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Perfect pets
await adoption at shelters
August 16,
2007
Last weekend I helped a friend with her garage sale by directing folks
to the alleyway that led to her backyard where there were hundreds of
items for the picking. With only a few items on the front lawn, I urged
passersby to venture into the backyard. “There’s a real treasure trove
back there that you can’t pass up.” I said.
A few days later a veritable treasure trove was staring back at me, one
greater and more deserving than any a garage sale could ever offer. As I
walked through the LA/SPCA animal shelter and admired Minnie and Moe,
two short-haired cats curled together sleeping in their cat bed; and
stopped to say hello to Frog, a bulldog mix with a goofy, loving
personality and deep brown eyes that could melt ice caps, I had an
epiphany.
For many people an animal shelter is a place of sadness, a place where
animals are discarded and left behind. Others often share how difficult
it must be to work at such a place. It would be a half-truth for me to
say that it isn’t painful, that it isn’t a tragedy to witness so many
animals in need of homes. But the beauty that can be distilled from the
raw pain of seeing all the animals that need homes, are the animals
themselves. They are the treasure trove, the unearthed diamonds, and the
gold that has yet to be mined.
Walk into any animal shelter anywhere in the United States and you’ll
find pets of all shapes, sizes, personalities, pedigree and persuasion.
You’ll find some of the best-trained anywhere. You’ll find cats that
rival Einstein in intelligence and dogs that would win the award for
most charming. You’ll find older ones that love snuggling with a bowl of
popcorn watching a black and white movie; and young ones so fluffy and
full of energy that you begin to feel like a kid, too. There are so many
wonderfully unique, amazingly familiar, and commonly good companion
animals at animal shelters that walking into one can be akin to walking
into the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory.
Knowing the treasure trove that awaits potential adopters, adopting a
companion animal from an animal shelter becomes as elementary as wanting
to find happiness in one’s life. Why wouldn’t you?
Of course, looking at the sobering statistics of animal shelters across
the country is reason enough to consider adopting a companion animal
from a shelter, rather than anywhere else. Approximately 8-12 million
companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year and
approximately 5-9 million are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats)
every year. The reality, however, is that there will never be enough
homes available to adopt every animal that enters shelters each year.
The solution is to eliminate the factors that lead to animal
overpopulation – resistance to spaying and neutering, puppy mills,
backyard breeders and irresponsible pet ownership – to point some of the
biggest ones. Tackling these problems are the long-term solutions. But
each time a companion animal is adopted from a shelter, you’re helping
them and you’re lucky enough to have found a hidden treasure.
- Gloria
Dauphin
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