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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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Donated to these good people today.
That was wonderful news from Kenn Sakurai about the dogs. They were on the minds of people all over the world. As he said, there's much more to do.
Free Kibble will be donating all kibble raised on the site today to rescue efforts for anuimals in Japan - it's FREE, all you do is click on a trivia answer:
http://freekibble.com/
Click on Free Kibble Cats, too.
Fred, thanks for posting the YouTube comment saying the dogs have been rescued - I had seen links to the video for a couple of days but wouldn't watch it because I thought it would end tragically, or at least without any word on the outcome.
Also, a day or so after the tsunami it was thought that Cat Island, a small island where hundreds of stray cats live (and are cared for by a hundred or so full-time human residents) had been lost. It was just another piece of awful news on top of so many. But yesterday I learned Cat Island is all right, and it's thought that all the residents (human and feline) are safe:
http://tinyurl.com/4rdnhow
A small but important bit of good news. [/cat news]
G-d, I hope they both make it! Love like that should mean something...
To whom it my concern,
I saw the dogs pn tv yesterday and my heart was broken, the same thing with the people of Japan. Anyway! i'm just wondering if the Dogs owners are alive or around? If not! I'd like to adopt both of the dogs here in the Unite States. I hope you guys have more information with the dogs or if they need a home or something. Thanks.
Hi Ray, thanks for offering to help. I've removed your phone number from your post because I wouldn't want you to get any unsolicited calls. The best way to contact the rescue groups in Japan to find out more about the two dogs is to contact Kenn Sakurai via his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/kenn.sakurai1?sk=wall#!/kenn.sakurai1?sk=wall
All of this saddens me, people, pets. But seeing things like these also gives me hope still for humanity and its kindness. Call me paranoid, but I actually have an 'emergency plan' that involves also rescuing my pets (again) as well, in case of disaster. I know people plan and if something happens we literally have seconds to react, but I know in my heart, that I would take those extra seconds to gather my 2 cats and my dog. I've given them a second chance at life and I won't let anything take it away either. My husband and I are aware of what we need to do in case of emergency. I actually have this 'bag' big enough for my 2 cats to be placed in, and we have a 'pet' bag ready to grab too, along with something for us. Someone laughed at my 'paranoia', but honestly, better safe than sorry.
The Countess, that's not paranoia, that's good planning. I remember there were some commercials, several years ago, telling people to plan escape routes from their homes in case of fire, etc. and it showed people throwing rope ladders out of their second story bedroom windows and stuff like that. As a kid, I wanted a rope ladder out my bedroom window regardless of fire or not. Parents said no.
It might have been your parents wanted to avoid anyone climbing up that rope ladder in case you ever forgot it on the outside. However, I think that was a smart thing to think about. In times like we have now, anything can happen at any given time, as it seems far more common for natural disasters to happen due to climate changes and nature we have destroyed. I hope I never have to be forced to use my emergency kits, but maybe people should also prepare just in case.