Best Friend to a Good Home

I love animals especially dogs. They are smart, loyal, protective of their pack (you and your family), and playful. It is so heartbreaking for me to see how in our society more and more people are contributing to their assassination every day. I see ads like "Free to good home", "To good home with a small fee", "To a good home, adoption fee applies" and the one that makes my skin crawl "Needs to be adopted ASAP or I will send it to a shelter". Are this people trying to find a good home for their pets? Some of them are but most of them are just trying to get rid of a "problem", trying to make money or both.

You may wonder why I say that dogs are being assassinated, I know it is a strong term but that is the reality. When someone is just trying to get rid of the dog, if the owners do not find a home for it, the animal is more likely to end up in a shelter. This kind of pet owners usually do not do a research and end up giving the animal to a kill shelter. Kill shelters have spread out like a wild fire, but do not get me wrong, I do not blame "Kill facilities". Killing facilities are an offspring of society. The regular Shelters and Rescue places are not enough these days. The opening of more places is a respond of your city to deal with the unwanted/abandoned pets. The problem is that because of the proliferation of these facilities they are generally under fund, lacking volunteers, and overloaded with animals. The kill shelters usually wait for a period of 2-4 days before killing an animal; and the only way to put an animal on hold, most of the time, is to schedule a same day or next day visit.

In addition, when owners are in a hurry to relocate their pet, they think that asking for a fee will ensure that the adopter is a good person with good intentions. Most of the time they do not ask for Vet references, to check the place were the dog will live, or even ask simple questions to figure out if the person knows how to care for a dog. This is when "dog fighting clubs" people come into the scene. Most people think dog fighting is no longer practice, because of being an illegal activity. The truth is that dog fighting is extensively practice all over the world, including the United States. People who practice dog fighting as a way of making a living, often "adopt" animals from ads for this purpose. They reply to the free and small fee ones, because paying a small amount of money is not comparable to the money they can get when they put the dog to fight. Also small breeds are not safe; often they use them as bait to train the bigger dogs how to fight or to make them aggressive.

Another threat to dogs is irresponsible backyard breeders. People who want to make a profit from their pets. They usually not know much about breeding and do not even care to breed only inside the same breed, they do not restrict the amount of births a bitch has, or provide vet care for it. They are after making some money and do not care who buys the puppies if they pay the price, and when they do not find buyers, the puppies are most likely to end on killing shelters.

Why have we as a society forgot that we are to protect and provide for our pets? What has happened to us? Self-gratification and fashion statements would be my first choice. People used to get dogs as helpers around farms help protect the house and or as companions. Now a days is about Paris Hilton having Tinkerbelle (a Chihuahua) on her purse as a fashion statement and all the "fashionistas" wanting to follow the lead. It is about kids that get everything they want form their parents including living toys aka puppies. It is about people that has a void in their lives, and think that a dog is the solution to all of their problems. The sad part is, that when the trend goes for a different breed, when the dog ruins your high fashion purse, when the living toy starts behaving more like a living being and not so much like a toy, when your life is still a mess, the solution is easy for their masters. Let us get rid of it.

Please before you adopt a dog, do your research. Not only research on the breed but also search your heart to see if you are willing to make a 8-10 years commitment to care for this living companion. On the other hand, if you cannot longer care for your dog or just don't want to please do your best to find it a new home, not a death sentence.