I just read an article on the internet that indicates that there are approximately 2.4 million animals that are euthanized in animal shelters every year! That is a huge number!

It seems as though there has to be an alternative to this terribly high number of animals being put down. I for one hate going to the animal shelter! The animals all look so sad. I want to take them all home with me! But despite that, we have adopted all of our animals, except for the puppy my husband got for me when we were first married. He was in the Marine Corps and I was lonely when he went on deployments so he found an ad for free puppies. She was the cutest little thing – part husky and part yellow lab! She looked like the Snuggle fabric softener bear. Soon after that, we were at the beach and on our way home saw a sign for the animal shelter. We figured, let’s go look. We arrived shortly before they were closing for the weekend.  We ended up coming home with a full grown German Shepherd. Completely unexpected and unplanned! But when we were there, he kept crying out as we walked away from him. I said then that we just couldn’t leave him. He was begging for us to take him home. As we told the attendants that we wanted to adopt him, they informed us that he was going to be put down the next day. I think he must have known we were his last chance. We took him home and named him King. He was amazing! He was obedience trained, house trained, and very protective of us. It seemed crazy to me that someone gave him up. But we lucked out on their loss!

That was the first of our shelter adoptions. We then had Rosie, Prince, and last but not least – Jackson. We adopted Rosie and Prince when they were about 7 or 8. Both had come from bad backgrounds. They had both been abused. They were both great though! We had them both until they were about 14 and needed to be put to sleep for health reasons. And when I say health reasons, they weren’t conditions that would be made better with medical care. It was in their best interest to not let them suffer any more than they had. Those were two very terrible days in our lives. With Prince especially. I stayed up with him, laying next to him on the floor all night long before we took him to the vet the next morning. We were all devastated! We swore that we wouldn’t be getting another dog for a very long time. We just couldn’t even imagine going through that again.

Jump forward five months! I hated coming home to nothing greeting me at the door wagging their tail excited to see me. One day we were settling in for our Saturday afternoon Ohio State Football game when I happened on a website that had a beautiful German Shepherd at a shelter two hours away. I was in love! So we jumped in the car and drove the two hours to check him out. He was gorgeous. He was 11 months old and his owner had been in an accident and was no longer able to care for such a rambunctious boy. So, we brought him home. What a great decision that was! He is a lively, energetic, highly intelligent boy! He has filled our home once again with the joy of a dog! He is excited to see us when we get home and is always willing to play ball with us if and when we are inclined. Let’s be honest – even if we aren’t inclined…

Jackson is the first dog we have had in a long time that didn’t come with any bad baggage. You can tell he was well cared for and didn’t suffer any trauma except for being taken to the shelter. I have a serious problem with leaving him anywhere. I don’t want him to ever think that we are not coming back for him! I dropped him off at the dog groomer once and when I went to pick him up – before I even opened the door – I heard this terrible crying. It was Jackson. I asked how long he had been doing that and they told me that it started when I walked out the door and didn’t stop until he saw me walk back in. That broke my heart! I cannot imagine that he will ever forget being abandoned at the shelter. Even if it was for his best interest – it was traumatic for him.  I don’t know how to convey to him that we will always come back!

The point of my story is to say that there are the most wonderful animals at the shelters. They are given up for so many reasons. It certainly isn’t because they are bad animals. They just need to be given a chance and they will make someone a wonderful companion!

I think back on our animals and as much as my heart broke when we lost them, I wouldn’t change a thing in our adoptions! They brought so much joy to our home that we would have lost out on if we didn’t give them their chance. I would like to think that with as much as Rosie and Prince went through in their lives, that their last chapter was filled with love and care!

If you are looking for a 4 legged addition to your family, please check out your local shelters. You will not only find your new family member, you will be saving a life of a deserving animal! And if you don’t go to a shelter and choose to purchase your companion, please have them spay or neutered!

It’s just me and my opinion!

Have a great day!