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Ok, so I'm going to pick up a foster dog today, and I am so excited! When I woke up this morning, I couldn't stop thinking about how sad it is that everyday, thousands of cats and dogs are euthanized at the pound and that so many people do not know this. I was also thinking about some of hte reasons and solutions to this. When speaking with the group organizer late last night, she mentioned that people want puppies but that she prefers older dogs as they are calmer. So, it got me wondering about why do so many people so desperately want puppies? I believe that there are many reasons, but that one of them is due to the media (although I don't consider it to be entirely media's fault though). I then got an idea! what if the next time a hollywood movie were to come out, with a dog in it, instead of creating a frenzie for puppies (ex: 101 dalmatians, Marley & me, Beethoven, etc) it were to create a desire to adopt rescue dogs/cats. Although there are some issues that need to be delt with within this idea, I believe it can be done. Although I am against using animals for entertainment, I believe this could be done respectively, without "using" the dog by treating it kindly. Additionally, it would be quite counter-productive to make people want to get a companion without realising the responsibility behind it, but once again, this could be delt with within the movie. I am wondering if this has ever been presented to Hollywood? or, if I should prepare a letter, send it out to production studios, get in touch with PETA, prepare sample letters for people to send mentioning that they would love to see this on the big screen. What are everyone's thoughts on this? What issues do people think would need to be delt with in order to make this positive for the cause of resucing dogs?
I think people are also afraid of why the dog was abandoned in the first place. Was it bad, did it bite someone, is it not good with kids, peeing in the house, etc. Puppies are assumed to be given away probably because the owner can't keep that many dogs or they are from a breeder, not because of behavioral problems. I dont' agree with this either, but I'm thinking this might be something too. They should know that good shelters assess the dog's personality and how it interacts with kids, adults, other pets. Also, so many older pets are given away because of lack of money or just because the owners become lazy. I think this should be addressed to ease people's concerns. Also, while puppies are cute as can be, you also have to deal with all of the work that goes along with them! Chewing, house-training, etc. Lastly, people probably think they can't train an older dog as easily as a puppy (this is where the terrible saying of "can't teach and old dog new tricks" really bites us in the butt!). Good luck!
i just read a truly inspirational article about the dogs rescued from michael vick. The story was in this past sundays Parade magazine. The progress that those dogs made was just amazing.
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