The dog in this picture (from the Humane Society's website) looks so sad to be stuck in a cage.
Back home in West Virginia, there's a great organization called Little Victories, which is a limited-admission no-kill animal shelter. By limited admission, they can't accept every single animal that is brought to them because sometimes, they simply don't have the space. But their popularity in the region has grown rapidly over the last few years and they are receiving more funding and have help from more volunteers than ever. Hopefully this will allow them to have the ability to set up new locations around the Tri-State area so they can eventually be an open-admission shelter and accept every animal brought in. No-kill shelters are all over the country and operate using money they've received from Maddie's Fund, which is funded by Dave and Cheryl Duffield, who have contributed over $300 million to help provide grants to these no-kill shelters. They also receive private contributions from the community and operate solely with these types of funding. Many of the caretakers at these shelters are volunteers, working to take care of these animals and help find them good homes out of the goodness of their hearts. If you can't volunteer at a shelter for whatever reason, you can always donate to them so they have plenty of food and medical care for the animals sheltered there. I urge you to take the time to do a little research and find a no-kill animal shelter near you and donate your time or money (or both) to help out these animals. Not only are they going to benefit from your contributions, but you will, too; you'll be able to walk away knowing you've done something to help an innocent animal that can't help itself without your assistance.
One of the reasons so many animals are ending up in animal shelters and are euthanized every year is because many people are not having their pets spayed or neutered. If their animals are outside often, they have a much higher chance of getting pregnant or getting someone else's pet pregnant. If the litters aren't adopted out or even sold, they often end up in animal shelters or just out wandering the streets, only to be picked up by the pound or run over by cars. If people would start having their animals spayed and neutered, that would drastically cut down on the animals euthanized in animal shelters and also cut down on how many animals die tragically when they're hit by cars. There are many places now offering discounted or even free spay/neuter services, so not having the spare money to have your pet fixed isn't a good enough excuse for not getting it done. Even at a private veterinarian clinic, spay/neuter procedures are usually less than $100. I personally feel like if you can't afford to provide your pet with proper healthcare, you probably don't need to have a pet at all. Which leads me to my next point.
Let me reiterate my personal belief: If you can't afford to provide proper healthcare, you probably don't need to have a pet. People often don't think about the financial sacrifice having a pet truly can be. All they see is a cute little puppy or kitten and they impulsively adopt or buy them without considering the financial aspect of owning an animal. It's expensive to own a pet; they require food and veterinary care and those costs can really add up. Animals need checkups and vaccinations and medicines just the same way humans do, and it's my own personal belief that if you're not providing them with that, you have no business being a pet owner. Sure, you may not be beating them or starving them, but you're depriving them of basic medical care that can keep them healthy and allow them to live longer, more fulfilling lives, and that's just crap to me.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, with the economy being in the state it is, many families are starting to realize they just don't have it in their budget anymore to provide that care for their pets they once could and are having to give them up for adoption. This is a tragic thing for a lot of families, because nobody wants to give up their beloved pets, especially because they simply can't afford them anymore. It's unfortunate that so many people are having to make this sacrifice, and thousands more animals are dying every year because of it. This is one of the reasons so many shelters (traditional and no-kill alike) are becoming overcrowded at a faster rate than ever.
If you're one of the people who can financially take care of an animal, I beg you to look at your local shelters (traditional and no-kill) for a pet instead of buying them from private breeders. I know a lot of people want a particular breed of dog, especially all those fancy designer breeds (which are just glorified mutts), and that's fine and dandy. But guess what? A lot of times, you can actually find those breeds in shelters. Down here in Florida, shelters are full of the teacup Yorkies and Westies and other popular breeds a lot of people are interested in. You don't have to go to a private breeder and spend thousands on a dog, thousands that just go straight into the breeder's pocket. At shelters, the fee you pay goes directly back to the rest of the animals, providing them with food and medical care. In addition, adopting a dog (or cat) from a shelter opens up space for another animal to be brought in and cared for. My husband and I are looking for a second dog right now to be a companion to our little Coco, and I would really like a purebred Cavalier King Charles spaniel. I've been able to find that particular breed of dog in many animal shelters, a breed that can cost over $1,000 to purchase from private breeders. So even if you have your heart set on a specific breed, trust me, you can find them in shelters.
My three basic points for this post are: 1. To try to get people to donate their time and money to no-kill animal shelters so they can continue to operate and grow to be able to accept more and more animals. 2. Have your pets spayed and neutered to cut down on how many animals are having to be sent to traditional shelters and subsequently euthanized because they simply don't have space for them. 3. Adopt, adopt, adopt your pets! Stop pumping money back into private breeders (and puppy mills) and get a pet from a shelter instead. Like I said, your adoption fees go towards helping the shelter continue to run, so you're really doing two good deeds in one. This should be a simple decision!
