Gassing chambers still being used in parts of the United States to kill cats and dogs at animal shelters. If I close my eyes, will it go away?
Heart-sticking cats and dogs at animal shelters in the United States. If I close my eyes, will it go away?
Owners chaining their dogs, forgetting to feed them, or provide them with water. Many abused, most forgotten. If I close my eyes, will it go away?
List after list after list of adoptable cats and dogs scheduled for euthanasia at over-crowded shelters. If I close my eyes, will it go away?
Of course, the answer is no. But too many people do not want to see the horrors that are afflicted on our society's cats and dogs.
Too many good pet owners are content to live in their own bubble of contentment. Enjoying their happy cat or dog - providing good ownership and lots of love, but closed off to the horrors that befall the unlucky cats and dogs all around us.
If we close our eyes to abused children - the abuse does not stop. If we choose not to see the homeless or the hungry, the need does not go away.
I would encourage you to please get involved in some way. There are multiple ways for everyone to be involved.
Sign a petition that supports the end of heart-sticking and gas chambers for United States animal shelters.
Follow the Gig Harbor business-woman's lead and post a pet of the week flier at your place of business. Choose a local shelter that you visit and take photos for the flier - it's easy and it helps.
Foster a homeless cat or dog (I'm going to voice a pet peeve here - I hear it again and again - it's too hard for me to foster - I will be sad when the dog or cat is adopted. If you open your eyes, will you be sad when that cat or dog that you could have fostered is euthanized at an over-crowded shelter?)
Adopt your next cat or dog. Do not buy your next pet from an irresponsible breeder or a pet store. Help stop the breeding madness that has taken over our society.
Spay and neuter your own pets. Do not contribute to the unwanted animals that are dying day after day.
Donate to a local cat or dog rescue, or to your local animal shelter. Visit Petfinder.com to find a shelter or rescue near you.
Report cases of neglect or abuse when you see it. If you drive by a house with a dog chained to a tree, suffering through the elements without shelter, food or water - please pick up the phone and call animal control or the police and report the problem. Don't close your eyes and pretend that it will go away.
If you hear about an injured dog, such as Courage, who is being nurtured back to health after suffering abuse, please donate.
The German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County did not hesitate to step up for Courage's medical expenses, even knowing that they would be high. Happily, many, many people did open their eyes to his abuse, and they did open their pocketbooks to support his recovery.
Contact a local dog or cat rescue and find out if you can donate items, or perhaps help with transporting animals in need to/from foster homes, vet appointments, or even on cross-country road trips. Rescues are desperate for people that are willing and able to help. Once you try, you will realize just how easy it is to make a difference.
Bearing witness to animal cruelty is not an easy task, but closing your eyes to the problem will not make it go away. Please do your part, in some way, to help those cats and dogs who do not have a voice.
If you have not yet watched the video (related articles box to the upper left of this article) about doing "just one thing", please do. It is heart-warming and shows the power of taking a moment to make a difference.
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Comments
What a great article! I so agree with everything you said. Yes, it IS heartbreaking to "be in the trenches" and see what goes on in the animal world, in fact it is very difficult to handle. I have many sleepless nights over the starvation, gassing and abuse. You are so right encouraging people to get involved! Getting involved can save at least one life and that's the way to make this world a better place, one life at a time! Volunteer your time, if you don't have time, give money or give food, used leashes, beds etc.GET INVOLVED PEOPLE! ANIMALS ARE NOT DISPOSABLE!
Great article, well written, thank you Penny! Heartsticking and gassing is a common form of euthanasia in the United States, healthy and adoptable animals fall victim to this, around 12-15 million in the United States. This can be compared to the Holocaust in Germany. It's as if we are not in the 21st century, using barbaric ways to kill our unwanted pets simply because there aren't enough homes. One person involved CAN make a difference...go volunteer at a shelter, adopt a dog or cat at a shelter or rescue, donate food to shelters, go bathe dogs and cats that need the extra help to look nice before adoption, go walk dogs that get kennel 'crazy' at shelters. Those that put blinders on an turn a dear ear to the problem are just adding to the problem. Make a difference and help your local rescue or shelter!
Great article! I was disheartened when the first article on here was showing how to take care of a pregnant dog and litter of puppies. THIS is MUCH better. Thank you!
To Brook - the article that you are referring to is by the Tacoma Pets Examiner, not me. I, too, was disheartened to read it. Sorry that you were confused - the titles are similar. If you subscribe to my articles, you will get a notice when I write and there won't be any confusion :)
To Brook - the article that you are referring to is by the Tacoma Pets Examiner, not me. I, too, was disheartened to read it. Sorry that you were confused - the titles are similar. If you subscribe to my articles, you will get a notice when I write and there won't be any confusion :)
Good article. Well written and informative.
Right-o, Christy & Angie, re; one person's efforts. Every little bit helps. Ripple effect, folks, do what you can where you can ;)
ONE VOICE, ONE ADOPTION, ONE PERSON BECOMES 2, 2 BECOMES 3, 3 BECOMES........ AND SO ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PEOPLE USE YOUR VOICES FOR ANIMALS, HELP THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONE PERSON DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In reading your article and the comments below, I am heartened by something that easily gets lost amid all the ugliness of animal rescue.
Look at the words: ripple effect, get involved, one can make a difference, etc.
Just a few years ago none of this was happening at all. Look at what the internet is giving us. How many people today are getting involved in some way to bring these atrocities and all this killing to light? They weren't doing this 10 years ago.
I find that absolutely exciting. Sadly, changes can't happen fast enough to save many lives today. But the more we talk, the more we share, the more we cry together - and most importantly - the more we SCREAM at those who run this ugly shelter industry, the sooner they will make changes and this genocide will end. It can end overnight.
Angie, you've got it, but stop using the term euthanasia. It is not. It is the callous murder of sentient beings. We need to rid ourselves of two words: pets and euthanasia.
Something is broken with the publishing tool right now. The comments and slideshow from my article "If I close my eyes, will it go away" are not here. A ticket has been submitted to the technical team to get this error corrected. My apologies for the strange combination of comments and photos that you are viewing today 7/14/10)
great article....now if people WOULD JUST LISTEN...what happened 2 Tommy? he's just a baby. if i had room, i have 5 dogs n 7 cats at the moment...please tell me that wee baby made it out
dru
Thank you for writing this article!
money, food, donations. people step in and help animals every day, but its not enough...
people are not closing their eyes anymore for the precious animals or the broken hearted children either.
but its still not enough, taking actions and doing is great and worth while..but as long as those abuser's get away with doing this, the laws are not enforcing penalties. then those that do will continue to do.
then of course..what of retaliations and attacks on innocent people and animals that have taken action to do something? is there protections for them or their pets safety?
would be great if the whole world would read this article and heed the words. but the only one's that it touches are the one's already taking actions and the cold hearted person has not even been bothered or moved by this article at all. i know, cause i rescue and help hundreds of animals since 2005. no grey areas, either your a helper or your an abuser. not enough law to stop abuse!
I want to become a home for fostering animals..what do i do to get in to that?
Some of the problems that we are seeing now is county and city government are getting involved in our households and are regulating the number of pets that we can have. I had 5 dogs and was told that I had to get rid of 2 of them. All of them I had rescued as tossed away puppys, all were spayed or neutered, all had been given their shots, flea prevention, monthly heartworm prevention and wormed. All slept indoors in their beds, went out for daily excerise, fed twice a day, went for daily walks at the park, and loved dearly by my kids, myself, and my husband. They were all over 5 years old and the oldest being 10. I was told by my local government that I had 1 week to get rid of 2 of my dogs, to turn them into the pound. The neighbors could keep their 2 dogs tied to the tree across the street, with no shelter. The people down the street could tie theirs with a leash to their porch steps all day while they went to work. Responsability should be the primary issue for all pet owners.
I cannot believe the things I continue to see on my computer. Sometimes I wish I did not have one because I cry every time I turn around when I seen a poor defenseless baby being abandoned or abused like this. I just cannot understand what gets into people that they just do not care and can be so cruel. These babies are lives and deserve to be treated as such! They need time, love and fun just as any of Gods creatures. My chest really is hurting from seeing all the pain they are going through and never asked for a moment of it. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!!! DO SOMETHING TO HELP IF AT LEAST PASS THE WORD!!
I would like to know what happened to Tommy as well. Is he still there? There are many rescues that would take him if they were informed he was there. We had a situation in Connecticut not nearly as bad as those recently reported in Georgia--but a close call. A chocolate lab was listed on the New Britain Animal Control Facility's Petfinder page and numerous attempts were made to reach the facility to tell them a rescue organization would take the dog. They returned no calls or emails. Thank God one of the shelter administrators decided to go to the shelter in person and literally pulled the dog out of the van that was taking animals to be euthanized. Mere seconds made the difference between life and death for this animal. She is a gorgeous dog--under a year old and was literally rescued from the jaws of death. When will this end? As humans we really need to get it together. If Tommy is still there I will take him.....
WHERE IS THE LINK TO SIGN THE PETITION ON THE BANNING OF GASSING CHAMBERS???????????
ONCE YOU HERE THE CRIES AND THEY TURN TO WIMPERS AS THE GAS HAS BEEN TURNED ON IT IS A SOUND THAT WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. IT IS LIKE KNOWING THE TRUTH, ONCE YOU KOW THE TRUTH YOU CANNOT DENY IT. WE MUST STOP THE GASSING OF ALL ANIMALS IN THIS COUNTRY. IT STARTS WITH JUST ONE PERSRON STANDING UP AND SAYING THIS HAS TO STOP, AND THEN ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER.HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE GASSING CHAMBERS? MANY PEOPLE SAY THAT THEY CANNOT STOMACHE IT, THINK OF HOW THE ANIMALS STOMACHES TURN AS THE GAS IS TURNED ON,,,,,,,,
REMEBER IF YOU LOOK AWAY, DOESN'T MEAN IT GOES AWAY,,,,,,,,
YOU CAN PRETEND, BUT DEEP DOWN INSIDE YOU KNOW,,,,,,
FOR EVERYONEONE WHO LOOKS AWAY ANOTHER CHAMBER IS GASSED,,,,,
PLEASE VISIT WWW.HELPSAVEONE.ORG
THANK YOU
thank you so much for your outstanding article and Yes, we as humans really need to get it together. Do you have a petition or link that we can access. Well done:)
Very well said. People need to focus more on the neglect of our sweet animals because there is such a small army for them but many for the needs of people. Animals only have one source to rely on and that is humans... unfortunately. I will share this because I personally know a few people who don't seem to bother themselves with being involved with animal welfare and it needs to be addressed. Educate, circulate and donate!!
I love this article. I post everything from here on my wall on FB. Some of my friends say why do you always post the bad things. I say I will never pretend that these things don't happen and I would be just as guilty as those who abuse the animals. My husband and I stepped in when we saw a guy kicking his dog when no one else would.We will not stand by and pretend and bow to people who don't care either because we do. We live in Canada my only regret is I didn't start earlier promoting animal safety.I always put up the article I am A Dog Not a Thing and I always tell people if you have no time don't adopt an animal buy a stuffed animal instead. If you are not prepared to give 13-15 yrs. towards an animals care than don't bother. We have a 14 yr. old mama and her 2 sons who are 13 yrs. old. Dingo was a rescue from an abusive family who thought it was fun to kick a 11 mth. old puppy down the stairs. This is when we stepped in and took Dingo.We were going to have her fixed the next day but she got with our male and 6 puppies later. We found homes for 3 of them and we kept 3. Our baby Sable passed in 2008 at 10 yrs. old from Pancreatitis. We did everything we could to save her she was okay for 3 more wks. than she went downhill fast. Keep up the good work I love your articles.
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