I love Andy's Pet Shop
Originally published on Care2
People always tell me how wonderful my pets are. They're impressed with how smart my dog, Monkey, is- how well-behaved and gentlemanly.
They're amazed at how sweet and sane and cooperative my cats, Fancy & Luigi, are and how well everybody gets along.
Friends admire my clever, high-spirited green-cheek conure Tookie and my beautiful budgies and king pigeons.
And they're right. I do have extremely wonderful pets and they are lucky to be alive. Every one of them was given up by their original owner and then adopted by me as a rescue. Each of them faced the real danger of being euthanized in a shelter for lack of a home. Rescued animals aren't defective, they're just surplus. Every pet is at risk of becoming surplus when a family has to move or an unneutered dog has puppies or a new baby means there's not enough time for the pets anymore. Nobody buys a pet or takes home a kitten planning on turning them into a shelter a month or a year or five years down the road but way too often that's what happens.
The Humane Society estimates that 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter shelters every year. Half of them will be euthanized and the vast majority will be killed only because no adopter stepped forward. That's about 10,000 pets killed a day, every day. And yet people who genuinely love animals are still encouraging over breeding by purchasing pets from stores and breeders instead of adopting rescued animals. And the breeders continue to breed more! Truthfully, I'd expect that responsible breeders would self-impose a moratorium until the wholesale slaughter of pets just because they lack homes is no longer necessary. And the problem isn't limited to cats and dogs. Parrots, rabbits, rats, hamsters, horses, chickens, fish and turtles are overwhelming animal shelters all over the country and it's only getting worse as the financial crisis continues.
That's why I love Andy's (100% Rescue) Pet Shop so much and why the owner, Lissa Shoun, is a hero of mine. Rather than adding to the heartbreaking overpopulation of companion pets, she has put her money where her mouth is by saying no to breeders and yes to rescue organizations.
She and her staff are saving the lives of pets that would otherwise be euthanized, about 20 every week.
Her shop is filled with "used" pets that have been rescued from animal shelters by organizations like Save A Bunny, PAWS, GEPDAUS and Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. Dogs like Duchess who was dumped, along with her seven puppies, and left to fend for herself.
Rabbits like Moo-Moo who was saved from a shelter by PAWS and adopted by Hannah and her family on Sunday.
Parrots whose people can no longer cope with their behaviors; cats, rabbits, rats... There are lots of nice people out there running lots of nice pet stores but, if they're breeding and selling rather than helping the millions of shelter pets that need homes, they are the problem.
Rescue organizations are just band-aids in this situation, doing our best to find homes for all the pets that are pumped out and then, too often, dumped out. But it is the pet shops that can stop the bleeding and make a real difference. Andy's (100% Rescue) Pet Shop is doing what all the pet stores should be doing.
Until there are homes for all of them, don't buy, don't breed- adopt.
People always tell me how wonderful my pets are. They're impressed with how smart my dog, Monkey, is- how well-behaved and gentlemanly.
They're amazed at how sweet and sane and cooperative my cats, Fancy & Luigi, are and how well everybody gets along.
Friends admire my clever, high-spirited green-cheek conure Tookie and my beautiful budgies and king pigeons.
And they're right. I do have extremely wonderful pets and they are lucky to be alive. Every one of them was given up by their original owner and then adopted by me as a rescue. Each of them faced the real danger of being euthanized in a shelter for lack of a home. Rescued animals aren't defective, they're just surplus. Every pet is at risk of becoming surplus when a family has to move or an unneutered dog has puppies or a new baby means there's not enough time for the pets anymore. Nobody buys a pet or takes home a kitten planning on turning them into a shelter a month or a year or five years down the road but way too often that's what happens.
The Humane Society estimates that 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter shelters every year. Half of them will be euthanized and the vast majority will be killed only because no adopter stepped forward. That's about 10,000 pets killed a day, every day. And yet people who genuinely love animals are still encouraging over breeding by purchasing pets from stores and breeders instead of adopting rescued animals. And the breeders continue to breed more! Truthfully, I'd expect that responsible breeders would self-impose a moratorium until the wholesale slaughter of pets just because they lack homes is no longer necessary. And the problem isn't limited to cats and dogs. Parrots, rabbits, rats, hamsters, horses, chickens, fish and turtles are overwhelming animal shelters all over the country and it's only getting worse as the financial crisis continues.
That's why I love Andy's (100% Rescue) Pet Shop so much and why the owner, Lissa Shoun, is a hero of mine. Rather than adding to the heartbreaking overpopulation of companion pets, she has put her money where her mouth is by saying no to breeders and yes to rescue organizations.
She and her staff are saving the lives of pets that would otherwise be euthanized, about 20 every week.
Her shop is filled with "used" pets that have been rescued from animal shelters by organizations like Save A Bunny, PAWS, GEPDAUS and Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. Dogs like Duchess who was dumped, along with her seven puppies, and left to fend for herself.
Rabbits like Moo-Moo who was saved from a shelter by PAWS and adopted by Hannah and her family on Sunday.
Parrots whose people can no longer cope with their behaviors; cats, rabbits, rats... There are lots of nice people out there running lots of nice pet stores but, if they're breeding and selling rather than helping the millions of shelter pets that need homes, they are the problem.
Rescue organizations are just band-aids in this situation, doing our best to find homes for all the pets that are pumped out and then, too often, dumped out. But it is the pet shops that can stop the bleeding and make a real difference. Andy's (100% Rescue) Pet Shop is doing what all the pet stores should be doing.
Until there are homes for all of them, don't buy, don't breed- adopt.
posted by Elizabeth at
8:00 PM
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