The World Would Be a Better Place If...everyone adopted their pets instead of buying them
I was saddened to read an article in the Seattle Times today, about the Everett Animal Shelter and how it must euthanize good, adoptable pets just to make room for other incoming adoptable pets.
Even adoptable pets dying to make room
The link to the article is too long for this page, but here are the statistics (you could search for Everett Animal Shelter at www.seattletimes.com if you want to read the whole story)
The Everett Animal Shelter, which was designed to care for about 3,500 animals a year, now takes care of nearly 9,000 a year, said Bud Wessman, the shelter's director. The crowding is partly reflected in the white-board column recording the numbers put to death: about 22 percent of dogs brought to the shelter and about 40 percent of cats. About half of the animals euthanized are deemed not adoptable — they're sick, injured, feral or aggressive, Wessman said. Another one-fourth are euthanized at the owners' requests.
I just find this heartbreaking. Steve and I were handling a gorgeous 5-month old kitten named Norm at Next To Nature last night (our local natural pet food store), sponsored by Friends of the Animals Foundation. He was an interesting-colored seal point/white kitten, with a hint of Persi's grey "M" on his forehead and a tabby tail like Cheerio, the rest of him being fluffy and cream-colored. Since losing Persi last August to a car in front of the house I personally have felt there was a hole in our home (Steve feels differently I guess). Luckily someone had already applied to adopt him or else I would have twisted Steve's arm to take this new little bundle of joy - who had a rough start in life to begin with - home to the pack.
Upon reflection, we do have a good balance at home with our current mix (3 cats and Sophia), Steve says 4 animals is too many, and I ask him "What is it about you and a "number"?" Conversation to be continued...
Anyway, if a drowning kitten showed upon my doorstep I would take him in - I just can't actively go out and seek a new member of our family.
All of our pets were adopted or rescued. Switch was rescued from a dark, cold, wintery apartment in Renton, abandoned by tenants of an apartment that was evicted. There was no electricity, the potty box was full, and he had only adult food and looked like he had trouble chewing it because it was so big. Switch still has food issues, even at 14+ pounds and more than 2 years of having food available to him 24 hours a day. Sometimes these things never go away.
We adopted Havana from Purrfect Pals of Arlington when we bought our home in 2001 and found all this space and room for another cat (we brought three with us to the house, Persi, Cheerio, and Whizzin, Cheerio's brother, who left us two years ago). We went to a cat adopt-a-thon with the city and tried to adopt and were told 3 animals per household was the limit and we were turned away. So we went to Petco, where Purrfect Pals has an agreement to showcase their adoptable cats, and Havana was amazing. Once we got her home she actually got very sick, she had been spayed super young and we had to help her eat and drink water. A few days on a heating pad and under a hot lamp and voila! We got the berserking, beauty queen we have today.
I adopted Sophia last May with the help of Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue, I think I have written about her before.
Persi came to us during the rainy season of 1998, shortly after we were married. We tried to re-home him at first, but within 24 hours he had made his way into our hearts and we had to keep him. He was truly special.
Cheerio and Whizzin I found when I was 20 years old (1990) and living in an apartment in Mill Creek with my fiance of the time, after returning from an attempt to be in the Air Force and being sent home with a bad knee. I stopped to buy bird food for my cockatiel, Swayze (who left me in 1995), and a little of 8 kittens had been dumped, covered in fleas and ear mites and everything else. I was looking at a black and white kitten, but decided since having one cat you already can't go anywhere without making arrangements, we might as well get 2 so they can keep each other company and I wouldn't have as much guilt working all day. When the fiance and I broke up, it was no question I was the one who would be taking the cats since the typical boy of 20 years old can't handle the responsibility of caring for a cat - let alone a relationship.
If you have room in your household for a pet, do consider adopting from your local animal shelter or safe haven this year. At the Seattle Animal Shelter, our motto is "Saving One Life At a Time". That's all any of us can do - along with educating everyone we know about responsible and humane pet ownership. The benefits of growing up with and living with animals are endless!
Everett Animal Shelter
http://www.everettwa.org/cityhall/citydepts/animal_control/
Seattle Animal Shelter
www.seattleanimalshelter.org
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
www.paws.org
Humane Society for Seattle/King County
http://www.seattlehumane.org/
Purrfect Pals!
http://www.purrfectpals.org/
Friends of the Animals Foundation
http://www.fafseattle.org/
Even adoptable pets dying to make room
The link to the article is too long for this page, but here are the statistics (you could search for Everett Animal Shelter at www.seattletimes.com if you want to read the whole story)
The Everett Animal Shelter, which was designed to care for about 3,500 animals a year, now takes care of nearly 9,000 a year, said Bud Wessman, the shelter's director. The crowding is partly reflected in the white-board column recording the numbers put to death: about 22 percent of dogs brought to the shelter and about 40 percent of cats. About half of the animals euthanized are deemed not adoptable — they're sick, injured, feral or aggressive, Wessman said. Another one-fourth are euthanized at the owners' requests.
I just find this heartbreaking. Steve and I were handling a gorgeous 5-month old kitten named Norm at Next To Nature last night (our local natural pet food store), sponsored by Friends of the Animals Foundation. He was an interesting-colored seal point/white kitten, with a hint of Persi's grey "M" on his forehead and a tabby tail like Cheerio, the rest of him being fluffy and cream-colored. Since losing Persi last August to a car in front of the house I personally have felt there was a hole in our home (Steve feels differently I guess). Luckily someone had already applied to adopt him or else I would have twisted Steve's arm to take this new little bundle of joy - who had a rough start in life to begin with - home to the pack.
Upon reflection, we do have a good balance at home with our current mix (3 cats and Sophia), Steve says 4 animals is too many, and I ask him "What is it about you and a "number"?" Conversation to be continued...
Anyway, if a drowning kitten showed upon my doorstep I would take him in - I just can't actively go out and seek a new member of our family.
All of our pets were adopted or rescued. Switch was rescued from a dark, cold, wintery apartment in Renton, abandoned by tenants of an apartment that was evicted. There was no electricity, the potty box was full, and he had only adult food and looked like he had trouble chewing it because it was so big. Switch still has food issues, even at 14+ pounds and more than 2 years of having food available to him 24 hours a day. Sometimes these things never go away.
We adopted Havana from Purrfect Pals of Arlington when we bought our home in 2001 and found all this space and room for another cat (we brought three with us to the house, Persi, Cheerio, and Whizzin, Cheerio's brother, who left us two years ago). We went to a cat adopt-a-thon with the city and tried to adopt and were told 3 animals per household was the limit and we were turned away. So we went to Petco, where Purrfect Pals has an agreement to showcase their adoptable cats, and Havana was amazing. Once we got her home she actually got very sick, she had been spayed super young and we had to help her eat and drink water. A few days on a heating pad and under a hot lamp and voila! We got the berserking, beauty queen we have today.
I adopted Sophia last May with the help of Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue, I think I have written about her before.
Persi came to us during the rainy season of 1998, shortly after we were married. We tried to re-home him at first, but within 24 hours he had made his way into our hearts and we had to keep him. He was truly special.
Cheerio and Whizzin I found when I was 20 years old (1990) and living in an apartment in Mill Creek with my fiance of the time, after returning from an attempt to be in the Air Force and being sent home with a bad knee. I stopped to buy bird food for my cockatiel, Swayze (who left me in 1995), and a little of 8 kittens had been dumped, covered in fleas and ear mites and everything else. I was looking at a black and white kitten, but decided since having one cat you already can't go anywhere without making arrangements, we might as well get 2 so they can keep each other company and I wouldn't have as much guilt working all day. When the fiance and I broke up, it was no question I was the one who would be taking the cats since the typical boy of 20 years old can't handle the responsibility of caring for a cat - let alone a relationship.
If you have room in your household for a pet, do consider adopting from your local animal shelter or safe haven this year. At the Seattle Animal Shelter, our motto is "Saving One Life At a Time". That's all any of us can do - along with educating everyone we know about responsible and humane pet ownership. The benefits of growing up with and living with animals are endless!
Everett Animal Shelter
http://www.everettwa.org/cityhall/citydepts/animal_control/
Seattle Animal Shelter
www.seattleanimalshelter.org
Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)
www.paws.org
Humane Society for Seattle/King County
http://www.seattlehumane.org/
Purrfect Pals!
http://www.purrfectpals.org/
Friends of the Animals Foundation
http://www.fafseattle.org/
posted by Wendy Hughes-Jelen @ 1:58 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:36 PM,
Stephen Hughes-Jelen said…
It's not about the "number", but our family feels large enough to me right now. There just isn't enough attention to be spread out to any more additions. Sophia soaks up a huge amount of your available attention as it is, and has a tendency to interrupt any attention being given to anyone else. So for now, I think our family is big enough. That's all.
At 12:44 PM,
Wendy Hughes-Jelen said…
I know how big my heart and my home are. And don't be blaming my darling Sophia, either.
There's always room for one more.
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