We adopted this beautiful Belgian Malinois 2 years ago, her name is Terra. She has come a long way from being a frightened, nervous, anti-social dog to a generally happy, playful, warm-hearted friend. She still has room to grow (she follows me everywhere, is still very suspicious of new people, specifically men due to prior abuse) but despite this Cobain-ism from Kurt himself, she is the best pet I could ever hope for.
In my eyes, dogs (and most animals for that matter) literally can do no wrong. Like, to a fault in most peoples’ eyes. When Terra had her growing pains, I would always point back to what we did to put her in the position to make the mistake. Their bad behavior is indicative of the conditions/treatment they have been exposed to by a human sometime in their life. If a dog goes to the bathroom in the house, it’s probably because they need to get on a schedule, and the owner is responsible for that schedule, not the dog. If a dog is aggressive towards other people, there are actions you can take to socialize the dog, and getting physical or just saying “no” isn’t the answer.
OK OK I have made my point, time to get off my soapbox, but I just came across a statistic that, honestly as an intense animal apologist, frightens me.
According to various sources on the interwebz – only 19 states have outlawed the use of gas chambers as a means to euthanize animals. Math isn’t necessarily my strong suit (nor is torture frankly, although some passengers in my car may argue Pantera on full blast officially qualifies me), but I think I got this one – THIRTY-ONE STATES approve of the use of a terribly cruel method of performing this horrible, but unfortunately necessary at this point, practice of animal euthanasia. Not to be morbid here, but at first glance, worst case you may think “so what, I mean, they are being put to sleep, right. well…” Without going into horrible detail here, this practice is unnecessarily painful for innocent animals – it simply doesn’t have to be this way.
So while all of us can sit back and talk about how everyone should adopt dogs, I’m a firm believer in the old adage that everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you think adoption isn’t for you, well, that’s unfortunate in my eyes but hey, you have your reasons, totally OK.
The harsh reality is it won’t work out for every animal put up for adoption, and this outcome is inevitable for some. In the event that euthanasia is the only option, the fact that 31 states still employ a cruel, painful method of ending these innocent animals lives is simply disgusting.
If you’re interested in doing something about it…then let’s do something about it. I know i am. I will be reaching out to our local representatives and dedicating time to fixing this at a local level one step at a time.
For more specifics on collective efforts to end this cruel practice – watch the video here from CNN. Way to go Kim Kavin for spreading awareness, thank you for the eye opener!
Meet Nick Thomas 