So, as many of you know I volunteer at a local no kill animal shelter.
I can't sing its praises high enough and the staff don't just work there..they live and breathe the animals that pass through.
It was here at Operation kindness that Mercy the dog caught the nations attention after being burnt alive by her owner.
Operation Kindness took Mercy in and worked all day and night trying to save that Dogs life to no avail.
I hope the scumbag that did that to this dog gets what he deserves.
Hopefully mercys death was not in vain and someone will sit up and take note at the way animals are being treated in this State/country/world
It confuses me to no end in a city which has more churches than I can count, and well attended churches at that (just try driving down midway road past the Prestonwood monstrosity on sunday and see how long it takes to get through traffic) ; In a city where I have been asked
"So, why did you get married if you don't want children?"
A city in which I am a minority...A non-believer who will undoubtedly go to hell and burn for eternity for my evil actions on this earth.
And yet...I go to my voluntary work and have to deal with the same people, day in day out.
The ones who bought a puppy for their darling daughter, but now the puppy is too big, too naughty,too old, too smelly, not cute enough and so in she comes to Operation kindness to begin life in the shelter while said family jaunt off to Canton market to pick up a newer, cuter, younger model (see its not just men that do that !!)
The amount of cats that come to us at 6, 7, 12 years old and the excuse for dropping of the beloved family pet? The new baby is allergic, the new husband doesn't get along with it, we have to move...
Come on folk. I long for the day someone brings their baby or husband to the shelter instead of the cat :)
Please just let it happen once in my lifetime- to see said husband in the cage with a note "He didn't get along with the cat"
...and the last I heard there was no law governing cats moving between states so guys just take your damn pet with you...you wouldn't leave your kid behind would you ??
If you take on the responsibility of a pet..its yours, for life.
Im sorry but you can't trade them in or get rid of them when the mood suits.
Remember the old saying "A dog is for life ..not just for Xmas"
Not everyone falls into this category and with the Iraq war (ugh...another blog needed for that rant) upon us I have been moved by the men coming in crying and gutted that they have been deployed and cannot take their pets along with them. It's really sad and though foster arrangements have been set up the demand is too high at the moment.
For these men I feel genuinely sorry.
My other pet peeve, whilst Im on this rant, is cat declawing.
Let me tell you first and foremost that this is ILLEGAL in England and actually last I heard California had followed suit; but for every other state in USA its legal and in fact very common.
Operation kindness will not do declawing but plenty of other money hungry vets will.
For the most part this procedure is not done out of evil but out of ignorance.
I cannot remember how many people have come to the shelter wanting to declaw a cat and have been shocked when I tell them the reasons for not doing it....there again I also can't count the number who say "Well thats what i want" regardless
Let me point out without going into Gory details that this is inhumane, cruel and unnecessary. You can cut a cats claw just like you can a fingernail with no fuss, especially if you do it from an early age and they get used to it.
Declawing is the equivalent of cutting ones finger off at the knuckle.
Its painful, a long healing process and can often cause more harm that good (a cat with sore feet often will not use its little box)..in general...just don't do it.
If the furniture is more important I suggest you save your pet $$$ until you have children..then maybe you can afford to have their arms surgically removed so they don't mess anything up either.
Finally with my fave Holiday fast approaching (yes...Halloween) what kind of place do we live in where we have to ban the adoptions of all black (and pure white) cats between the two weeks around Halloween.
Come on guys.....We have to hold the animals so you so can't take them home and use them as Costume props? Then bring them right back again after the season has passed. Im not kidding here, the ban was put in place for a reason !!
Wake up.
I may be one of the few non-religious folk in Dallas and I may spend eternity in hell...but if some of the people I meet are indicative of heaven...then bring on the flames :)
Of course i WANT people to adopt..good, honest, genuine people.
I don't want the latest Lasaoodle. Snickerdoodle, beagloodle ..whatever bought from the big designer pet shops (by the way, there is a terminology in the shelter for such mixed dogs...its called a MUTT and doesn't cost $600 !!!)
But when you adopt it really is for life. Your pet should be an extension of the family not an accessory.
