The No. 1 thing we can do is
actually go to our shelters, adopt, foster, get involved with the shelters.
Before
actually going to a shelter to pick out a dog, give careful thought and consideration as to the breed that is most compatible with your personality and lifestyle.
Not exact matches
But a parent's first instinct —
to shelter their offspring above all else —
actually deprives children of the major developmental milestones that occur through letting them
go — and watching them come back transformed.
I visited the Tulsa Animal Welfare
Shelter on May 31 for my
Shelter Report page, and was so encouraged
to see it crowded with families walking the aisles looking for a new best friend, and with dogs
actually being adopted and
going out the front door!
So, if you
go into a
shelter to adopt a dog, and the kennel sign has a dog labeled as a «Pit» or «Pit Mix», when it
actually is a «Shepherd / Hound Mix» for example, more than likely you and many other potential adopters or rescuers will overlook this animal simply because someone at the
shelter «guessed» that it might be a «Pit».
In fact, saying that you should
go to a
shelter to buy a mix - breed, but you have the freedom of selection if you want a purebred is
actually nullifying your original argument that purebreds from a
shelter are not interchangeable with purebreds from a breeder.
When you adopt an animal from a
shelter, you're
actually saving two lives — the one you adopted and the one that can now take his or her place at the
shelter, that would otherwise not have a place
to go.
But
Shelter Chic saw even through the cage bars how much love Chubbs had
to offer - he
actually reached out through the bars of his cage, grabbed his rescuer and would not let
go!
This means that when this law
goes into effect in July, PeTA's Virginia facility will have
to become a true
shelter that
actually houses and adopts out animals or get out of the
shelter — and euthanasia — «business» entirely.
By engaging the dogs in as many real life activities as possible —
going for walks, playing with toys, playing with dogs, training games — then paying attention
to and recording what the dogs
actually do during their stay in the
shelter, and by collecting careful behavior histories from the people surrendering the dog when this is possible.
Go to the
shelters to actually look at the animals.
Known as «Black Dog Syndrome,» this false perception can
actually go so far as
to make black dogs less adoptable in the
shelter system.