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No kill animal shelters – everyone can help save a life- even as you shop! Growing up, my family were pet lovers and so really my love of pets was inevitable. They were my best friends, members of our family. They went with us wherever we went and even when times were tough, we still loved and cared for them. Quite early in my life I encountered pet abandonment and my family would take in the dog or cat and re-home it amongst family or friends. Later in life I had another brush with pet abandonment when my partner and I owned a pet supplies store. We ran it for 10 years and in that time listened to endless stories of why people could not keep their pets or stories of pets that had been left in rental properties, thrown out in the street and worse. Over those 10 years we re-homed many unwanted animals. We worked closely with rescue and helped where we could. We were successful in helping many yet still ended up with 12 cats at home which we moved to New Zealand in 2011. But that’s another story…. To be honest it is hard for me to come up with a valid reason for abandoning an animal. I am one of those people that believes strongly in the commitment to caring for them in a manner that is more in keeping with wedding vows “in sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer”. But we are all different. I do know that some people claim that the abandon their pets with the hope or belief that someone else will find and love it rather than have it be put to sleep at the local vets or animal pound. There are all kinds of flaws in this approach but again….another story. The challenge is that those of us that don’t believe in this approach can only save, love and care for so many animals. However, nowadays we can all do something to spare an abandoned animals pain and suffering. Before you pretend you didn’t see that next stray or pat it, wish it well and turn away with a lump in your throat hoping that some kind soul will come and save it ….just as their previous owner did, consider taking the pet in long enough to get them to a no-kill animal shelter. This way they don’t have to be subject to starvation, being hit by a car, being attached by another animal or worse still be abused by a human that they thought they could trust. Putting it in perspective Each year around 25.5 million puppies and kittens are born in the US alone. Each day 70,000 70,000 puppies and kittens come into the world. Through kill-shelters, of these, six to ten million will be euthanized. What Is a No-Kill Animal Shelter? No-kill shelters are thankfully a rapidly emerging trend in animal shelters around the world. They are a type of shelter that operates with an anti-euthanasia policy for the animals they give shelter to. Why is this so important? The most accepted definition of a no-kill shelter takes humane practice into mind: all adoptable and treatable animals are saved and will be given a home. Only the animals too ill to live a full life, or that have become so terrified of humans that they cannot be rehabilitated, will be euthanized. Shelters need our help to continue to do the great work that they do. Here’s how U can help? There are a multitude of things you can do to help No-Kill Shelters out: * Adopt your next pet from the pound or from a no-kill shelter * Spay or neuter your pets to help growing over-population * Make a tax-deductible monetary donation to your local no-kill shelter * Make a tax-deductible donation of items to your local no-kill shelter (pet food and pet blankets are always needed!) * Spread the word - let other people know about the no-kill shelters in your area * Support others that help rescue and shelters, many businesses support animal rescue
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Animals, rescue, dog, cat, no-kill, shelters, pound,
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