Senior pets make great companions for senior people.

As I was perusing story entries for our new blog launch next Saturday, one of our members reminded me of a subject we have not discussed in a while when she sent me the story of her senior cat. Today I want you to think about adopting a senior animal.

Most people automatically think of a puppy oe a kitten when they think of adopting a dog or cat. Puppies and kittens are warm and cuddly, and everyone wants to hold and pet them. But puppies or kittens demand patience and energy to help them become wonderful family members and companions. Older animals, however, can be as cute and lovable as babies, and they often come with many wonderful qualities that babies take years to grow into.

Perhaps you are reluctant to adopt a senior pet because you fear that your time with your new best friend will be short, bringing that painful time of loss closer. But the privilege of loving a senior pet makes every single day special, as you and your companion share love, friendship, and a special relationship that grows stronger with the knowledge that you have given this fine old pet a second chance at life. The love that grows from this knowledge is stronger than the pain of eventual separation.

So spread the word! Adopting a senior dog is a wonderful experience for you and your new pet. You will gain a faithful companion. You will save a life. And don’t forget, senior pets and senior people bring out the best in each other. Old pets make great friends!

Reasons to Adopt a Senior Pet

1.) Senior pets love to sleep and cuddle the day away. They enjoy a brisk daily walk, but the best part of the day is the nap. They love for you to join them.

2.) Senior pets have a tremendous amount of love to give. When you rescue a senior pet, you have a best friend for life.

3.) Senior pets reward your care with an unwavering devotion. Nothing matches the love of a senior pet for his/her rescuer.

4.) Senior pets have learned many of life’s lessons. They know, for example, that shoes are for walking and bones are for chewing, how to use a litter box, and not to scratch your furniture.

5.) Senior pets know that great outdoors is for eliminating and the house is for relaxing. Your carpet will last longer with a senior pet.

6.) Senior pets can learn new tricks and be valuable family and community members. Senior dogs make excellent therapy dogs.

7.) Senior pets often fit into your household with ease. They find the softest, warmest spot in the house and claim it for their own, but they will share with you, too.

8.) Senior pets make excellent companions for everyone, especially senior people.

Senior pets are often the first to be killed in area shelters. Passed over for cute and cuddly puppies and kittens, they often do not have a chance and must go to make space for more puppies and kittens. Adopting a senior pet saves a life!

Does your local shelter euthanize senior pets before offering them for adoption? Call your local shelter and tell them you would like a senior pet! Let them know that senior pets make wonderful companions. Save a life. Spread the word: Old Pets,make Great new Friends!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Last October my neighbour and I, as part of our intentions to help set up a feral TNR colony, visited a couple of elderly ladies in the community, who we were aware fed feral cats.

One of the ladies was slightly annoyed with our presence and claimed she didn’t have that many cats. Contrary to her statement, we saw numerous cats gathering as she was on her way out to feed them, but one sight in particular broke our hearts.

Three very tiny kittens were sitting in the middle of the pan of food, struggling amongst all the larger cats to fight for the few crumbs that were left. Moving closer to the kittens we noticed that all of them had infections in their eyes which were completely crusted shut so they were maneuvering around by feel and smell and were literally starving to death. I knew these kittens were much too young to be eating solid food had there been a mother present and we saw no cat we could determine as the mother, so we asked if we could help them and the lady agreed.

We took the 3 kittens back to my neighbour’s where we bathed their eyes with warm sterile water and fed them. They were ravenous and greedily ate all the food we put down. These kittens were not more than 3 weeks old and we still have no idea what happened to the mother, although we suspect she may have been taken. Two of the kittens we named Blondie and Pipsy were small and weak, the third was slightly larger and healthier looking, however we were convinced it was blind in its right eye.

The next couple of weeks were a constant struggle with feeding, keeping their eyes cleaned, problems with diarrhea, and I could tell my neighbour was burning out, so we brought the 2 sickest ones to my place to give her a break. They were small and weak, and we knew the odds were not good. I purchased powdered formula for kittens and began a feeding schedule with an eye dropper. They continued to eat the solid food as well, but very little of it and the blond kitten suffered constant diarrhea at this point.

A couple of days into my caring for them early in the morning, Pipsy the striped kitten began to stagger and fall, rapidly becoming weaker. He went into massive seizuring and died fairly quickly as a result.

A couple of days later Blondie too succumbed to her weakness and most likely a respiratory infection, and she died some time in the night. I slept on the couch with her curled up beside me that night to keep her company as I knew she was going downhill fast. Some time during the night she crawled to the end of the couch under the covers and passed away.

It’s still hard for me to think about these poor little creatures that never had a chance and my only consolation is that they did not die cold and starving in a damp dark crawl space with no one caring for them.

The happy part of this story is that Patch, the kitten left at my neighbour’s, is doing very well in spite of her blind eye and has been accepted by all the other cats and particularly their dog Angel, who runs to care for her every little cough or sneeze.

Feral cats are the product of human neglect. This situation is not unique and kittens and cats suffer all over North America and the world as a result of this neglect. It’s up to us to fix it.

Until Next Sunday,

Love your pets, they’re the best friends you’ll ever have!

Gloria

Day after day in this blog forum we discuss horrific acts of abuse perpetrated on innocent animals. Most of us are bombarded with Facebook news feed containing images of abuse to animals too horrific for our minds to comprehend. It makes us sad, it makes us angry, but mostly it makes us want to give up faith in humanity.

What we don’t get enough of, what we don’t hear about often, are those stories of rescue that give us hope, and renew our faith, that help us to continue on in the constant battle to end the suffering. It is for this reason, that I plan to introduce a new weekly Saturday “Happy Tails” blog that will feature YOUR stories of rescue. I want to hear from YOU our members.  Did you rescue a dog from the side of the highway? Find a litter of kittens whose Mother was mysteriously absent? Whatever your story, I want to hear from you. Tell us your “Happy Tails” in five hundred words or less. Include pictures, we want to see the wonderful work you have done. Send your stories and pictures to:

janettehamilton@bell.net

Share your story with the rest of Canada, inspire others to act. Remind us that we CAN make a difference if we are willing to BE THE CHANGE!

Let’s make Saturday our day for renewal of faith!

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

Jeffrey Dahmer with his Christmas puppy. Dahmer would later torture, kill and dismember this dog in the same manner he dismembered his victims.

Ted Bundy, David Berkowitz, and Jeffrey Dahmer, all are serial killers, and all have one thing in common, they began their careers by torturing and killing animals. In fact animal abuse has been linked to child abuse, domestic, violence, serial killings, and the recent uprising in murders by school age children.

Most children are cruel to and torture animals to impress their peers, but future serial killers usually torture animals purely for their own enjoyment. Animal abuse is a recognized sign of a mental disorder. If a child hurts animals it should be a red flag and immediate action should be taken. While there are many factors that contribute to someone becoming a serial killer, the one constant they share is animal abuse.

Jeffrey Dahmer showed an intense interest in dismembering animals as a child. As an adult he was charged with murdering and dismembering at least sixteen people. Dahmer is just one example of this. As a matter of fact, most people who are on death row for murder admit to abusing animals as children. A study done by North Eastern University and the Massachusetts SPCA found that people who abuse animals are five times more likely to abuse humans than people who do not. Albert Schweitzer said it best when the wrote that “Anyone who has accustomed himself to regard the life of any living creature as worthless is in danger of arriving also at the idea of worthless human lives”.

This article is intended to inform but also to help. Any parent who sees this type of behavior in their children should immediately seek out help for the child. These are not isolated incidents, as I said earlier almost every serial killer has a history of animal abuse. This is a fact, not a coincidence.  Here are a few examples of serial killers who  killed animals.

Albert Disalvo (better known as the Boston Strangler) used to trap dogs and cats as a child and then shoot them with arrows.

Edward Emil Kemper lll was convicted of killing eight women, one of which was his own mother. When he was thirteen yrs. old he would kill neighborhood cats and put their heads on poles. Kemper killed his own cat, decapitated it and then cut it into small pieces. This is the same thing he did to his own mother!

David Berkowitz was convicted of thirteen murders and attempted murders. He used to abuse the neighborhood dogs. He shot one neighbors dog because according to him, the dog was an “evil force” that compelled him to kill.

Ted Bundy was convicted of two murders though he was suspected of at least forty! Bundy used to watch as his own father tortured animals. Eventually, Bundy did the same.

Andrew Cunanan was the man who killed designer Versace and was suspected in the murders of five other people. Cunanan used to gather crabs and then burn their eyes out with a lighted match. He would watch their eyes sizzle then turn them loose.

The link between abuse of animals and the emerging of a serial killer has been documented time and time again, it is a known fact that most serial killers begin their murderous careers by honing their skills on animals long before graduating to murder of humans. If this is true then why is it that authorities still do not take animal abuse seriously? Authorities turn a blind eye to animal abuse, refusing to lay charges in anything other then the most horrific of cases.

Would lives have been saved if any of the aforementioned serial killers had been charged for their crimes against animals? Maybe yes, maybe no, but the fact remains that had anyone been paying attention during the childhood years of the aforementioned killers, they might have noticed the signs.

I guess in conclusion my point is this, do not turn a blind eye to animal abuse, report it. In doing so you could be saving the life of a serial killers first human victim.

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

You have decided you no longer want your dog, and have taken him to the local pound. You are not worried, you know he is a wonderful dog he will be adopted quickly. At least that’s what you tell yourself.

“Here’s a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being “put-down.”

Your dog will be taken from its kennel on a leash. He will  look happy – wagging his tail like he’s going for a walk. – until they get to “The Room.” Then he will stop short and put on the brakes, he will do anything NOT to go into that room. It must smell like death in there, because every dog entering does the same thing.

Trash barrels out back of a high kill shelter hold the dead bodies of animals euthanised for space.

Your dog will be restrained, then a kennel worker starts the process. They don’t just “go to sleep” peacefully, sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves. His corpse will then be stacked in a large freezer with all of the other animals that were euthanized that day. Or dumped in a trash barrel out back somewhere.

The process of killing unwanted pets varies slightly from one shelter to another, but the end result is the same. A  once loved pet, dies in a heartless environment never knowing why the last thing they felt was lonely, helpless terror. Wondering what they had done wrong that made their family leave them.

Was this your intention when you walked into the shelter that day and left your dog behind? Somehow I don’t think it was. Somehow I think you believed the shelter fantasy that good healthy dogs always find homes. I am here to tell you that is not the case. I am here to tell you that if you take your pet to the pound it stands a mere 25% chance of being adopted before it’s time is up. YES that’s right I said before it’s time is up, you didn’t think they were going to keep your pet at the shelter forever did you? When you take your pet to a shelter it’s days are numbered, literally!

“Oh that won’t happen to my dog,” you say. ” He is sweet and lovable and well trained. Someone will adopt him right away!” Perhaps your dog is sweet, perhaps he truly is lovable, perhaps he is the best trained dog on the planet. But he is a shelter dog now, and that changes things.

When an animal is surrendered to a shelter, they go through psychological and behavioral changes. They will become shut down and in some cases unresponsive. They will cower at the back of their kennel afraid of their new surroundings. They will bark excessively, and some will refuse to eat. Because of their behavior when assessed they will be labeled as unadoptable. Some, (the more determined ones) will attempt to escape, which will also earn them a place on the euthanasia list. Those quirks of behavior you found so endearing? They could very well land your pet on the euthanasia list as well.

It is estimated that approximately 75% of animals surrendered to shelters in North America never see the light of day again. Still think a shelter is a good place for your pet? Remember, if you make a committment to an animal, that committment is for life! If for any reason you find that you can not fulfil that committment, it is YOUR responsibility to see that your pet is rehomed responsibly. Taking the easy way out and dropping them at a shelter so you can distance yourself from what you have done, is a death sentence for your pet. In effect in surrendering them you will have killed them.

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette

I have noticed lately that a lot of you seem to be questioning the wisdom of our adoption conditions. Some of you seem to think that our conditions make it difficult to find homes for our rescues, or that we should amend our conditions because they are too stringent. Let’s take a look at our conditions one at a time:

1.) Family MUST have an existing animal.

Now a lot of you have said that we are discounting homes that would be good for our rescues because they do not currently have an animal. You feel that this should not be a condition for adoption. We disagree, and here’s why. Some of the rescues we work with (especially in our Turkish branch) have been through horrific abuse. Handing those animals over to someone who has never had a pet, let alone a rescue with history and issues, would be a grave mistake. The only way to ensure we have found the right home is by observing how the family treats the animals they already have in their home. Look at it this way, if you wanted your house painted, you would not hire an accountant who has never picked up a paintbrush in his life, you would hire a painter. When finding a home for a rescued animal who has been through hell does it not make sense that we want a home that can properly care for that animal because they have experience? Of course it does.

2.) Animal MUST live inside the home not in the garden.

We do not feel that an animal should be chained in the yard and forgotten about. That is no way for an animal to live. Most of you have expressed outrage at one time or another over so called “outdoor dogs” chained in yards with no human contact. Do I really have to explain this condition?

3.) Animal MUST be fed a raw diet.

We feel that a raw diet is the only way to feed a carnivorous animal. It is the only species appropriate diet there is for our companion animals. We have ONLY the best interest of our rescues at heart with this condition. Many of you believe myths and old wives tales about raw feeding, and as such are inclined to believe that dogs and cats should not be fed raw. You would be seriously wrong. We all feed our animals raw, so it would be hypocritical of us to expect those who adopt our rescues to do anything less. We know what kind of garbage comes in a dog food bag, do you? If you don’t understand our raw feeding condition, perhaps you should research raw feeding, here’s a link: rawfed.com

4.) The family will be a non-smoking family. Second hand smoke kills and makes miserable the lives of both humans and animals. Our rescues have gone through too much in his life already, at least now they will enjoy clean crisp air in their new home.

Is this really so difficult to understand? Are we not constantly harping on our smoking family members, telling them they should quit for health reasons? Do you really think that second hand smoke doesn’t affect pets? Do you think your pet is immune to second hand smoke? The health of our rescues is of tantamount importance, and we do not feel that they should be exposed to further health problems!

So in conclusion it is safe to say that Let’s Adopt will not be amending their adoption conditions any time soon. Our conditions exist for the good of our rescues. If you disagree with them, or don’t qualify for any reason there are many shelters and rescue agencies that do not have such stringent conditions for adoptions, you can apply for one of their dogs or cats. They may charge you an arm and a leg for the privilege of adopting their rescues, but you will probably qualify.

Even with our stringent adoption criteria, Let’s Adopt succeeds where other agencies fail. We find PERMANENT loving homes for our animals. Anything less would be completely unacceptable. Our interest is the lives of our rescues, and ensuring that the rest of their life is spent in a loving environment where they will be treated as part of the family. We do not feel we can do that responsibly without some pretty serious conditions.

Until Tomorrow Remember

BE THE CHANGE YOU SEEK!

Janette