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

Blog the Change - Stop Breed Specific Legislation

Today is the big "Blog for Change" day and mom and me thought really hard as to what issue to talk about. We have several issues we believe in strongly.

Pet adoption

Spay and Neuter

Chain Free Dogs

But the recent plight of poor Lennox in Northern Ireland made us decide to write about Breed Specific Legislation again.

We have written on this subject even before we heard about the Lennox story but we did not know about the laws in the United Kingdom then. Mom and I think we need to talk about this issue more or we may have more laws in the United States to ban dogs by breeds.

I understand that some humans are afraid of being attacked by dogs. Some dogs too. I know our good friends at Two Little Cavaliers were victims of an attack. But just like there are good people and bad people there are good dogs and bad dogs.

In this great article about famous Hero Dogs there are a lot of dogs on Breed Specific lists. Yes some of these breeds have attacked and even killed people. Yes the same breeds have saved people. 

I also think insurance companies, apartment complexes and neighborhoods need to find a different way to address the issue and deal with bad behavior not discrimination. In Furginia we have dangerous dog statutes that register and list dogs who have bitten humans. Mom knows about this because her sister had a dog that was declared "dangerous." It was rough punishment for a dog that barely broke the skin and we believed that it was even a case of mistaken identity but he had managed to escape the yard with his sisfur. But even as harsh as the result was for my cousin Bear, he was not euthanized.

We have two pitbulls that live in our house with my mom's niece. Here's the picture of me and Honey I posted in my last blog on this subject.

Blog the Change - Help Get Dogs Off Chains

Today I write to support a cause. January 15 is one of the quarterly dates that I have agreed to write a post in support of an animal cause - to blog the change as part of "Be the Change for Animals."

My friends and readers know that I support animal adoptions. I have participated in a number of events spreading the word on the importance of adoption. But the cause I write about today is even more important. As much as I want all animals to have a forever home, I want even more that all animals have a GOOD forever home.

So the cause I support today is one that a number of organizations like Chain Free Nation, Dogs Deserve Better and the Coalition to Unchain Dogs work to support - getting dogs off chains. The Humane Society of America estimates that 200,000 dogs in the United States spend most of their lives chained and alone. This is so cruel on a number of levels. First, we dogs are pack animals so being chained alone is very hard on us. 

Second, while this is not all the case, chained dogs are most likely not treated well. They are not given enough food or water. In the winter their water freezes and they get cold.

It doesn't take long before any grass that grew in the chained area becomes dirt. It becomes mud when it rains or when snow melts. This is no life for a dog. Dogs in this environment become depressed and stressed and often develop aggressive behaviors.

Sometimes the people have no other way to take care of their dogs but leaving them chained often leads to a broader neglect. Watch this video to see what I mean.

 

So what can we do? First we can work to get anti-tethering laws passed in our communities. These laws prohibit or restrict the amount of time a dog can be tethered. Help educate people who chain their dogs. If they have no other way to care for their dog, offer to spend time with their dog. Or, you can volunteer for one of the organizations or start your own to help raise money to build fences so people can get their dogs off the chain.

The sites I mentioned above are all good resources for information on how to make a difference in this cause. And now a video to show what happens when you make a difference. Watch how Messiah changes from the beginning to the end!

 

Whether you want to support this cause or another, just realize that You can Be the Change!

Check out these other posts about great causes that support animals!

Blog the Change - Feed Shelter Animals

Mom and I feel real strongly about anipal causes and we have been trying to find a way to help support these causes. Unfortunately mom works a gazillion hours a week so support that involves spending lots of time is hard for us. This doesn't mean we care any less though.

We were lucky to find a cause some time ago that even mom has time to help with - Freekibble.com.

Mom is also so busy that sometime she has trouble remembering to do things so FreeKibble.com is great because they send her an email everyday reminding her to click and help fee shelter animals. Better yet, FreeKibble.com is fun because there is a trivia question to answer to feed both dogs and cats (Bow Wow and Meow trivia). We have learned a lot with some of the questions. Fortunately you feed the shelter anipals even if you get the question wrong!

Mom and I especially admire that this great organization was founded by Mimi Ausland a not so ordinary eleven year old girl from Oregon.

Here is a great video from NBC Nightly News

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economybe

The easiest thing for us all to do to help is simply tell your friends to answer the Free Kibble trivia questions each day. All of us can be part of this great effort with this simple act.

Anipal Photo Hunt #6: Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week Challenge

Be The Change For Pets is asking everyone to post a 'less-adoptable' pet on their blog during the week of Sept 19-25. So the weekly anipal photo hunt is dedicated to this project.

I am featuring a sweet girl dog named Nico who is currently at the Peninsula SPCA. Nico is seven years old and black and has been at the shelter since August 2nd. Older animals and black pets are particularly difficult to adopt. Nico is a retriever/labrador mix and already spayed.

The Peninsula SPCA is where mom and dad adopted Majel who recently crossed to the Bridge and her sisfur Isis.

Adoption Information:

Animal ID 11149063

Peninsula SPCA

523 J Clyde Morris Blvd.
Newport News, VA 23601
757.595.1399

Click here for Adoption Policies

Follow Peninsula SPCA on Facebook and Twitter

Donate to Peninsula SPCA

This is a great video about the work of the Peninsula SPCA. They also have a great counseling program to help pet owners work through situations that would normally lead to pet abandonment.

This blog post is part of 2 separate hops. First the Anipal Photo Hunt



and then the Be The Change for Anipals Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Challenge hop:

End Breed Specific Legislation

Efuryone that reads my bloggie knows it is usually fun and light-hearted but today I am mad! Me and Mom signed up on the Be the Change for Animals FaceBook page and got our first assignment today. It appears that in Detroit, Michigan pit bulls are against the law. What? How is this possible? They take them away from their families and kill them because of something called Breed Specific Legislation. Other places have this too but Detroit has had it for 20 years. Michigan has a law that prohibits communities from adopting these laws but Detroit already had it and got "grandfathered."

Mom reminded me we had done some research on this earlier because it was one of the #Purrs4Peace Sundays. I don't know how I forgot, because I remember we found this video that made us really sad because it was scary how many breeds were considered dangerous. Even my sweet doggie mom, a German Shepherd Dog. Sadly even though we bookmarked that video, the person who had put it on YouTube took it down. But we found this one instead:

If you want to do something like we are, see the post on the Be the Change for Animals Facebook page. We are sending off our post card, sending a contribution and doing our best to get the word out.

It's not just my mom the GSD (and who knows where it leaves me as half a GSD)? It's my little sort of cousin Honey (my mom's niece's dog). I played with her in our back yard today and had so much fun. I even let her play with my sticks. She is so sweet and she is a Pit Bull and in Detroit she would be DEAD.

Some evil people train dogs to be vicious. I am not sure if they are more evil than people who kill dogs just because they are a breed that these evil people seem to train more often. Too many evil people and it seems us dogs suffer. German Shepherd dogs are trained to be police dogs and assistance dogs too.

Be very scared - Honey might lick you to death!

Nose taps Honey!