One of my dogs is adopted and had a terrible life before she was rescued. For years she was just tied in a field with a heavy, tight iron collar around her neck tethering her. When we first got her she was very shy and scared of her own shadow, anytime we raised our arms or walked up to her she would cower, thinking we were going to hurt her. One of her ears is weird and crumpled which the vet said was caused by her getting an infection and it never being cured and she only has a few teeth and they are rotten and often broken into odd shapes (we think she was probably kicked in the jaw).
Years ago we had another dog, Patch, who we had rescued from Battersea. He had been abandoned and before that must also have been abused. Everytime anyone picked up a newspaper to read, or a stick to throw for him he would start trembling and cower. My parents rescued him when he was about 1 and at the time i was a 1 year old baby. I grewup up with him at my side until we were 14 and he had to be put to sleep because he had cancer. He was the sweetest, most beautiful dog.
Minnie too has grown from that scared, sad little thing into a beautiful mischievious, greedy little hound. Despite being quite an old girl (around 8) she has tonnes of energy and loves rolling around playing with Digby or racing across the park and always comes and sits on our laps for cuddles.
So adoption is a cause that is incredibly close to my heart. Lots of people are hesitant to adopt animals because they worry the animals might be agressive or damaged permanantly in some way. While of course on occaision this can be true (i know this myself but i haven't been put off adopting. Thank god) the majority of the time these animals have done absolutely nothing wrong, they are simply either abandoned or abused, or just come from loving families who, for whatever reason, can no longer take care of them. So i feel a huge amount of love, honour and respect for anyone who works in animal sanctuaries or adopts animal, when i am more financially secure i will certainly donate money to them and if i can get over my phobia it would be wonderful to volunteer.
Anyway, why am i writing this? Well i saw on Tanya's Blog an amazing post that alerted me to a brilliant thing the big brand Pedigree are doing. Pedigree have launched 'The Pedigree Adoption Drive 2010' to try and bring awareness to the public about how many dogs are without proper homes right now. There are many ways to get involved such as donating or adopting yourself, but of course not everyone is in a position to help like that. So Pedigree have made something that everyone can do. They have made a video about the drive and for the first 100000 views they will donate £1 per view.
(i took this info from Tanya's blogpost who in turn took it from the youtube channel)
"Last year over 107,000 dogs were abandoned in the UK and one abandoned dog was put down every hour. This year Pedigree wants to change this fact.
Help us by adopting a dog, donating money or simply by making sure as many people as possible see this YouTube Channel page.
Paste a link into your facebook status, tweet it, email it or send it as a text message.
We're looking to improve the lives of thousands of dogs across the UK - not to mention the dog in the video. For the first 100,000 views, we will donate £1 - see below for details.
*For every viewing of an episode of Charlie's story, Mars Petcare will donate £1 to the PetPlan Charitable Trust (Registered Charity Number 1032907), up to a maximum of £100,000. Terms and conditions apply - please visit pedigreeadoptiondrive.com."
My doggy and her sisters lived with someone who barely fed them before we got them. They had to have parts of their fur shaved off because they were so infested with ticks and fleas. She is the happiest puppy ever now :)
ReplyDeleteMost of the pets I've had throughout my life have been adopted. My Birman cats I got through a Birman cat rescue. The two purebred pets that I have purchased were my bearded dragon and my standard poodle Phaedra. For Phaedra, we needed to get a dog that was hypoallergenic. We decided to get a puppy because even though I've adopted a lot of pets, I wanted a 'clean slate' to start, so to speak. All of my adopted pets have had issues, some worse than others, but they've still been good pets.
ReplyDeleteHeather:
ReplyDeleteAwww yay :)
Phyrra:
Oh wow, Birman cats, how beautiful!
Do you still have your bearded dragon?
My beardie unfortunately died after 5.5 years, on my last day of college :( It was really upsetting.
ReplyDeleteMy birmans were beautiful. I adopted them at 7 and 9 years, and the 7 year old lived to be 11 and died of renal failure. The 9 year old lived to be 15.5 and died because her body shut down :( I had to put her to sleep. It was the hardest thing I've ever done.
Both our cat and our dogs are adopted! They are really adorable!
ReplyDeleteOur first dog wasn't adopted though...
But I'm glad he was at our home too! I miss him a lot... to think that he's gone still makes me really sad...
He was my friend since I was 4....
I wish I could adopt a dog, but our dog Caramel (who we had no choice but to buy for a breeder as we lived in the middle east and they bread dogs with desert dogs who have a violent nature and with my brother only being 4 we couldn't chance it) couldn't handle it along with our guide dog in training dog pup who gives her a bit of trouble as he wants to play.
ReplyDeleteIf I could adopt a dog I would do, right now. I can't watch or hear about animal abuse half the time, as an animal can't communicate to people easily at all and can't ask for help.
shall watch! our two one-eyed cats are both rescues, and they're skittish even after 3 years of loving care because of their horrendous treatment (one of ours was even on the news because the house she was rescued from was so horrific). It's a cause close to my heart too, and I'd never now buy a cat, I'd always adopt and choose the ones least likely to be homed. Thanks for posting this x
ReplyDeleteI currently live with a cat whom I got from a breeder, but I've had adopted pets in the past and would definitely adopt again in the future. I adore cats so much that I wouldn't even mind if they had some issues. I believe every pet deserves a loving home.
ReplyDeleteI've watched it and reposted on my FB. I can not understand why people would abaondon animals, it is so cruel. I have two adopted cats and they're darlings. Yes, it took a little time for them to adjust to us and to trust us but now that they do, it is so fantastic!
ReplyDeletePhyrra:
ReplyDeleteAww i'm sorry to hear that :(
I feel for you, we had to put out cat Millie to sleep a few months ago and it was terrible. But it's always the best thing to do for them so just try to hold on to that fact and think happily about all the years you had with your kitties :)
Cacau:
Aww i'm sorry to hear about your loss :( Dogs really are the most wonderful pets, they're just like people.
Simone:
thats so scary about the desert dogs being bred with other dogs! D: It's great that you're training a guide dog puppy!
People who attack animals are coward, it's so easy to attack something so innocent and defenseless.
The Postcolonial Rabbit:
Aww poor dears, i hope they get less skittish. We have a cat we actually stole because he was being so badly treated. He only has 3 legs and his chin is smashed in (we're not sure but think he was in a car crash) he also has a severe skin condition and before we nicked him he was left out in the rain all night. He was very skinny and always hungry and miserable. We've had him years now and he's so much happier and better, but now he's old and deaf :(
Simone:
here here! animals are defenseless and innocent and so often the problems they do have are caused by humans.
Louise:
i absolutely agree. Lots of people find they cannot look after an animal anymore for whatever reason and have to try and find it a knew home and that's completely understandable (though personally i dont think i could ever bring myself to give away one of my animals as they are members of my family. If it came down to it i would put their needs ahead of mine as they are my responsibility). However sanctuaries and rescue centers will take them in, or you could try to find a new home for them yourself. Abandoning an animal like they show in the film is just so evil and it shocks me that it happens so often. There's absolutely no excuse for it.
You should be proud that your cats have adjusted so well :)
And to everyone:
from your comments i'm worried i came across as thinking that if you don't adopt your pets that's bad in some way. I'm really sorry if i made you feel this way because i don't think that at all. While i would prefer to always adopt my animals i know it's not always possible. For instance i have always wanted a Daschund and while i tried to adopt one at first i had a bad experience (we adopted one who we think had some form of brain damage and ended up attacking me quite savagely) and in the end we decided to buy one from a breeder. At first i felt a bit guilty but now i wouldn't change my puppy for anything.