Thursday, December 19, 2013

Saving Turtles ~Sitting in my drafts from last week....oops!

So, I'm the type of person that sees a turtle trying to cross the road who stops and helps the turtle. I never thought it was something out of the ordinary, but as I grow up more I find that there aren't a whole lot of people that really care about the turtles in the world, these are the folks that would rather turn a blind eye and not know that there's bad things going on in the world.

Being the type of person that I am, I stopped to pick up a turtle out of the road yesterday. This turtle was quite large, but was obviously scared out of his wits because he was hiding in his shell. I picked up the turtle and put him back in the grass near the water in the field.

I will save just about anything, I even worry about snakes, even though I can't stand to be around them! *shudder* I just imagine that the turtle is grateful, I didn't change the world, but I changed it for that one turtle that one time.

Can we as humans do something truly selfless? I keep wondering if my need to save creatures means that there is something innately wrong with me, because I seem to be in the minority. What are your thoughts?

As usual, thanks for stopping by.

What Exactly is Hoarding

According to Wikipedia "Animal hoarding is keeping a higher-than-usual number of animals as domestic pets without having the ability to properly house or care for them, while at the same time denying this inability."

Now, Wikipedia is not the only source to get information, but that sentence about sums it up. Honestly, what does that really mean? To me, a hoarder is someone that has good intentions....well, usually.....but end up hurting the animals more because they keep taking animals until they are in WAY over their head. So, that threshold is different for everyone. 


Let's use me as an example. I have 2 dogs that I own, 1 dog that I co-own, 2 fosters, and 2 horses. (I rescued a pregnant horse NOT knowing she was pregnant.) I take care of my animals PLUS I help others take care of their animals. Now, am I considered a hoarder? Some people can't imagine having 1 dog, let alone 5 in their home. But me, that seems like nothing....I had a "friend" that claimed 22 dogs as her own. She turned out to be a bit psychotic and had about 20 fosters on top of her 22 "owned" dogs. Now could 1 person, out of work, with no other source of income possibly take care of that many animals? Not really, well, not in my opinion of course. This is all done in the name of rescue, but what exactly is she rescuing when they have to spend most of their time in a crate or 20 of them are randomly roaming the house peeing, pooping, and tearing up everything. THAT is a hoarder in my opinion, but in her opinion she is saving them from death.

How many hoarders are there out there, really? I have come across quite a few in my rescue adventures, and all of them have the same thing in common, they say they are "saving" the animals, and they can't possibly imagine letting them go because they don't know how they will be treated. There is a very simple solution to that one, of course nothing is 100%, however screening, and screening EVERY time helps solve that problem.

Now, what can the average person do to help stop hoarding, abuse, neglect, animals dying in shelters, etc? Well, that's easy! Be responsible. Of course, here we go with the subjective content again, what exactly is responsible, and who mandates those "rules". To ME being responsible is making sure your dog is fed, watered, has adequate space, a yard to go in that is not full of excrement, attention, some regular vaccinations (I don't believe in some of them, but that is another  matter) and that they are altered. Why altered you say? Because I have to see the poor souls sitting in the shelter that are starved for attention, missing their "family", wondering what they did wrong, sitting beside their own excrement, and definitely not getting enough attention. I also see the animals that are abandoned by the side of the road that sit and wait, the puppies that the "breeder" can't sell so they want to give them up and let someone else handle it, the dog that is screamed at, some of them physically abused, and the longing for love that most of these animals have.

If only a few more people would realize that the litter they are breeding is not going to "make" money, there are no promises on the temperament or looks of the puppies, and that most of the litter will be killed because they will make it to the shelter. Maybe, just MAYBE a few litters could be avoided, getting us all as a community one step closer to solving the over population problem. There are the "accidental" litters....those can definitely be avoided, just spay or neuter your animal! There are low cost options, there are places that sponsor it....heck, I have paid out of my own pocket to get an animal that is not mine altered so I don't have to deal with the after effect of an "accidental" litter.

If only a few more people would just alter their dogs (cats are included in this, I don't rescue cats, but for the kitty people, just substitute cat in where dog is) then they would not be contributing to the over population....the overpopulation that causes SO many to be killed in the shelters.

Another thing a person can do is adopt a shelter or rescue pet, don't buy from a breeder. If you are planning on showing, this does not apply to you, you probably already know all of this, and you deal with responsible breeders....or at least one can hope. I digress, don't buy from irresponsible breeders. Don't buy from someone sitting on the side of the road, don't buy from a puppy mill, don't buy from a pet store, don't buy from someone that didn't have health checks and is not trying to get "rid" of the puppies, etc.

So, I'm getting off of my soapbox, I felt like I had to vent that out. I would love to hear opinions on hoarding, responsible, and irresponsible pet owners. What is it that makes people irresponsible in your eyes? What about responsible?

Signing off for now, thank you for stopping by, and don't forget to stop by our Facebook page to say hi, if you haven't already!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/North-Texas-Bully-Rescue/194934184011867