How sweet we see thee lie,
Around thy deep and dreamful sleep
The shelter staff go by.
Yet in thy deep dreams shineth
The everlasting hope,
The coming weeks will see a home
Where they will be loved.
How carefully, how carefully
The loving homes are chosen.
So dog imparts to human hearts
The blessings of the canine.
No ear may hear their coming,
But in this land of snow,
Where good homes will receive them now
The loving pup will bide.
Britain's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a slogan for this time of year,
A Dog Is For Life, Not Just For Christmas.
The RSPCA, together with similar societies around the world, works to educate people as to the problems associated with giving animals as gifts. Where midwinter festivals are held, December is a busy time of year. There is so much to do with visiting family, making feasts and buying presents that there is little time to give a new animal the attention it requires and deserves.
Maybe your kids have been begging for a pet and promised to take care of it. How many toys do you remember being abandoned by Boxing Day? Exactly.
All animals need care and puppies and kittens need much more than adults. They will grow as well, they don't stay small and cute forever.
Too many animal shelters see an influx of animals in January due to people giving animals as gifts which are then unwanted.
The Mae Bachur Animal Shelter will not be adopting out animals from 18th December to 27th December. This is a common policy among animal shelters to avoid shelter animals being returned unwanted after Christmas.
If you are thinking of taking on an animal as a pet, whether from a shelter or elsewhere, wait until after the festivities have finished and you have the time to devote to the new member of your family.
As the unknown author of "Forgotten Dog's Christmas" wrote,
" You weren't given a gift, you were given a life".
The staff and residents of the Mae Bachur Animal Shelter would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We thank all those people who have donated time, money and items to help us take care of our animals through 2010 and look forward to seeing you again in 2011.
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Thats a wonderful thing you have decided to do again! This may deter a few people from buying/ adopting an animal for someone else, i have never understood that myself as a long time dog owner, pets are for life and every pet comes with their own personality, which may or may not be the right one for the person in question. There a million different reasons why not to get an animal for someone else as a gift, i've witnessed it with some people i have known and it has never turned out well...
ReplyDeleteAnyways, just wanting to post quickly and express that i am 100% behind you on this decision! Hope that after the holidays the animals at the shelter are all adopting into good loving Forever homes quickly!