the overwhelming responsibilities us Americans face each day in trying to save the world, or at least the dog world that many of you reading this are a part of, I believe we can do it one dog at a time. It’s simple. It’s not expensive and it’s not time consuming. By taking the following 5 steps you can change the way our furry friends live.
1. Don’t buy a dog – EVER. From a pet store, from a breeder, from a newspaper ad. I’ve done it before admittedly, but I won’t ever do it again. There are thousands upon thousands of puppies and dogs that need homes – purebreds even. Go on www.petfinder.com and search any kind or size of dog you can imagine that needs a home! Or just visit your local shelter or rescue. With the internet there is no excuse.
2. Spread the word about overpopulation. Encourage your neighbors, friends, co-workers, team mates, to spay or neuter their animal.
3. Support legislation for mandatory spay/neuter of pets. Many states are considering these laws – just google the info on your local situation and help however you can!
4. Teach kids how to treat animals/dogs humanely. There are wonderful coloring books and resources on the internet – the Humane Society and ASPCA has plenty of options.
5. Don’t travel to countries that treat dogs or other animals without respect. Greece and China are two to avoid, but there are many. Send the government an email explaining why you aren’t coming to visit – and spend your valuable tourism dollars in places that do value animal and human life. All it takes is a simple search on the internet to find out if your destination is one of hell for animals.
My hope….after reflecting on it this morning…is that we at Camp Bow Wow can continue to make a difference one dog at a time. It’s one of many horrible problems we face in this world – but when you look at your best furry friend curled up on the couch next to you tonight, I hope you’ll agree it’s a great one to take on!
Your advise not to buy from a pet store, a breeder, or from a newspaper ad seems to be based upon your information of “overpopulation”. You really shouldn’t believe everything you’re told by the animal rights organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) or Peta.
The truth is that there are humane societies all over the US importing dogs from places like Puerto Rico, Mexico and even Asia because of a shortage of adoptable dogs. See: http://www.naiaonline.org/articles/archives/humane_insane.htm
Also this from Tufts University:
http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/020603FillingEmptyPounds.htm
Then check out:
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm/article/183
and:
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
I’m not trying to be adversarial — just please do this research.
Roxanne
Roxanne -
Below are just two links that might be useful to get very reliable information about euthanasia rates in shelters.
The first is for the Denver Metropolitan Shelter Alliance — shelters that have come together to, among other things gather statistics and to work together to help place more animals and reduce the euthanasia rates.
The second is for All Breed Rescue Network. Their January 2007 Newsletter has an article promoting the Pet Overpopulation Fund Colorado Tax write-off. In that article it states that in 2006, of the 173,000 dogs and cats that were taken into Colorado shelters alone, 43,000 were euthanized. Some of these pets were found to be unsuitable for adoption for one reason or another, but many were perfectly healthy, adoptable animals.
You may want to check these links out yourself — you can get lots of very reliable information if you dig into the sites, as well as tons of other resources for this kind of information.
http://www.saverate.org/
http://www.allbreedrescuenetwork.com/index.php
It is terribly unfortunate that shelters cannot find homes for as many dogs that are available for adoption. Many are constrained by resources in their marketing efforts. They do the best they can with the human and financial resources they have. I would encourage you to volunteer with a local shelter, as they are always in need of help, especially from people with skills or an affinity for marketing or promotion.
I am sorry we disagree about the statistics about shelter dogs and overpopulation. I’m in the trenches, working on this issue every day. The people I work with in the rescue arena are devoted, caring and committed and would never put a budget or money before a dog’s well being.
Roxanne,
Since I leave in Greece, a country of animal overpopulation I beg you not to buy and not support breeders. Unfortunately Greeks have come to the point of importing hunting dogs from UK, Bulgaria, Hungary, that never neuter or take care. If the dog does not hunt (because themselves are bad hunters and companions) they abandon/kill/hung/shoot/abuse them. We have come to the point to thank God when we find a hunting dog abandoned because we can save him/her.
Anastasia
Woof, Heidi!
Please add Puerto Rico to your list of places not to support. There have been several recent articles on the problem of “Satos”, the island’s unwanted dogs. The government had raided a low-income housing development, took all of the families’ dogs and threw them over a bridge to their death. The dogs are all also left to fend for themselves on “dead dog beach”. Check out http://www.saveasato.com.