Vincent Van Dogh: Talks About Shelters & Animal Cruelty

In the US...
* Every day thousands of puppies and kittens are born as a result of uncontrolled breeding.
* Each year between 6 and 8 million pets end up in shelters.
* Each year 3 to 4 million are euthanized, because there is not enough space.
* 4.5 million dog bites a year is in part due to unwanted dogs.
* Tax dollars go toward investigating cruelty, capturing and sheltering stray animals.

You can get a personalized I Love My Mutt sign using a silhouette of your dog!

I am the product of a second litter of puppies by the same two dogs. I don't know what became of my other brothers and sisters. All I know is that I am lucky. My adoptive parents lived next door to my dog mom, and they took me in. They knew about how one of my brothers from the first litter wasn't adopted and my dog mom's human parents just let him roam the neighborhood. He was quite a nuisance. One day he even chased away one of my family's chickens. Then one day he disappeared. It is clear that my dog mom's parents do not care about their pets. I could have ended up in a shelter or worse. Please get your pets fixed!

If you are looking for a new pet, please consider adoption. Dogs and cats in shelters are not bad animals. Most were put there because the family didn't spay/neuter the pet, didn't prepare for financially taking care of a pet or because they simply didn't want to put the time into shaping the animal into a good pet.

Pets, like children require leadership, love and attention. You must shape their behavior or they will not grow into the companion you wish for them to be. Most pet shelters want the pets to be adopted into the right kind of home, or they will end up right back where they started. They will tell you what kind of home the pet came from, if abuse was suspected, etc. There are many pets in shelters that carry no emotional baggage and are ready for your love and leadership.

Many shelters have rooms where you can get to know your potential pet. This is a good opportunity to determine temperament, which is very important.

At shelters you can find animals of all life stages. You could start fresh with a puppy, or adopt a young dog (that is possibly already housebroken) past the chewing stage. Or even adopt an older dog that is laid back and fully trained. Cats are easily adaptable in any lifestage.

You can even find purebred dogs in a shelter. Consider a mutt however. Mutts are less likely to get genetic diseases, are often more intelligent than their "bred for looks" counterparts, and can be just as cute (just look at Vinny).

Spaying or neutering your pet is the best way to ensure that you do your part to prevent overpopulation. It is safe and can even lengthen the lifespan of your furry friend.

If you need financial assistance help may be available.

Another benefit to adopting from a shelter is that they include spaying/neutering and up to date shots as part of the fee. It is much cheaper than going to the vet yourself.

Vincent used to think that abuse and neglect only happened to dogs and cats, but one day he met the hens that are part of his family and they told him about factory farming. They told him that most hens are not as lucky as they, and spend their short lives in tiny cages or crammed against other chickens with no space. Often mutilated and abused, never allowed to wander and peck the ground.

When most people think of a farm, images of the family farm pop up. Cows munching on grass in a field, chickens running all over happily pecking the ground, pigs eating from a trough. Happy animals, living a good life, respected by the farmers as living creatures and a livelihood. Unless you conciously seek out food from such farms, your food does not come from a place anything like this. If the above image is farm heaven, your food comes from farm hell. Visit my Factory Farming lens to learn more.

This is a great program! Heifer International donates livestock to developing parts of the world. They teach the care of these animals and the gift keeps growing when the young are donated to another family. You can choose from all sorts of animals to donate, but the link below will take you to the page to donate chickens. A family will get a flock of 10-50 chicks! That is enough to change a family's life, and possibly their community forever. To find out more, just click the picture below.