Clowns don't sell puppies
Sometimes, in the course of my day, I see something that so thoroughly irritates me, I have to come home and write about it immediately, while the passion for what I do is at the forefront of my mind.
On Saturdays, my mornings are spent with throwaway dogs. These dogs and sometimes cats, have been thrown away, dumped if you will, on shelters and rescues in the tri county area. Many of these dogs are purebred of one kind or another and many are mixes. We treat them all the same and they receive all the love and attention one group of people and volunteers can lavish on them. Most have been saved from death due to one issue or another. I have made it my goal to educate about the horrors of backyard breeding and puppy mills to help decrease the number of animals entering shelters. I have a friend in the shelter business who likes to tell people, "Put me out of business. I would love it if all these animals had a home." Many backyard breeder dogs along with puppy mill puppies keep the flow in shelters and rescues all over this country.
After I left the shelter, I went to Petsmart where the racing greyhounds were being featured. Once again, purebred dogs, bred to race to satisfy man's craving to gamble, then destroyed when the career they were bred for doesn't want or need them any longer.
So I thought to myself, how great is this. The morning is working out great. I left Petsmart and went to have my hair cut and then it was on to the grocery store.
Then I saw it. The clown with the sign. The clown with the sign in front of Puppy Town. The sign which said, "Honk if you love puppies". I thought as I drove past how this irritated me. Of course people love puppies. That is why puppies live to adulthood, because they are so cute. It is the ones who have been discarded I worry about. Discarded by their owners because they aren't cute any longer, or they don't match the sofa. Maybe the kids outgrew them, or Mom and Dady think they are too busy to have time to care for them. Where do people think adult dogs come from? Heaven? Do they just drop out of the sky fully grown with all their issues because that is how it is?
How about a sign that says, "Honk if you love puppy mills?" Or maybe, "Honk if you support shelters?" I can think of a lot of things to go on a sign in front of a puppy store, but they wouldn't be carried by a clown and you wouldn't smile if you read them.
On Saturdays, my mornings are spent with throwaway dogs. These dogs and sometimes cats, have been thrown away, dumped if you will, on shelters and rescues in the tri county area. Many of these dogs are purebred of one kind or another and many are mixes. We treat them all the same and they receive all the love and attention one group of people and volunteers can lavish on them. Most have been saved from death due to one issue or another. I have made it my goal to educate about the horrors of backyard breeding and puppy mills to help decrease the number of animals entering shelters. I have a friend in the shelter business who likes to tell people, "Put me out of business. I would love it if all these animals had a home." Many backyard breeder dogs along with puppy mill puppies keep the flow in shelters and rescues all over this country.
After I left the shelter, I went to Petsmart where the racing greyhounds were being featured. Once again, purebred dogs, bred to race to satisfy man's craving to gamble, then destroyed when the career they were bred for doesn't want or need them any longer.
So I thought to myself, how great is this. The morning is working out great. I left Petsmart and went to have my hair cut and then it was on to the grocery store.
Then I saw it. The clown with the sign. The clown with the sign in front of Puppy Town. The sign which said, "Honk if you love puppies". I thought as I drove past how this irritated me. Of course people love puppies. That is why puppies live to adulthood, because they are so cute. It is the ones who have been discarded I worry about. Discarded by their owners because they aren't cute any longer, or they don't match the sofa. Maybe the kids outgrew them, or Mom and Dady think they are too busy to have time to care for them. Where do people think adult dogs come from? Heaven? Do they just drop out of the sky fully grown with all their issues because that is how it is?
How about a sign that says, "Honk if you love puppy mills?" Or maybe, "Honk if you support shelters?" I can think of a lot of things to go on a sign in front of a puppy store, but they wouldn't be carried by a clown and you wouldn't smile if you read them.
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