If You’ve Ever Thought About Giving Up Your Dog…

I'm a dog lover through and through. Sure, I love some dogs more than others but that depends on a lots of things including their demeanor, size and how stu...er, intelligent their owners are. Just like some parents really should've have reproduced, there are plenty of dog owners who shouldn't have adopted.

Plus, I had to my dog Ollie down on Valentine's Day earlier this year and would do almost anything to have more time with him. Which makes me want to share this column even more about "giving up" your dog to the humane society for whatever stupid reason you deem legitimate. An animal isn't just a possession. It's not something you can just "return" when you get bored or decide you don't like it. A dog (or any animal) is a life long commitment. And if you're not prepared to COMMIT to your animal, you're not fit to OWN an animal.

This column is called "A Very Important Message to All Dog Owners" and you really need to read it.  Especially if you've ever given up a dog for a BS reason.  Here are two of my favorite paragraphs:

The most common excuses: “We are moving and we can’t take our dog (or cat).” Really? Or they say, “The dog got bigger than we thought it would”. How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? “We don’t have time for her”. Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! “She’s tearing up our yard”. How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me, “We just don’t want to have to stress about finding a place for her. We know she’ll get adopted, she’s a good dog”.

Odds are your pet won’t get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn’t full & your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with other barking or crying animals.  It will have to relieve itself where it eats & sleeps. It will be depressed & it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don’t, your pet won’t get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door & the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose.

Read it all HERE

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