Think Before You Give

Do you read The Onion? It is a wonderfully satirical human observation "news" e-zine. Charlie forwarded me one of their articles the other day that really rings true when you're someone like me who sees these beautiful little babes each week.

"Last of the 2008 Christmas Puppies Euthanized, Marking Start of Spring"

Read it and hear the truth that is only seen at the darkest hour.

Meet Zoey. She's a beautiful little Border Collie who was returned to the shelter this week because she was jumping on people and running around all crazy-like. Her former owners suggested that she needs a home with a fenced in back yard … Ya Think!?!

She's a Border Collie; she's made of pure energy. She needs more than a back yard. She needs someone who's going to take her on lots of walks, take her to Agility class, and find a Herding class. She needs lots of work to do for you to please you.

Suzie (ID: 49576)

Here's my bully of the week, Suzie. She got me with those adorable polka dot ears! She is a very sweet girl who doesn't seem to be one of those "crazy" bullies. She was a very good girl during her whole photo shoot. She was quite the little cuddler.

Sadie (ID: 2678)

Sadie here has a mouth on her. She couldn't stop barking to get my attention. She was very sweet and by her number she's from the "way back" days of the shelter. She is a lucky girl as she is going home. I didn't see the note 'til after our photo shoot – "hold for owner."

Shaude (ID: 49693)

Shaude's (pronounced "shadow" – she told me) story isn't as happy. Her owners had to take a second job and couldn't care for her. How horrible is it to have to hand your 12-year-old dog over to the shelter? We can be angry that such an awful thing has been done, but with a little faith in humankind we can thank God that we have never been in a situation where our only, ONLY, option we could see was to turn our companion of a lifetime over to the county animal shelter.

If you know of someone who's looking for a nice, mellow, older dog to spend some quality couch time with, please pass Shaude's information along.

Stella (ID: 49484)

Isn't Stella a beauty? For being in the kennel next to Sadie she had a wonderful calm energy about her. I think she would make a good snuggler.

Fifi (ID: 44854)

Fifi was in need of a photo shoot. I mean, why else wasn't this small cute puppy being adopted? I found out that she is a HOOT! Pure spastic energy – most of my shots were just a blur of nose and ears. She couldn't sit still for more than a second. She so wanted my love and especially my attention. I spent a little time with her after I got a few good shots. I wanted to see if I could get her to calm down some. She needs Fido Fitness to get rid of some of that excess energy, but she's too young. I used the "I'm not going to pay attention to you if you're acting like a spaz and jumping on me" technique. I had to stand up and turn my back on her quite a few times, but she's a smart little girl and it only took a minute or two for her to learn that to get my touch she needed to remain on all four paws.

Well, that's it for this session. Remember, pets are not good impulse buys or presents. Get a shelter gift certificate instead. It can be used to adopt a pet or to sponsor a pet that needs additional vet care, such as heartworm treatment.