Archive: August 8, 2022

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If shelters made it simpler to adopt

What if shelters made it simpler to adopt?

Sometimes we worry about what could happen if shelters made it simpler to adopt a canine or a cat. but do we really need to worry?

This post includes the good things that could happen such as:

A decreased demand for pet shop puppies.

More first-time canine owners adopting “pitbull dogs.”

Dogs and cats spending less time overall at the shelter.

If it were slightly simpler to adopt a canine or a cat …

Fewer people would purchase puppies from pet shops.

If it’s simpler to adopt from a shelter, there will be fewer people supporting pet shops and backyard breeders, decreasing the demand for these puppies.

More ‘pitbull dogs’ would go home with first-time canine owners.

And they would end up as valued family members, just like any other dogs owned by first-time canine owners. read much more about enhancing pitbull adoptions.

More dogs would go to homes without fenced yards.

Most of these dogs would opt for walks and live with loving families. An ideal life for many dogs. (My canine has never had a fenced yard.)

More ‘pitbull dogs’ would go to homes with other pitbulls.

These dogs would become loved family members, just like their canine “brothers” and “sisters.” Some pitbulls would even go to homes with (God forbid!) other pitbulls of the same gender. and they would be just fine. read much more about pitbull myths.

Dogs and cats would spend less overall time at the shelter.

This implies less tension for all the animals, as well as less tension for shelter workers. There would be less crowding because even as much more animals come in, they would be leaving just as quickly. With the animals spending less time at the shelter, there would be less chance for illnesses to spread and less time for dogs to develop behavioral problems due to long-term confinement.

Millions of healthy dogs and cats would not be killed.

Currently, 3 million healthy dogs and cats are killed yearly in U.S. shelters due to a “lack of homes.” While shelters face numerous challenges, we now know that pet overpopulation is a myth and that it’s possible for a shelter to adopt its way out of killing.

More families with children could adopt a pet.

These children would learn about the gratifying experience of saving a dog’s life, enhancing their chances of adopting a pet themselves one day. It’s a shame how some groups won’t adopt out dogs to homes with children.

More people would adopt in general.

This equals much more people spreading the word about the shelter because they had a positive experience there. It also equates to much more donations, much more volunteers and much more people adopting a second or third pet.

More resources would be available.

The dogs and cats that really need much more time at the shelter due to particular health or behavioral issues could get the focused care and time they need. The easier-to-adopt animals could get on with their lives.

There are just so numerous good things that can happen if we ease up on our adoption requirements even slightly!

How can we make it simpler to adopt a dog?

We can stop requiring fenced yards for all dogs because many dogs don’t need fenced yards.

We can offer monthly adoption specials such as promotions for senior pets, kittens or black dogs.

We can keep our adoption fees as low as possible. For example, cats over 10 years old are just $10 at Nevada Humane Society.

We can go overboard with great customer service, even if potential adopters are impolite or ignorant.

We can bring the dogs and cats out in public so people who would never visit a shelter have a chance to consider adoption.

We can personally thank every single one of our supporters, volunteers, adopters and foster homes so they are likely to reach out and help a second time.

We can start marketing our dogs and cats as the healthy, well-behaved, friendly animals they are. people feel sorry for “abused” animals, but they want to adopt good pets.

The possibilities are endless, and that’s why I’m so passionate about this topic. We can all work together to send these dogs and cats into homes. They don’t need to be ideal homes (those don’t exist). They just need to be good homes. There are plenty of those.

What ideas do you have about enhancing adoptions?

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Why do people provide up their pets when they move?

Why do pet owners provide up their pets because of moving?

My hubby as well as I just recently moved across the country with our 70-pound lab mix as well as two cats.

Our pets were a big burden for us during the move, as well as I will never judge somebody who selects (or is forced) to re-home her pets because of moving. There are method as well many factors out of the pet owner’s control.

In this post, I’ll go over:

1. The difficulties of discovering economical as well as nice pet friendly housing.

2. What we can do to assist pet owners keep their pets when they move.

Some examples of hurdles we dealt with during our move:

Time crunch.

We moved 2,000 miles from Fargo, N.D., to southern California. My hubby Josh had the high-end of taking a trip in advance to do apartment searching, however some people don’t have that option.

Either way, there is only so much time offered to discover the right apartment. For example, my sibling just recently transferred to a different specify on about 10 day’s notice. discovering economical housing in his new area was extremely restricted in general, let alone for people with pets (he doesn’t have pets).

But what do you do? You requirement a task as well as a location to live.

Dog breed as well as size discrimination.

We never did discover an apartment that does not discriminate against specific dog breeds, so right here I am renting from an apartment that discriminates as well as I feel guilty.

I’m not sure what we would have done if Ace occurred to look like one of the targeted breeds (to most people he appears like a black Lab).

It was difficult sufficient discovering an apartment that would enable us to have a dog over 55 pounds.

Liability insurance.

Our apartment needs us to bring $100,000 in liability insurance. This is yet one more cost when you’re on a budget, as well as yet one more barrier if you own specific dog breeds.

The insurance coverage business we are utilizing will not offer protection to people who own specific breeds. I feel terrible admitting to this, however I had so much to perform in preparation for our move that I did not take the time to discover a different insurance coverage company.

High pet deposits as well as monthly ‘pet rent.’

Ever notice exactly how the pet friendly apartments are either truly costly or truly cheap? every time I move with my pets I have to select between paying more than I can pay for or paying a great deal less as well as living in a truly run-down place. I’ve done both.

Thankfully we can pay for an apartment on the higher end of our budget, however this is not an choice for everyone. What do you do if you can’t pay for any type of of the pet friendly apartments?

And then of program there are the additional costs for pet owners who lease such as the pet security deposit as well as the monthly “pet rent.” as well as since my dog is more than 55 pounds, we are blessed with a higher pet rent.

One- or two-pet limits.

Nearly every apartment has a limit on the number of pets you can have – usually one or two pets. We have three.

Again, if you’re on a budget plan as well as a time crunch, what do you do?

Cat declawing required.

Some landlords will request proof that the cats are declawed. sometimes front as well as back declawed.

Frankly, I don’t have the money to get my cats declawed, even if I desired to. If you have cats as well as a restricted budget plan however requirement a location to live, what do you do? danger eviction? then what?

Finding pet friendly hotel rooms.

It took us three days to drive across the country, so we had to stay in two “pet friendly” hotels that charged a $15 pet fee. however “pet friendly” generally means dog friendly as well as not feline friendly.

I was about to lose my mind when I got to our very first hotel only to be told “absolutely no cats allowed.” I never even mentioned I had cats, as well as I still had to indication a type stating I was not a feline owner.

Thankfully, I understood to expect this in advance as well as brought my cats into the hotel by hiding them in duffle bags. I brought their litter box in a duffle bag, too. This was extremely stressful for me after 14 hours of driving.

Figuring out exactly how to in shape the pets in the moving truck.

I comprehend why people have no option however to re-home their animals prior to a move. sometimes moving with animals is almost impossible.

Josh as well as I had a moving budget, as well as hiring a moving business was just out of the question. So then we had to figure out exactly how to in shape two humans, two cats, a litter box as well as a 70-pound dog in the cab of a moving truck for three full days. as well as we don’t even have any type of kids!

We briefly debated putting the cats in a big cable kennel with their litter box in the back of the truck, however we understood it would be as well hot for them.

Ultimately, we decided Josh would drive the truck as well as I would drive my vehicle with three passengers – a mutt as well as two cats. We were able to make it work, however some people would not have this option. as well as thankfully my pets are excellent travelers!

So what can we do to make moving easier for pet owners?

1. We requirement to be understanding.

Those of us who volunteer for rescue groups or animal shelters requirement to be caring to the pet owners. people don’t want to surrender their pets. They just have no other choices or they believe they have no other options.

I’ve heard lots of high-and-mighty rescue volunteers state things like, “Well, didn’t they know they would be moving? Couldn’t they plan ahead?”

It breaks my heart believing of it now. It makes me want to cry for these pet owners since on a little level I can picture what they may be going through. exactly how awful would it be to surrender your pet to a rescue volunteer who greets you with such hatred as well as judgement?

2. offer the pet owners some options.

We may not be able to prevent all pet owners from surrendering their pets, however perhaps we can offer assist to some.

A fantastic example of a rescue group that works to assist households keep their pets is downtown dog Rescue found in Los Angeles. Tegan Whalan preserves the blog Some thoughts about Dogs, as well as she had a fantastic publish about DDR that I hope you’ll checked out since it shows the human side of animal rescue work.

“An overlooked part of dog rescue is to prevent dogs ever being in the setting of needing rescue,” Whalan wrote. “That is, preventing animals from entering shelters to begin with.”

Her publish included an example where a household brought their feline to a shelter to surrender it since they might not pay for the needed $100 pet deposit to bring their feline into their new apartment. The lady at the shelter was caring as well as provided choices as well as a solution – DDR would pay the $100 pet deposit so the household might keep their cat. What a fantastic story!

3. assist them discover pet friendly housing.

Prior to our move, I emailed a regional humane society asking for recommendations on apartments that would enable dogs of any type of breed. I would like to embrace a second dog, I stated in my email, as well as I don’t want to be restricted on my choices based on breed restrictions.

The humane society never got back to me. I got no response at all. This is a big failure. exactly how many other pet owners is this shelter ignoring? If you’re in the business of discovering houses for dogs, one of your very first tasks should be assisting pet owners keep their pets in order to keep animals out of the shelter in the very first place.

It would be worthwhile for each shelter as well as rescue group to keep a detailed listing of pet friendly housing split into classifications that include:

4. A ‘responsible pet owner’ is not defined by a person’s level of income.

This should not requirement an explanation. pets request extremely little, as well as they do not care exactly how much money we make as long as they get the most fundamental care.

How many of us have stated something like, “I would online out of my vehicle before providing up my dog”?

Then why are we so judgmental of others who are dealing with real-life hardships?

5. reveal our concerns to landlords as well as insurance coverage companies.

Remember exactly how I stated I’m renting from a business that discriminates against specific kinds of dogs? I can politely as well as professionally voice my concerns to the administration of the business as well as request change.

This is particularly efficient when those of us with non-targeted breeds are the ones to speak up. We aren’t trying to protect our own dogs, however we are showing that breed discrimination in general is wrong as well as ineffective as well as that we do not support it.

We can likewise approach insurance coverage business in the exact same way, as well as we can make a point to provide our money to business that do not discriminate.

What advice do the rest of you have about moving with pets as well as the difficulties people face? Do you have any type of real-life examples?

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A no-kill nation for just one day

June 11, 2013 will be the safest day ever for dogs and cats in U.S. shelters.

The No kill Advocacy center and Minnesota’s animal Ark shelter teamed up and asked shelters across the country to stop killing healthy animals for Just One Day.

Just One Day

About 10,000 healthy or treatable dogs and cats are killed on a daily basis in U.S. animal shelters, according to animal Ark. However, that won’t be the case on June 11 because much more than 1,000 organizations have taken a pledge to participate in just One Day.

Animal Ark predicts much more than 10,000 animals will be saved, because for just One Day participating shelter workers will:

put down their needles and pick up cameras

take pictures and market the animals to the public

host special adoption events with discounted rates (such as the photo above, from animal Ark)

stay open for extended hours

contact rescue groups

ask community members to help out

Pet ‘overpopulation’

Shelter killing is usually blamed on so-called pet “overpopulation,” according to animal Ark. However, there are actually enough homes wanting new animals to guarantee all shelter animals get adopted. It’s about policy changes in shelters.

In fact, much more than 300 U.S. cities have already ended shelter killing, making up much more than 156 no-kill communities, according to animal Ark.

Some of those cities saving 90 percent or much more of all shelter animals include Duluth, Minn.; Reno, Nev.; Boulder, Colo.; Jackson, Wyo.; and Eugene, Ore., according to OutTheFrontDoor.com, which files no-kill communities.

“Just one day provides other shelters an opportunity to experience the fun, delight and excitement these other shelters experience regularly,” according to animal Ark.

An entire state has even embraced just One Day.

In Coloroado, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a proclamation deeming June 11 to be just one day Colorado – a day of no shelter killing statewide, according to animal Ark.

Locally in my city of Fargo, N.D., the Humane society Fargo-Moorhead and CATS Cradle shelter have taken the pledge to participate in just One Day.

“When you make it easy for people to do the best thing, terrific things happen,” said Nathan Winograd, director of the No kill Advocacy Center. “You empty the shelter the good way.”

Pictured is my foster cat Tumbler, up for adoption through CATS Cradle shelter in Fargo, N.D. He is about 5 years old, declawed, good with other animals and very affectionate. Edit: Tumbler has been adopted!