In Hope, An Animal Shelter Story

As a nation, we claim to love cats and dogs. Millions of households have pets, and billions of dollars are spent yearly on pet supplies and food. But as a nation, we should take a hard, sobering look at a different annual statistic: the millions of dogs and cats given up to shelters or left to die on the streets. And the numbers tell only half the story.

Every cat or dog who dies as a result of pet overpopulation—whether humanely in a shelter or by injury, disease, or neglect—is an animal who, more often than not, would have made a wonderful companion, if given the chance. Tremendous as the problem of pet overpopulation is, it can be solved if each of us takes just one small step, starting with not allowing our animals to breed.

Not only are thousands of animals born because their owners don't care enough to alter them, but the big booming money making business of puppy mills creates misery during the animals lives and takes up homes that could have been devoted to responsibly bred pets. It's all about greed and heartlessness in puppymills. 99% of all dogs sold in pet stores come from puppy mills and back yard breeders. You pay a premium and more animals suffer and die. Puppymills are EVIL!

Don´t buy from breeders! Don´t support puppy mills! Stop the source of this misery! Why is it legal to buy pets in American shopping malls? This tells us a lot about the consumers´ attitude there. "Well, let´s buy a dog, a dress and shoes." Donate so that poor people can have their pets neutered. Make a difference!

Why breed or buy while homeless pets die? That is a rhetorical question, as there is no logical answer in the affirmative.