Gotta Let it Out

 How do you feel when someone gives up their pet? And now.. How do you feel when they give their pet up to the shelter? I know how reading something like that makes me feel. Shelters smell of death and despair, and before anyone says anything, even no-kill shelters are stressful and can freak out an animal. Now don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes there is just nothing you can do. You exhaust all your options, and you just are left with nothing. I'm more talking about the people who don't exhaust all their options. The people who don't follow the suggestions and guidance of others in the situation, and just decide to dump their animal. That is what pisses me off.

No -Kill Shelters are called that, because they don't euthanize healthy animals. However they do euthanize dangerous, or terminally ill animals. Which I understand. But what are the chances that pet you dumped, is actually going to ever get out of that shelter? Actually live life outside of a cage with a family?  I don't understand people who can dump an animal; a family member. They are not "until you get pregnant" pets. They are forever.  (What would kill me more is seeing someone who does that, getting another animal later on down the road.)

I would never give my dog to a shelter. No kill or otherwise. Because I would take the effort in finding someone to adopt my dog. That isn't the shelters job. With so much social media, and rescue groups around the country, animals are saved everyday. Ones needing homes, and those who need fosters for awhile. I'm proud to say I see that happen quite often in the social media community. It's a chance for a giant team of  animal lovers to do something good.

I know that it irritates me further, when I give advice, and I try to help the animal find a home, only to find out that nothing was done that I offered. And the animal was dumped anyway. I know by the end of this, I'm probably rambling. But I am just severely pissed off that I put in the effort in other people's pets... and they can't even put the same effort in their own.

I needed to get this out, because I feel a better now.

Conservation Message at it's finest

 I get asked almost every day, why do I feel so strongly about animals. Why don't I just relax, because someone will help the animals.. Well it's not always that easy. Sadly, people who think that it will get done, so they do nothing, are as big a problem as those who just don't care. If you don't do what you can, then you allow things to fall into the cracks. You allow things like animal abuse, dog fighting, breed specific legislation, and even bigger things such as whaling and exotic animal hunting to continue when you do not fight it.  

Your world could be such a different place without things around you. One time I had someone tell me, that they didn't give a damn about recycling. Because they didn't care about pollution. Their exact words to me, were that if some people could pollute the world and drive hummers, she was going to pollute in a way she could. By  not giving a damn, and throwing away recyclable items. She said that as she threw a soda can to the ground. I guess she's never seen the after effect of those decisions..

We have one world. As far as we know, we will never have another place to call home. Why not care about the planet we live on, rather than ignore it because that's the easy way out? The water we have today, was water our ancestors drank and lived from. No new water has ever been created, and yet.. We pollute it like we could never run out. What happens when all that waste destroys all the water? What happens when the fumes from your vehicle destroy the environment? What happens when the landfills are so full of garbage, we have to start finding alternate ways of disposing it? 

One person can't do everything,  but they can do something. That something could be the difference between a bright future for our planet, and living in a wasteland not suitable for life at all. That was why her comment had made me as upset as it did. I had to look at her and call her ignorant, to which she didn't care. She was proud to not know about what was going on, and to not want to contribute. But yet there are people out there right now, cleaning up the planet that people like her continue to live on. They aren't just ruining things for themselves, they ruin things for all life. I cannot imagine being so selfish as to not understand or care the huge scheme of things. 

People can tell me I'm beating a dead horse, or that I'm fighting a lost cause. Let them. But it will not change the way I feel about it. Nothing will. We were put on this planet to care for it, not see what it would take to finally destroy it. I can only hope that future generations understand what could be lost, if we choose to follow the route that we are on.

What do YOU do, to protect your environment?

I am Lennox

 Okay now.. I have had a lot of things I wanted to discuss. One namely being Lennox, who was put to death while I was on my Honeymoon. Most of you already know the story of Lennox, because it's made international news. Belfast City Council had deemed this dog dangerous, merely for him being overly excited and bumping heads with an official. He was detained two years, where he was mistreated and still never showed any sign of aggression. Lennox was a labrador, American Bulldog mix. He was no pitbull, but he was euthanized as if he had been one, merely for being excited. He never bit anyone, never showed any signs of aggression. Victoria Stillwell and Cesar Milan both advocated for this dog. Begging the council to let them take the dog and get it to a rescue. Anything to save innocent Lennox's life. However efforts were futile, and now there are some conspiracy theorists out there.

 Right now there are a lot of questions surrounding the Lennox case. One being, did Lennox die due to the euthanasia? Or did he die months before that of an ailment that they are trying to cover up? These questions were brought up due to once Lennox was destroyed.. They would not give the family his ashes, his collar, nor allow them to say one last goodbye. It was done so secretly, and so cold.. That some believe he had died long ago, but the officials felt the need to cover it up.

 Pictures were revealed of Lennox sporting signs of missing fur and bald spots. He was housed in a concrete "room" with no proper bedding.. No toys.. No food or water.. Nothing that would suggest a dog lived there besides his own feces and his presence. For two years, supposedly, the dog lived that way. Even the woman who refused to agree that the death sentence should be appealed, was seen cuddling him and kissing his face.. Obviously she wasn't too fearful of him. But yet she help him live. She had deemed him a Pit, and he deserved to die.

It's odd, how we can practice such.. medieval laws. Lennox was no guilty prisoner, and yet he was treated as a pariah simply for knocking heads with someone? Now I won't lie. I'm not the type to be all "OMG I HATE THE OFFICIALS." But I'm really not too happy with any of them. Some were receiving death threats, and I don't think anyone realizes how detrimental that is to the case.  By trying to scare someone out of something, you are doing the very thing you are mad at them for doing. We need to win by practicing compassion. We will never win our battle, if we are capable of threatening people's lives over this. Stand up with me, and show your passion. Without showing your ignorance. We can end BSL. We can stop the discrimination and the hate. But we can only do that with time, and willingness to learn. The "I am Lennox" campaign still goes strong, even with the death of him. There are more "Lennox's" out there.
Help Save Piggy
Help Save Hope
Help Save Wicca

Check out those links, and let's save some dogs.

I'm Baaack!

 Hey guys! It's been awhile, and for that I am sorry. I had no idea that weddings and Honeymoons were so freaking stressful. I really didn't! But for those wondering, the Honeymoon was amazing. I really did have a lot of fun. I also got to see hubby open up and that was great too. He had so much fun there, and I'm glad that his first time ever going, he went with me. All in all, Disneyworld is magical, and I cannot wait to take my son there for a birthday sometime. 


Now it was perfect timing, for me to find an article that caught my interest this morning! I had been meaning to get a post up before now, but I had to clean the house so that the Carpet Estimate guy could come. ANYWAY.


I have been reading up about Wicca. Her facebook page is here. If you care to read up about her. Now there is a lot of speculation about what happened to this woman who claims to have been bitten. I am really skeptical of the word "bite" because if a dog bites you..You know. You don't just think "Oh I think I've been bitten." It's "Oh man I was bit!" I've been bitten by many dogs, and not once did I "assume" I was bitten, I freaking knew it. But anyway,  This woman claims that Wicca attacked her. 


Wicca is a 5 year old, Spayed American Staffordshire Terrier.  She was on a terrace with her owner, laying down on her leash. The woman didn't notice the dog until it was too late, and when she did she reacted fearfully. The dog, which would obviously have been spooked by the sudden person approaching and then moving with quick motions, reacted by getting up. Witnesses have said that the dog stood and in a panic managed to scratch the woman. Mind you, the first-aid this woman got was Suave with a band-aid.


The owner was served with an immediate death order for the dog, without any sort of evidence that the woman had in fact been bitten. Even the facility that is holding Wicca right now refuses to euthanize her. Not only as she saved her owners life once before, she's also a really good dog. The Shelter refuses to euthanize her on the grounds that she's "a really good dog that doesn't deserve to die."


I give the shelter props for seeing that a dog lacks any aggressive bone in her body, and sticking up for her. 

Sea Turtle Vandals

                                           

 I heard something a few days ago, and found myself just.. horrified by the thought of what I was told. My father was telling me about a situation that happened on Navarre Beach, Florida. That's relatively close to home, and it hit close to home in my heart as well.


As some of you know, it's the breeding season for the sea turtle. All sea turtles, along with loggerhead sea turtles, are all endangered and on the protected species list. Which means they are protected by state and federal law. However that did little to help the nest that was on the patrol route of the volunteers walking the beach. Volunteers patrol the beach all the day and night, switching shifts in order to protect the sea turtle.


Only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles survive to maturity, and maturity means 20-30 years. Which means it's almost impossible to this animal to survive that long. It has a lot of predators, one of which being sharks. But then what about us human beings? We cause a lot of death to more than we even mean to. We pollute the ocean, causing many deaths, as if the ocean population needed our help destroying the animals.


But this time, it wasn't even pollution. A group of vandals went to one of the nests overnight, and the nightly patrol found it. Eggs had been destroyed, and scattered all over the pier, and along the public area of the beaches. A shovel was found within the perimeter, as they had foolishly left the tool behind. Some eggs had been torn apart with the shovel itself. 


The level of disgusting is just.. beyond comprehension. I'm glad to say that officials are on an active manhunt for the vandal, or vandals. They will be charged with a felony for tampering with the nest, and I hope they get the book thrown at them.


Tell me again, how we are the better species?

That New Thread Smell

 Today was a new experience! I started my very own fan page. It gives me somewhere other than here, to discuss the things I like discussing. Let's face it, it's hard to have a discussion on a blog post. Not so much when it comes to a fan page. I'm excited for this new experience! 


                                                   Furbabies Facebook page!


I'm going to likely be sharing adoptable dogs/animals, as well as the animal stories I post here often. It isn't just limited to the discussion of dogs, or the adopting of dogs. I'm willing to share all the babies that need homes, regardless of whether they swim in a bowl, or are large enough to be ridden. 


This post is kinda small, since I really haven't had time to come here and post a story today. But I wanted everyone to know about the facebook page, just in case I have a few followers interested. Have a great Monday all!

Rat-Tastic

 Today is a happy post! I am almost 100% positive my two dumbo girls I got a few weeks ago's breathing problems have gone away! Not only do they not sneeze anymore, but they don't wheeze or make those "barking" sounds I heard before. That makes me really happy, and I give the credit to the new bedding they are on. I was scared that they wouldn't last long (even compared to a normal rats life.) and was almost preparing myself to not get attached. However I did get attached, of course! I did everything I could to help their breathing, and the bedding change seems to have done the trick. I'm very happy they could overcome it.


Anyone who knows me, knows that my rats are like my babies. I never thought I could own another once my Sixx passed, but Kali had other ideas. I'm proud to say I rescued her, but I think her and Loki rescued me. I wasn't aware of how saddened I was.. Really. Bringing them home made me happy in ways I hadn't expected. 


It's funny when I hear stories of people being so incredibly disgusted of rats. Because I just want to smile at it. In my head, I'm usually thinking 'Well that's just too bad for you.' Because a rat brings a whole new level of loyal to the family. My rats, are more loyal than my dogs. Now, I'm not selling Oz and Spike short. My dog-babies are lovebugs. But there's something about owning a rat that helps you understand what I mean.


This was really just supposed to be a "yay my rats are better!" post. Apparently I got a little distracted and started rambling. Which is another thing I do when it comes to talking about something I love!