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A request
The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.
The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.
Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.
So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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Um, oh my gosh, could these two be any cuter?
I would have to say no.
Aww, Charlie. :)
oh god, these two are SO. CUTE. And given that my experience is that dog's coiffure usually matches their personality - I'm already in love with Maggie. So cute!
If I lived anywhere even remotely commutable to where you're located, I'd have to stop looking at your pictures entirely. I've managed to build up a fairly decent resistance to shelter pictures, but I am helpless against all the ones you post here, Fred.
Gonna go explode now.
That's a picture I'd love to have in a frame on my wall. Too cute.
That much cuteness should not be allowed to reside in one picture.
Maggie looks the exact way I feel the morning after a really spectacular night before....
It will be interesting to see how long it takes before these two super cute characters are snapped up - but what happens to the dogs that don't have that wow factor, like poor Deedee who has been at the shelter sine June 2 or Maggie, since July 17. How long does TAS keep them before moving them somewhere else? Please tell me all that are fit and able evenually find a home, no matter how long it takes??
Anon, or Beau who has been at the South shelter since April. I don't know about the other locations but South does not give up on its dogs who are in general adoption. Unfortunately, some end up staying there for quite a long time before they find a home. Sometimes the longer residents are rotated between different shelters. Sometimes a foster family with a rescue is found for them. Unless a dog becomes ill and the prognosis is extremely bad, I've never known a dog in adoption to be euthanized.
Having said that, we must remember to celebrate our "easy" dogs as well. Every dog adopted is a win.
Thanks for that, I can now sleep at night!