As I was driving down the street in my local town I noticed a little dog running down the street. It was so scarred it didn't know what to do. I felt so sorry for the little thing and wanted to help him. I contacted the local animal shelter and was to meet someone there so they could take the little dog in and make sure he had food and water.
That is when I started wondering just how many animals out there didn't have the proper care and nutrition. It seems like every week or so I am hearing about some breeder or animal shelter getting shut down because of mistreatment to the animals. I did a little research on the Missouri Humane Society and this is what I found. I knew there were a lot of problems with humans being cruel to animals but I had no idea that one humane society would have eight pages of tragic stories.
I think being cruel to a poor animal is comparable to child abuse. I have a Shih Tzu and he is just one of the family. I could never be mean to him or not feed and water him. The little guy sleeps under the covers right next to me in bed at night and wouldn't know what to do if he had to stop. Not to mention the fact that Oliver's mama (the dog and myself) would be just as upset as he was.
There are so many resources available to people that decide they simply don't want to care for their pet anymore. I found this website and they offer a number of resources for people. Including help with your pet, community support, school programs, etc. The school programs are a great idea because most children love animals and they need to be taught how to properly care for them.
I once had a HUGE Great Dane that was in the house and that dog was one of the best dogs ever. He lived to be 12 and for those of you that know anything at all about Great Danes that is SUPER old for that big of a breed. The normal life expectancy is 7-10 years according to this website. Anyway, once he got so old he started having trouble with his hips and one of my (cough-cough) brother-in-laws told me he could just take him out and shoot him so we didn't have to spend any money on him. Needless to say, I got so incredibly mad that he would even suggest a thing like that, I kicked him out of my house and was never to return until further notice. I can't understand how people look at these animals as nothing more than a "thing" instead of a living being. I went on to spend lots of money on Jack (the great dane) and would do it again in a heart beat.
The whole point to this story is, if you can't give your animal the love and care that they not only need but deserve...don't get one!!!!
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