Learning to Make a Difference

Mom and I were really uncertain about what we planned to write about today for the quarterly Blog the Change for Animals. We have lots of causes we believe in but we have written about them before. But today we saw an article about a really neat Summer Camp opportunity for kids at a Rescue in Washington State called Kitsap. We just happened to see about it on Twitter when it was retweeted by our friends at @WineCountryDog.

Mom and I think this is an incredible idea and we hope more rescue organizations are doing programs like this. They could very well be doing them and we just don't know. Why do we think this is important? Because this planet's future depends on us teaching the youth about what is important. -- learning to give back, the value of service, helping the less fortunate. Most of the ills of society are based on selfishness and greed pure and simple.

And to bring us back to the topic at hand, mom and me particularly feel that educating young people about the plight of homeless pets, what it takes to care for them, how valuable they are to teach us about love and humanity, the importance of spay, neuter and trap and release programs, and why adoption is so critical is priceless. That's why we think Be The Change for Animals is so important.

A Kitsap Camp Volunteer from the Kitsap Blog

Thanks primarily to social media, we are finding that we all CAN make a significant difference. World governments have changed and even in this country people have made a real difference by standing up AGAINST big business and FOR issues that need to be discussed. This means that the call to action on our part is more significant than ever and we can no longer sit back and think we can't make a difference.

On this day that has been set aside to write and discuss issues that are critical to supporting animals in our society, let's remember we CAN make a difference now more than ever.

"I looked at all the caged animals in the shelter...the cast-offs of human society. I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness and betrayal. And I was angry. "God," I said, "this is terrible! Why don't you do something?" God was silent for a moment and then He spoke softly. I have done something," He replied. "I created you." 

                               ~The Animals' Savior Copyright Jim Willis 1999

Petfinder's Adopt the Internet Day

In honor of Petfinder's Adopt the Internet Day, I am highlighting one of the way too many anipals that need a home.

It didn't take mom and me long to find a dog that reminded us of me. Bella doesn't look as much like me as some of my dopplegangers, but she had long legs and loves to kiss everyone. Well, and then there are those ears of hers. If that doesn't sound like me... Mom says the "learning how to behave" part reminds her of me too. Gee thanks mom.

Today is Petfinder's 15th birthday - 15 years and 17 million adoptions. And what do they want for their birthday? Just for us to spread the word about pet adoption so they can find even more dogs, cats, birds, rabbits .... forever homes. More than 320,000 pets are waiting for homes on Petfinder.com. Help Petfinder Adopt the Internet today and find forever homes for as many as possible!

Adoption Option Tweet Out Nov. 5

It's time for another Adoption Option pawty on Twitter to raise awareness for all of the anipals that need furever homes.

Friday, November 5, 2010

8-10 p.m. EDT

5-7 p.m. PDT

Four adoption jockeys, including yours truly, will tweet adoptable anipals. The goal is to spread the word by as many retweets as possible with far reaching impact across the Twitterverse.

The hash tag for this event will be #Lub2Rock and the world-famous The Shibbering Cheetos will be on hand for some musical encouragement to get the Tweet Out. There will be a menu, quizzes and barktenders. Check out my post after the first Adoption Option pawty.

I was adopted but not from a rescue. So I went from my dog mom's home to my furever home without a stop over. The anipals we will be tweeting about have not been that lucky. Won't you stop by the pawty on Friday and help spread the word about these anipals in need?

Pedigree Write A Post, Help A Dog

Tomorrow (September 19) is the deadline for the Pedigree Write A Post Help A Dog Campaign. The brilliant social media people (or maybe it was the Head Dog there) came up with this great idea to promote their brand and their very wonderful work helping create awareness for adopting from a shelter. Even Mashable picked up on the campaign.

While Pedigree hopes people will adopt shelter dogs, this campaign helps provide food for the dogs still there. For every blog that is posted about the campaign and for every new Facebook Fan (or "Like" as Facebook changed it), Pedigree will donate a 20 pound bag of dog food to a shelter.

What I like about the Pedigree campaign is they emphasize RESPONSIBLE adoption - meaning families need to know what it means to adopt a dog and understand the commitment so the dog will find a real furever home!

So if you haven't already written your post or "liked" Pedigree on Facebook, what are you waiting for? Be sure to add it here!