Since you, my reader’s, are already animal lovers, you probably have read the three-tissue, heart wrenching poem by Jim Willis, titled How Could You?
Though I’ve read it through tears many times, when I received it again two days ago, for some reason it touched me in ways it never had before. I don’t know if it’s because I have just begun fostering an abandoned dog, or if it’s the distressing content of the 60-80 emails I get each day urgently pleading to save abandoned dogs from a vacant house; or asking for someone to foster a mother cat and 8 one-day old kittens found in a ditch; or the final call to save the adoptable puppy on the euthanasia list.
I can’t help but wonder how we got here? How we appear to have become jaded and cynical and unkind towards each other, let alone to the innocent animals who have nothing but love to give us?
My foster is named Maverick, for now. I am told that he was thrown from a truck at a neighborhood dog park and it took several people about a week to catch him. Scared and hungry, Maverick was taken into the home of one of the people who helped save his life, but since then, he has been moved around, and after a year, still has no place to call home.
No wonder he follows me everywhere. He holds his head down when I speak to him. He fears men. He seems sad. And today I will tell you that there is NO WAY I will let this dear, sweet dog go anywhere else again. After only one day he is home!
Maverick’s story touched me and it probably touched you too, but he is one of the lucky ones. Though he was dumped and left to fend for himself, he could have been nailed to a board and tossed in the desert – it happened. And there are other barbarically inhumane stories of heartless treatment that come with so many homeless animals. Unfortunately, there are few people who step up to help save their lives.
The Phoenix rescue community is strong and dedicated, but they need help. They need money to pay the veterinarian who set the broken leg, or delivered the breech puppies, or treated the mangy dog, or nursed the emaciated horses. And they need homes for animals. There are not enough of us to save them all. And look at me…I foster one dog and already I’m one of them. I have done nothing…the people in the trenches are the true heroes. My job is to tell you what’s happening in your city and get you mad as hell so you won’t allow it to happen one more day.
So, what can you do? Besides donating cash or supplies, consider fostering an animal in conjunction with one of the rescue groups who serve the greater Phoenix area. You can find a list of them on the PACC911 website under PACC911 Partners.
SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR ANIMALS. Yes, I know, you want your children to experience the miracle of birth. There cats and dogs in shelters and with rescue groups producing more animals every week, and there are animal birthing videos.
On the flip side, there are hundreds of videos on You Tube from shelters around the country that show the overflow of animals being killed every day. And if you thought reading How Could You? was a tear-jerker, just watch one of those.
Some say they don’t want to spay or neuter their animals because they believe their dog should experience sex. People…animals do not have intercourse for pleasure…they are driven my instinct to produce more of their species. If a male dog is around a female dog that is not in heat, it has no drive to mount her, no matter how beautiful she is. Get your dog neutered today. If you have a Pit Bull or Pit Bull mix, you can get a voucher from the County shelter for a free procedure. If you are in a low income bracket, you can get it done at a discount.
Why is it free for Pit Bulls? Because 75 percent of the animals killed every day in shelters around Maricopa County are Pit Bulls. Because they’re popular and too many people are breeding them in their back yards in the hope of making extra money. Because only two of a litter of ten Pit Bull puppies will make it to their second birthday. Because a few who have been negatively trained have given the entire breed a bad and very scary name that is perpetuated by the media.
How do I know so much about Pit Bulls? Because now I have two. Two of the sweetest, most loving and devoted, smartest, dogs anyone could ever want. But Pits have a ton of energy. They require a lot of exercise and do not make good couch potatoes. They need to be trained. Trained to obey your commands like sit, stay, or fetch – not kill.
Since only about 60 percent of animals brought to shelters find a home, this is where YOU come in…help NOT kill the over 60,000 animals every year – 165 animals every single day – who die in Maricopa County alone.
* Donate.
* Volunteer.
* Foster.
* Adopt – commit yourself for their lifetime.
* SPAY AND NEUTER – all of your companion animals today!
To read How Could You? email me at petwelfareexaminer@yahoo.com and I will send you the poem.
To find a rescue group in the greater Phoenix area go to the PaCC911 Partner page at: www.pacc911.org
