Peta at Westmister Dog Show
The Westminster Kennel Dog Show ended today. Just before the award was given for "Best in Show," two Peta protesters managed to get out in the ring and held up signs reading "Mutts Rule" and "Breeders Kill Shelter Dogs' Chances." The protest was cut from television, so if you missed it make sure to watch the following Associated Press video:
This really touches a nerve for us. According to Peta, 4 million unadopted pets are euthanized annually! Get your animals from the pound!!!!
Some of you may remember that we had to put down our beloved 16 year old cat last June. Our boy cat is still hanging in there, he'll be 16 in April. We finally got to a place where it was time to entertain the idea of bringing new cats home. After meeting a few different cats, all of whom would have made wonderful additions to our home, we settled on a brother and sister from our local Humane Society.
We decided to get two because our boy is getting older, so when he goes, there will still be two cats to entertain each other. Jane also figured that siblings would be more likely get along well.
Our two monsters were abandoned by their owner... we're not sure why. They are really fun cats. They have very distinct personalities and love to play. They're three years-old and they are fantastic. As with any animals being introduced into a new environment, they require a little bit of attention to make sure they don't shred the furniture or climb the curtains. But we've gotten them new scratching posts and toys to keep them active and help them to bond with us.
When we were at the shelter, the adoption counselor was so excited that we would take the two together. Apparently siblings are much less likely to be adopted together, or at all. They were even running a special... get one cat for $70 and the second for $15. Plus they gave us a coupon for a free vet exam at the vet of our choice in the San Gabriel valley. This seems to be common practice if you adopt from a Humane Society. They even offer senior discounts... if you're over sixty and get a cat over 5 years old, there is no adoption fee (not sure about dogs, but there are discounts).
If you're looking to get a new companion animal, you can find plenty of lovable animals looking for a home at Petfinder. They host photos of adoptable animals from a variety of shelters all over the country. There are currently almost 300,000 animals looking for a home! Don't buy a pet, save a life instead!
And one other interesting fact we learned upon adopting our furr-balls. The Humane Society provided us with a fact sheet advocating spaying/neutering. According to them one unaltered cat could yield 420,000 cats in seven years based on the average cat having a litter of 6 every year and each cat from that litter producing the same, etc. Even if those numbers are halved, that's certainly reason to spay/neuter your pets!
Related Information:
i agree that you should get your pets from a shelter, i have two greyhounds who raced in their previous life. But i don’t think peta goes about getting their message out in an effective way. I think more times than not, what then end up doing is putting people off on peta, and they ignore the message all together.
it’s up to people with shelter animals and blogs and word of mouth on social sites to get the word out to people. we can do a lot more good than peta will ever be able too.
I agree with you, get your dogs from a shelter! We adopted two dalmatians that were found together roaming the streets, and just two days before they were due to be euthanized!!! Poor babies. They are awesome and part of our family now and have been for the last 8+ years. I’d encourage anyone to adopt from a shelter. Like you we got the free initial vet visit, spaying and a goodie pack.
Save the shelter dogs!!!
It’s pretty sad that cats are always just given away for free while dogs are sold. People feel they can always make a profit out of breeding their dogs but dont take the time to spay a neuter cats to prevent overpopulation.
I agree with Jason.
PETA comes off as very forceful and opinionated. I think the current TV ads for animal shelters are much more effective. They always have me in tears and motivate me to talk to other people about the situation with shelter animals (it really does!)