Why I care

[erica057]

Recently, a coworker mentioned that Bob Barker had donated millions of dollars to a cause that works toward spaying and neutering dogs and cats. He couldn't believe that someone would donate so much money to a cause which benefits companion animals when there are so many (in his opinion) more deserving causes

Comments

[flewellyn]

All good points.

My shorter answer to people who say "Why do you care about X when Y is so important?" is to say, "I can care about more than one thing at once."

[hippydippymama]

Here here. Walking through the shelter where I used to foster made me sick. Watching them come in with literally truckload after truckload of animals.... I would just take my foster kittens and walk as quickly to my car as possible.

(I'm so glad I'm not the only one who decided to go on a rant tonight. =P)

[erica057]

Haha, in light of both of our rants I should scan in my letter to the editor (local paper) that got published earlier this month -- it's a rant about why you should vaccinate your dogs ;)

[extoria]

I'm with you on this. So much. Great entry ;)

[ladygzb]

I do, of course, agree on all points.

I care because they give, give, give, when all we do is take, take, take

Would you believe my dad once tried to tell me that animals were incapable of giving, only capable of being selfish? That they can't do anything except what's in their own direct best interest. (Even things like licking, he argued they do to get our attention. He also tried to tell me dogs don't lick each other. Um.)

You know, of course, that I argued.

I think I've found a tremendous counter to the assertion, though. I've been watching a couple of eagle webcams this year. Man, feeding eaglets is *hard* work. What could the parents possibly get out of it?

If you're curious, they're here:
http://www.wvec.com/cams/eagle.html
and here:
http://www.friendsofblackwater.org/camhtm2.html

[belindashort]

My dog and one of my cats are the most sympathetic animals in the world. They live to comfort me if I'm upset. What could possibly be selfish about that?

I could be hanging out on the couch watching tv and the cat might not give me a second glance, but if I'm upset or feeling bad, the cat can tell, and he's on my lap with his paws in my face.

[king_josie]

Wow.

Absolutely none of this had EVER occurred to me before. Maybe because i've never had a pet. But i was completely oblivious.
So thankyou!

[erica057]

Aw, that's so awesome! :D

None of this occurred to me, either, until I started looking for a dog. I initially decided to rescue solely because it's cheaper (dunno what it's like in the UK, but here adoption fees are less than what you'd pay to neuter and vaccinate your dog, and rescue dogs are already fixed and vaxed). After logging into petfinder.com so many times and reading so many heartbreaking stories, I started doing more of my own research and it's now something that I feel so strongly about. I think this happens a lot because I've met soooo many people who have two dogs, where the first one they got is from a pet store and the second one is from a rescue.

I generally give people the benefit of the doubt if they backyard breed/patronize breeders, as the information isn't widely known. So I do hope to gently educate others so that they at least have all of the information before they make a decision :)

[belindashort]

I talked my drummer out of breeding his min pin. He was so sure he wasn't a BYB and they got her from a 'reputable source'

I sent him an e-mail explaining my stance, my dog, and what I've found out about it, and he's reconsidered, thankfully.