“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog.  You are his life, his love, his leader.  He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of this heart.  You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.”

As I was packing up after an adoption event last month, a woman tried to give me her dog.  She kept telling me that if I didn’t take her that she would have her killed immediately.  This woman refused to listen to me, take any advice or my offer to help her rehome, nor would she even consider holding onto her dog for 24 more hours to give me time to find a rescue.  She would not even consider just surrendering her dog to the city shelter in the morning.  Rather, the two options she was allowing were a) I could take the dog that very minute or b) she would walk into the vet clinic and order the dog put to death.

This poor dog, which I eventually learned is named Mandy, did nothing to deserve this treatment from her owner.  And this owner in no way deserved the love and affection Mandy had been giving to her for the four years they were together.  While I understand that some people out there have situations in life that require them to surrender their pet, there is NEVER a good reason for someone to have their pet killed unless the pet is suffering from an illness that cannot be treated or cured.

The good news is that we took Mandy for the night and she was then taken to the city shelter in the morning where she was adopted within a week of being surrendered.  If her owner had been a decent person, who actually respected her pet – an animal who depended on her – then she would have tried working with Mandy, or would have found a proper home for her, or would have surrendered Mandy to the shelter herself.

These animals are helpless. We have bred them to depend on us and therefore we have the responsibility of caring for them with all the love and affection they so selflessly give us.  “…He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of this heart.  You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.“

The assumption that animals are without rights, and the illusion that our treatment of them has no moral significance, is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity.  Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality.

Rescue animals are not broken, they have simply experienced more life than other animals.  If they were human, we would call them wise.  They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write, the ones dealt a bad hand who responded with courage.  Do not pity them.  Do something.  Help rescue.  Donate.  Volunteer.  Foster.  Adopt.  And be proud to have their greatness by your side.

People need to alter their mindset to viewing their pets as family members, rather than as a possession.  Pets are a lifetime commitment, much like your children are, and not like a piece of furniture that one can simply leave behind.  I will never cease to be amazed and disgusted by the reasons individuals give when trying to dump their pet at the shelter… and one of my favorites is the moving excuse.

I hear this excuse on almost a daily basis.  “I’m moving to another state and I cannot take my pet with” or “My new apartment doesn’t allow my dog(s)/cat(s) “.  Why can you not take them with you?  I adopted my cat, Loki, when I lived in San Diego and he moved to Milwaukee with me.  I adopted Monty, my dog, when I was in Milwaukee and both him and Loki moved with me to Austin.  It did take a little extra planning to make sure the hotels on the route would allow them, but it literally was an extra 30 minutes at the maximum for the effort.  Would you leave a family member behind due to an extra 30 minutes of planning?  Of course not, so please stop to consider your pet’s life and future.

And it’s your fault the apartment does not allow pets – when you were apartment searching, you should have been asking about their pet policy and making sure they allowed all your pets.  Again, if you had a child you would make sure the place you were moving appropriately accommodated him/her so why would you not put in the effort for your pet?  Your pet is not a piece of furniture that you can just decide is not worth making room or effort for in a move – this is a living being who is dependent upon you and you are responsible for their well being.  Take that extra ounce of effort and make sure your entire family can live where you are going.

Last night, I left work around 8:30pm a little tired and with plans of dinner, a shower, and some rest after another long day of work.  Before I shut my computer down around 10pm, I made a quick check of my work email and noticed a plea from our dog foster coordinator stating we were probably going to be helping Bastrop’s shelter evacuate their animals as they were being threatened by the wildfires – we needed fosters, volunteers, and staff to come to the Austin Pets Alive building as soon as possible to prepare.

I arrived back at work about five minutes before the masses did.  The sheer number of people who responded to our facebook post and email, who saw that homeless animals needed help, left the comfort of their beds and came to APA to offer their hearts and homes to these helpless animals was one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen.  People started coming soon after 10pm and we left a little after 4am with all our building dogs in foster, half the new Bastrop dogs in foster and the other half safely in our facility.  And so many of us were back before 10am to continue doing the work needed.

Sometimes with the work we do in animal welfare we lose faith in humanity.  We see too many cruelty cases, field too many angry phone calls, have one too many conversations with a friend or family member who does not understand why we do the work we do.   Soon we become jaded and bitter, always holding a grudge against others.  But a little over 24 hours ago, my faith was restored.  The number of volunteers, donors, fosters, and adopters who have supported us still blows me away.  There are so many wanting to help in whatever way they can, it finally brought me to tears when I saw the amount of donated supplies stacked outside our door this afternoon.

Honestly I am still emotional now, finally resting in my apartment and having a moment to reflect on what has actually happened and is still happening here in Austin.  I am so proud to work for Austin Pets Alive and both humbled and honored to be working alongside such amazing people.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days as we continue to work tirelessly to ensure the safety of animals in Central Texas during these wildfires.

“They came first for the bloodhounds, and I didn’t speak up because I didn’t have a bloodhound.  Then they came for the doberman pinchers, and I didn’t speak up because I didn’t have a doberman pincher.  Then they came for the pit bulls, and I didn’t speak up because I didn’t have a pit bull.  Then they came for my dog and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

Never tolerate breed discrimination – no matter what you have heard or think you know about specific breeds, there is no breed of dog that has it in their blood to kill.  There is no breed of dog that can lock their jaw.  Every single dog breed is capable of biting or attacking, it has nothing to do with their DNA and it has everything to do with their training.  Demand your legislators NEVER allow breed specific legislation and to not even spend a minute of their time or a single tax payer dollar on a failed concept.

One of the worst days of the year, if not the worst, for losing your dog is the Fourth of July.  Why?  One word:  fireworks.  The loud explosions and bright flashes scare many dogs when they are outside and in their panic, they will bolt out of their yard and get lost.  PLEASE take precaution and keep your pets inside during the festivities so they do not spook and run away.  Do not take your pet(s) to any firework viewings and definitely do not take your dog for a walk after dusk during the holiday weekend, as it is rather easy for a spooked dog to get away from you even if on leash.

And while I am on the subject of keeping your dog safe from running away, please talk to your vet as soon as you can about microchipping if your pets are not already microchipped.  Even for indoor-only cats, microchipping is an amazing way to ensure your best chance of finding your pet if they ever get lost.  Your pet’s already chipped?  Make sure the contact information is up to date on the account.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Online shopping has become an amazing convenience for Americans.  From electronics to books to even groceries, almost everything can be purchased online and shipped directly to your home.  But with something so accessible and convenient comes a very evil practice:  selling animals online.

You can find them all over the internet.  Individuals creating websites that project a family atmosphere of only a few happy dogs in a loving home that just happen to get pregnant on a regular basis and are creating designer breed puppies.  And with just a few clicks, maybe even through paypal, you can have one of their precious puppies shipped to you anywhere in the continental United States.  So what is wrong with this you ask?

No reputable breeder will ship their puppies off to whoever will pay the exorbitant fee.  I don’t care what their website says or what cute, happy pictures they post of their “family dogs”.  If they are selling their dogs online and willing to ship a living creature to perfect strangers, they are a puppy mill or backyard breeder.  It’s just that simple.  And want to see what it actually looks like at these facilities?  Check out this rather standard puppy mill in Minnesota.  I urge you to watch the entire video.  While they were shut down from selling their puppies to pet stores, they can still sell online.

Another issue besides the obvious mistreatment of the animals is that backyard breeders and puppy mills are notorious for not vaccinating their puppies (or providing basic veterinary care for the puppies and parents).  So that super expensive puppy you just bought and had shipped to you?  He probably will have worms, kennel cough, parvo and/or even distemper.  And these breeders do not care about genetic issues when they breed, they are focused on appearance alone, so you have just purchased an animal that will most likely suffer from at least one serious genetic defect.

So PLEASE do not buy an animal online and encourage all your friends and family to ADOPT, not shop.