A Plea for Dogs and Puppies

I know a lot of you out there have rescued pets and help animals in some way or another. I have fostered dogs and a few cats for eight years and been involved in rescue and animal rights issues for a long time. Since losing my job in January of this year, I needed to focus on simplifying my life as much as I could so stopped fostering in February or so. Recently, I have felt the sense of urgency bubbling back up in me to start helping again. Maybe it's becuase I have this temporary assignment and things are ok for me till January, I don't know. Just now I opened an email from somebody I know who is also involved with dog rescue. In the email was this video that I watched. There is nothing gross to view except the sheer number of dogs that are in each kennel. These dogs look like pets to me that have been surrendered. Who knows why. I know the economy has made it very difficult for people to hold onto things they love...there just aren't enough homes in good times, let alone these days. The video makes a superb point about buying puppies and dogs from backyard breeders and stores. So many people don't realize where the animals sold in stores come from. They come from puppy mills. Do a search and see what a puppy mill is.

There is barely a Saturday that I can't see somebody selling or giving away puppies in the Walmart shopping center where I live. A lot are purebreds, a lot are pit bulls; a lot are mixed breeds. There is also a big store that sells all kinds of animals, including some exotics. Their puppy and kitten suppliers are back yard breeders (I know for a fact b/c they were involved in a huge puppy mill bust here a few years ago.) It doesn't matter what breed or mix they are - there are too many. These innocent animals get sold or given away many times to end up in a shelter or far worse. If you or somebody you know is interested in getting a puppy or a dog for Christmas...or any time....please get one from a shelter or a rescue group. Also, every breed of animal has it's own rescue, so if you prefer a pure bred, start with a web search on "lab rescue" or whatever it is you're looking for. I apologize for such a long and serious post, but this is one of my most passionate soapboxes and I haven't said much about it here. But with blogs being able to reach out to so many, it's a great opportunity to try to help educate folks about the pet overpopulation crisis...now more than ever!