A week in other people's shoes

Sunday was the final morning of the SNAP Benefit Challenge - one week of eating utilizing $1.40 per meal, an amount that people on SNAP Benefits (previously called food stamps) must do on a every meal, every day basis. 

In looking back at the week, and the small glimpse into what hundreds of thousands of people across the state call reality, I was struck by how much I have to be grateful for.

The difference between myself and people in poverty is largely life circumstance. I grew up with two parents, I never had to worry where my next meal came from, I was able to go to college without taking on too much debt, and I have always had a support system. The support system component strikes me most.

Throughout the week, I did eat like someone on SNAP Benefits, but nothing else in my life reflected the lifestyle that many people receiving these benefits live. I had reliable transportation, a flexible and good job that I could be a few minutes late to, without reprimand, if I hit traffic or had to deal with a situation at home. I had reliable housing, heat during cold nights, and ultimately, I had the choice to step away from the challenge at any point in time. A choice that isn’t part of the equation for people receiving SNAP.

Was it hard? Yes. Did it make for difficult coffee meetings and work receptions because I couldn’t accept free food? Yes. Did I long for the moment I could have a cup of coffee again? More than anything else. I have to admit that after a week, I was more than ready to be done and start living my life the way I like to live it … which makes me feel like a privileged jerk.

Every time I wanted to cheat, I also wanted to smack myself.

The reality is hard, but I didn’t really live it.

I realized that one can live on food stamps without going hungry, but to do it in a healthy way is a tall order. I usually base my meals around fruits and vegetables, but during the challenge, I had a couple bananas, some corn, and a little broccoli and cauliflower … all week. I wasn’t eating junk food, but with a diet heavy in grains and light on veggies, fruit, and protein, I felt tired and lethargic.

I spoke with a half dozen people who have been or are on SNAP benefits, all with a story to tell. Some of their sentiments are below.

• You wonder why people in poverty are overweight? Look at what you can buy with food stamps.
• I cry when I go to the grocery store because what I now spend in a week is more than we used to spend in a month when I was growing up.
• I used SNAP as a supplement because I had other resources and family support.
• SNAP Benefits got me through a really hard time, but you can’t live off of them for long.
• My family grew up in the projects and my mom refused to be on food stamps – she had too much pride for it. It speaks to the stigma of poverty and hunger, that she wouldn’t take it, even when we really needed it.

My glimpse into life on SNAP Benefits was merely that. A glimpse. A minor, unimportant glimpse. I do hope the dialogue and education continues. If we don’t talk about it, how can we begin to untangle the issue and begin to make a difference?

As we all move forward with our normal lives, let us not forget that this way of life is a reality for many.

Let us remember that when we vote that we have power to elect people to deal with social issues that create such ripple effects as hunger does.

Let us remember compassion and understanding – and how to extend it to others.

Let us remember that we have the power to create change, to share important issues, and to empower others.

SNAP Challenge

The SNAP Challenge: "Could you feed yourself three nutritious meals a day with only $4.56? That’s the average amount 500,000 Coloradans are receiving from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Thousands of our neighbors subsist on such a budget for themselves and their families through their SNAP benefits. The federal nutrition program, previously known as food stamps, provides households with the financial resources to purchase groceries—literally putting food on tables for millions of American children, adults and seniors. Many families survive entirely on the food acquired through their SNAP benefits, which affords $31.92 per week to the average recipient in Colorado. What if that’s all you had to spend on groceries?"

The SNAP Challenge. My friend, my boyfriend, and I decided to embark on this effort to gain a small glimpse into the way that hundreds of thousands of Coloradans live each day. 

As I started to reflect, I realized that it’s trivial in many ways. This experience will not give me any idea what it's really like to live on SNAP benefits. I know that, and I'm not pretending that I'll walk away from this experience being able to relate. Jonathan, Ben and I all embark on this week knowing that we have family and friends who have used SNAP benefits. And that’s kind of the point. None of us are far from hunger. Children sitting in classrooms. Working parents. Young professionals. Farmers supporting our commerce. 

Hunger is very real in America.

Honestly, I struggled with whether to share this challenge publicly. Yet, to not share it seems to miss an opportunity to start a conversation that - if enough people want to do something about - may actually change a current reality. 

When I first started learning about hunger, it blew my mind. How is it that we have more than enough food in our country, but we have so many people who are hungry? How is it that when I feel like a latte at Starbucks and grab one, I spend more on my afternoon pick-me-up than people are able to spend on an entire day of food in the SNAP program?

Where do we even start to create change when 15.7 percent of Denver residents live at or below poverty, and there are only 27 affordable housing units for every 100 low-income families?

My hope is that together we can begin to tear down the stigma of hunger and those experiencing hunger, and begin treating it as the real issue that it is. 

I invite you to join the conversation - to share what you know, to learn, to act, to empower others to do the same. 

So for one week, it's $1.52 per meal ($4.56 per day / $31.92 per week) - something that is a reality day-in and day-out for many people and families in Denver. 

SNAP Benefit food purchase #1 - $21.88.

I went straight to the inside aisles. I looked for deals everywhere and didn't shop fresh foods. I tried to get a mix of things that would have some nutritional value, but ultimately ended up substituting healthier options I might usually get for less expensive brands that have added sugar and additives or hydrogenated oil. A juxtaposition that hit me: my usual natural peanut butter is about $7.50, and the generic brand (with fully hydrogenated oil) was $2.99. I wanted to save some money in case I ran out later in the week. 

A change for those who have been changed

We all remember certain days in the history of our world. Days when everything changed.

We have awoken to the unbelievable headlines and horrifying images on the news - images that stick with us forever. 

It has been a heartbreaking year of natural and physical disasters. 

For the people - countless people - who were personally impacted, we have no comparison to the scars of those days. From victims and their families and friends, to first responders, to those who were spared the physical hurt, but not the experience they can never un-live. 

I've spent much of the time since the Las Vegas mass shooting lost in thought for the thousands and thousands of people who will never get to live their lives the same again. People who had absolutely no choice but to be forever changed. 

We can be there for those people to the extent we can, but perhaps the best way to honor the life-changing impact those individuals have gone through ... is to change ourselves. To make a conscious effort to be inspired by the incredibly selfless acts of individuals who have gone through more than any of us can imagine. 

During the recent hurricanes and floods, people put their own well-being aside to help others. In Las Vegas, amid active gunfire, people took the hands of people they didn't know and tried to get them to safety. So, in our daily lives, who are we not to follow the actions of these brave and incredible people?

Who am I then to not let someone over in traffic just because I didn't leave for work early enough? Who am I then to not give those closest to me a break when they have had a hard day and are cranky with me? 

Who am I then to not help a stranger whenever I am able - to give of my time and talent through volunteering, and to donate to groups relying on outside support? 

Who am I then to not smile at people on the street? 

Who am I then to not try to be the best version of myself each day?

We will continue to mourn and to show our support, but perhaps the biggest ongoing impact we can have is to also remember the power we have to make this world a better place, each day. We have the personal power to change, and to make changes that honor the people who have no choice but to be changed by these tragedies. 

Perhaps we make this not only a day when everything changed, but a day when we ourselves decided to change. 

Do what you can, when you can.

Do what you can, when you can.

Just stop and think about that for a second.

There are many ways to give back in this world - through one's time, money, or talent - but we are not always in a place to give back in all ways.

A child cannot donate funds or expertise, but they can give of their time and share a warm smile. A full-time professional raising kids may have no time or extra money to donate, but can share their experience.

The idea of giving "what we can, when we can" recognizes that life is a journey with ups and downs ... and frankly, this approach provides much-needed grace to ourselves and others.

If we recognize what we are able to give of ourselves, we can celebrate that we are able to give back - even if just a little - rather than feeling like we're never enough. Being productive all of the time is not practical, and it is an idea that tortures us.

This philosophy of giving when we can provides us the grace to give back when we are able to, but to pull back and give to ourselves when needed.

Whatever your cause, if you do what you can, when you can, it becomes a part of something greater.

Do you remember when someone's small gesture made a big difference in your day? Or perhaps when you did something to brighten another person's day, or lessen your impact on the world?

One of my passions is around trying to lessen my environmental footprint. I make small gestures to this end ... I bring a bamboo set of silverware with me so I don't need to use plastic, disposable silverware when I'm out. For the same reason, I carry a cloth napkin, so I can refuse the disposable kind. I don't buy paper towels or napkins.

Recently a friend asked me if I thought all of those small actions actually made a difference. My answer: absolutely.

Think about swapping an apple for a donut each morning, would that make a difference? Sure, it's only one choice in your day, but do you think at the end of the year, you might see some changes because of that swap? Turns out that you save 100 calories a morning through that swap, which means you'd save 36,500 calories in a year just from that small change ... the equivalent of more than 10 pounds.

So, does using a single cloth napkin make a difference? If I typically use two napkins a day, by using a cloth napkin instead, I save 730 napkins from going to the landfill each year.

Bringing a thermos to my favorite coffee shop - or asking for coffee "for here" (which nearly all stores offer, Starbucks included) - saves me from personally putting more than 100 cups and sleeves in the landfill each year ... considering I hit up Starbucks 1-2 times per week.

Considering it’s not unheard of to grab one coffee-to-go daily - think about 365 cups going into the landfill because of one person. Starbucks alone uses 2.3 billion paper cups a year, according to Business Insider.

Whatever you're interested in changing in this world - think about each day as an opportunity to make small changes that add up.

Changing the world isn't something that one person does - it is the sum of all parts. It is each one of us making small alterations to our lives that add up in a big way.

You may have days, weeks, months where your life isn't going well - where you don't have much money, time, or energy to give ... and that's ok.

But if you do what you can, when you can, there's nothing more anyone can ask of you.

Doing what you can is not about money - it's not about perfection either. It's about making a choice.

To make your time in this world beneficial.

To see the beauty around you, to honor and act on what is good.

To make intentional effort.

To do what you can, when you can.

2017. Let's make it ace.

Ace.

adjective: ace
1. very good.

synonyms: excellent, first-rate, first-class, marvelous, wonderful, magnificent, outstanding, superlative, formidable, virtuoso, masterly, expert, champion, consummate, skillful, adept;

antonyms: mediocre

Last week, to round out 2016, I had a physic reading. During the reading "Ace" cards surfaced several times, and I learned that the Ace card symbolizes new beginnings. It's certainly a pretty fitting card for me as I complete a year of personal transitions; yet, I got to thinking that could be pretty fitting for 2017 as a whole. 

The antonym of ace is mediocre. Mediocre is a word that has synonyms such as indifferent and amateurish. Perhaps mediocracy sums up 2016 more perfectly than I even originally imagined. 

So let's make 2017 the opposite of mediocre. Let's make it ace. 

If we see 2017 as a time for new beginnings, we focus on opportunity and not on challenges. 

The years ahead will not all be ace. In fact, there will likely be many things that happen in 2017 - and beyond - that are far from it. 

There are many things we cannot control, but there are many things we can control.

Focusing on what is negative somehow creates more negativity. Focusing on the positive creates more positivity. There is always bad, there is always good ... and there is always perspective. 

So, what if we all do everything we can to make 2017 an ace year?

What if we all stood up for something we care about? 

What if we opened our hearts and shared something that we care about with others?

What if we all heard one another, truly listened, and considered diverse ideas respectfully?

What if we chose love over hate, understanding over ignorance, action over indifference?

What if we decided to create new beginnings in every way that we could?

How we spend our days is how we live our lives. 

Decide to make every - or any - aspect of life you can control intentional and positive. 

Decide to make 2017 ... Ace.

Tienes un pedazo de mi corazón

Argentina, tienes un pedazo de mi corazón. You have a piece of my heart.

Argentina had long been on the top of my travel list, for no real good reason, except perhaps I loved the mystery of it, Malbec is my favorite wine, and Patagonia always seemed like an unattainable dream.

When my best friend Kelly and I started brainstorming our first trip together and we both named Argentina at the top of our lists ... we decided to make it happen.

Trying to sum up a travel experience in words is like trying to capture a magnificent sunset on camera. While it never seems to do justice to the real situation, it's something you must try to encapsulate.

Our trip to Argentina was the perfect combination of adventure and city, of modern and culture, of solo and social. It is a perfect country. The people are genuine, the landscape breathtaking, the energy indescribable. To me, it was perfect.

We began our trip in Buenos Aires for a few days to take-in the city before continuing onto Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world, for several days where we walked with penguins and stood at the gateway to the journey to Antartica. From there, El Calafate, El Chalten - hiking the trail toward Fitz Roy, trekking the Perito Moreno Glacier, and camping at the Adventure Domes without wifi or electricity for two nights. Then returning to Buenos Aires, to enjoy the markets, take runs throughout Palermo, master the Subte subway lines, enjoy wine, bread and olive oil on the patio of our air bnb overlooking the city, and stay out until long past dawn.

When we left BA, I cried. When we landed in Denver, I cried again. No part of it was a sadness to be home. I wanted to see my dogs, my friends, my family. But there is something about traveling that awakens the soul.

When you travel, you are open to experiences and find the positive in all you see - you laugh things off. You find yourself sitting with strangers and meeting incredible people who become friends, talking to people very different than you - and yet finding that in many ways they are so much the same. That we are all so much the same.

Each time I travel, I gain fresh perspective, I open myself to the world - without even realizing I'm doing it. I find that I debunk a stereotype I might entertain, I find a new part of myself I didn't know existed, and I come back to reality with increased intention for how I live my life.

Perhaps what I hope to hold from this trip, is to live more like I travel. To adventure and to find the beauty in each day, to be open to and to find positivity in all experiences - to laugh things off.

To find myself sitting with strangers and meeting incredible people who become friends. To push myself to be a better version of myself by being open.

Argentina, you have a piece of my heart. And you have changed me.

Denver, I am home for now, and ready live here in the same manner that I travel.

Ambos tienen un pedazo de mi corazón. You both have a piece of my heart.

Voices behind the Denver Voice

You can see the Denver Voice on nearly every street corner in downtown Denver.

It's a small newspaper in the hands of people that many normally overlook, but this small thing is making big change. The paper's mission is "to facilitate a dialogue addressing the roots of homelessness by telling stories of people whose lives are impacted by poverty and homelessness and to offer economic, educational and empowerment opportunities for the impoverished community."

However, it is much more than that.

The Denver Voice is Joe. It's Michael, and many more like them.

Joe is a Denver Voice vendor that stands at 17th and California. Joe is a sweet older man with small glasses that has been homeless for 15 years. He tells me business is a slow and that I am the first person to talk to him all day. We've talked before, and after a bit I offered him some candy - his face lights up and he tells me he has a sweet tooth and loves anything chocolate, as he takes a few Snickers, Reese's and Almond Joy.

Just a block away, Michael is selling the Denver Voice at 16th and California, he tells me I am the first person to buy a paper from him that day. Michael is dressed in a button-up shirt and a sweater with a jacket, a good-looking man. We chat for a bit and he tells me that he went to Princeton, but did Cocaine for 20 years and it finally caught up with him and had taken his life from him. He sought help and for the last five years he's been working to get his life back.

Both of these men are faces of homelessness, but also the faces of hope.

Each Denver Voice is a suggested donation of $2 and gives the vendor an opportunity to have an income. The vendors are held to a code of responsibility and purchase the Voice for 50-cents, then they can make $1.50 on each paper when they sell them.

In 2011, there were 479 vendors and 305 new vendors, and the Voice gave each of those people a chance to support themselves.

They are working downtown just like everyone else and each paper they sell gives them a chance at a better life. Next time you walk by a Denver Voice vendor, say hello, think about buying a paper and maybe ask how their day is going.

You never know who you'll meet and what you caring will mean to them.

Looking for a bit of magic for Tinker Bell

The following article is a guest post on the Doggie Avenger Blog, written by a fellow Doggie Avenger, Erin Rist.
 
 
If you have ever had the pleasure of owning a Great Dane then you know how they bury themselves deep into your heart. They are beautiful, majestic dogs who are incredibly sensitive, embody the spirit of "man's best friend" and have an extraordinary way of communicating with you that no other breed can match.
 
Great Danes are well known as "Gentle Giants" and depending on their build and gender they can weigh anywhere from 90-200lbs. They often don't realize their own size. They bump into things and think they can fit on your lap. One my Danes loves to sit on my lap!
 
They are surprisingly sweet with other dogs and are careful not to be reckless around small dogs and children. Great Danes are the true definition of couch potatoes and spend most of their time being lazy. And they are the best cuddle buddies, mostly because their size makes them 100% huggable.
 
As someone who is owned by two Great Danes herself I have a soft spot for them and can't bear to see a Dane suffering.
 
Currently at the MaxFund sits lovable 6-year-old Tinker Bell the Great Dane. Tinker Bell was surrendered by her owner who slapped her across the face in front of MaxFund staff just before she released Tinker Bell into the next chapter of her life. It doesn't take an expert to see that this was not the first time Tinker Bell was abused. I have met Tinker Bell myself and you can see the abuse on her through her eyes and it has even burned into her heart. She seems sad and looks defeated. It is truly heart breaking to look at her.
 

But, through all of that, within minutes of meeting Tinker Bell she came over to me and gave me a soft kiss on my cheek. She is truly the example of looking forward despite the cards she has been dealt so far.
 
Tinker Bell has been at the MaxFund for almost two entire months. While the staff there cares and provides for her to the best of their abilities it is still especially hard on a Great Dane to live their life in a cold, kennel without the comforts of a home and without knowing what their future holds. Great Danes are dogs meant to be right next to their people whether that is underfoot, on the couch or snuggled up in bed. The lonely, cold and isolated experience of any shelter is never good for any dog but for a Dane it can be devastating.
 
I implore anyone who has just read these words to get up and do something! Let's get her out of the MaxFund and into her forever home; let's help Tinker Bell get to her perfect tomorrow.
 
How can you do this?

·         Consider adopting Tinker Bell from the MaxFund.

·         Spread the word. Re-post this information to your own personal blog, your Facebook wall, post a link to it from your Twitter handle, email your friends, family and anyone you know who may be able to provide any opportunities to Tinker Bell.

·         Send your good vibes, warm thoughts and prayers Tinker Bell's way.

 
Tinker Bell deserves all of the help we can lend her. If you have the heart take the time to do anything you can to help her out. Everything counts, big and small.


If you'd like to find out more about Tinker Bell, please visit www.MaxFund.org.

 

Patches O'Houlihan's Luck o' the Irish

In my opinion, this story already has a happy ending.

Patches O'Houlihan - Patches for short- is sleeping on a fleece blanket next to me with his legs resting on the pug laying next to him.

This kind of calm and peace always makes me happy, but perhaps it seems even more happy when you contrast it to the place he was last night - or eight hours ago, for that matter.

Patches was a last chance dog just hours ago.

He and I left the Denver Municipal Animal Shelter (DMAS) for his second chance at life on a day when all of my friends were out celebrating St. Patty's Day downtown -  hence his Irish-ish name.

This adorable, young terrier pug mix had been at the city shelter for one month, a pretty long time for a shelter with an average stay of closer to a week.

Patches has a skin irritation, causing his belly to be pink and not have much hair on it, a rash that is likely from something minor like a food allergy. Yet, because of his skin, he was not allowed to be adopted to the public through the shelter - he was placed on the "rescue-only" list, meaning that only other animal rescue organizations can take him out of the DMAS.

The rescue-only list is typically for dogs that are fearful, timid, aggressive, or on medication. While it can be hard to tell if they are just scared of the shelter environment, any dog exhibiting these behaviors or who is suffering from an illness or on a medication will not be available to the public at many city shelters, at any time.

While this sounds strange to many people I've told about it, let me derail slightly and applaud how far the shelter system has come in collaborating with rescues, in an effort to save more dogs. Efforts like that make all the difference in the world, and have helped DMAS decrease the save rate of their dogs from about half several years ago to almost 85% currently.

Shelters are starting to take very proactive approaches to saving lives, and it's starting to work.

For Patches, he was on his last call - labeled "urgent" - because he had been at the shelter so long. We took him out of his cage and I sat on the floor outside his kennel. After circling me a couple times, he climbed into my lap and gave me a kiss. I was sold ... and I brought him home as our next foster dog.

Now, just eight hours into this foster experience, I'd like to think that Patches isn't even thinking about his month in the shelter, or the sad situation that got him there - one that I don't even know - but rather, I hope that Patches is already understanding the amount of love he will receive in his life with this second chance.

Patches is a sweet dog that I've quickly learned that loves to play fetch, give kisses and can jump on a bar stool despite his small stature. When I think about this little life being cut short in a few short days, it makes me a little sad, of course, but it should also empower and renew us all in the importance of stepping up every day and trying to make a difference to someone or something somewhere.

For as the rescue community notes, and I think Patches would agree: Saving the life of one animal may not change the world, but the world will surely change for that one animal.

And furthermore, I think it's an oversight to not say that we ourselves will also be changed. As Patches sleeps next to me, I feel a wave of hope come over me with his steady breathing and cute little ears flopping over his face.

He doesn't have a permanent home yet, but he will.
Animals still die every day in shelters, but with our help it will stop.
People still buy from breeders and pet stores (puppy mill storefronts), but education can change that.

Sitting next to him I feel so hopeful for the future of animal rescue.

Things are changing; forward movements are happening. People are stepping up and fewer animals are dying. One dog at a time we'll change the trends, we'll change the death count, and we'll change the world.

But for today, it was Patches world that changed.



Annabelle's Beautiful New Beginning

A small white and black rat terrier looked up at us from an email – in her photo she looked homely against the pale white walls of her cage at Farmington Animal Shelter. She sat on a dingy white blanket.

The email was a “last chance” call for the dogs listed. That dog in the photo needed us to foster – we were her last chance, so we told the transport to tag her for rescue.

She arrived on a large horse trailer on a Friday night, and was skinny and smelly, but so sweet and gentle.

As soon as we got her home, we fed her and she gulped down her food – she literally didn’t chew a single morsel, just swallowed it whole. After that, the first order of business was a bath, which she did well in – making cute noises with the warm water on her back.

About halfway through the first evening with this little pup, I noticed that despite her bath, she still smelled a little strange. I checked her ears, nothing. I checked her coat, nothing. Then I checked her teeth and almost dropped her from my reaction to what I saw.

Her teeth were covered in the worst gingivitis I’d ever seen. I googled pictures of gingivitis and still couldn’t find anything worst. The poor thing wouldn’t let me near her mouth … it then hit me that she wasn’t swallowing her food just because she was starving, she swallowed it so she wouldn’t have to chew.

Long story short, we found a vet that would do the dental for a discounted rate, and Colorado Canine Rescue didn’t miss a beat in saying they would cover her dental surgery.

After the surgery, we picked up the little sweetheart that we had named Annabelle, and were told that our little 8-pound cute foster pup had only five teeth left. Every other tooth had to be extracted due to the damage.

 

Over the next couple days she recovered quickly.

About a week after the surgery we were sitting on the couch with the pups and Annabelle picked up a soft toy. It took us a moment to realize what she had done, and then another moment to grasp it. She picked up a toy. With her mouth, she picked up a toy.

A minute later we played our first game of fetch. It was on.

 

Annabelle quickly became the dog she was meant to be.

 

She finally didn’t feel awful – she probably hadn’t known what it was like to feel good. She became spunky, playful, and silly. She’d throw her own toy if you didn’t do it for her, and would curl up under the covers every night and snuggle into you sweetly. She gave kisses.

About a month passed and Annabelle had long stolen our hearts, but as foster parents we knew by getting her adopted into a great home, we’d be able to save more animals. A good friend of mine who is in flyball competitions invited me to a tournament and suggested I bring Annabelle.

Fast forward a couple days and we brought Annabelle to flyball. We pulled up to the tournament and noticed a woman walking her rat terrier outside the complex, and walked in while humorously noting that they were twins.

Inside there were hundreds of dogs. We found our friend and she introduced us to a woman standing next to her, noting that Annabelle was up for adoption. The woman immediately led us to someone she said we had to meet.

We found ourselves in front of the woman we had seen outside with the other rat terrier. She had lost her German Shepard to old age and said she had been waiting for the right dog to adopt to fall in her lap, because it had always happened that way. And there we were.

The adoption was complete that afternoon and we left Annabelle with her new family: a brother rat terrier, sister Siberian Husky and her new mom.

Looking back at each dog we foster is such a gift. We had Annabelle (now Leilah) for about a month and that little dog taught us so much about perseverance.

Our little Annabelle has a lesson for all of us that rough starts – even rough “middles” – can still give way to beautiful second beginnings. And what a beautiful beginning it is.

The Missing Piece of Saving Lives

You may know when you walk into an animal shelter that the dogs you're looking at don't always have much time left, but you may not know just how it works.

Let me start by noting that between 3 and 4 million dogs and cats die in shelters every year in the United States, which makes up 60% of dogs and 70% of cats in shelters.

People working in animal rescue have incredible hearts and do everything they can to save as many animals as they can, but they can't do it alone.

Every time a person buys an animal from a breeder, we take a step back.

Every time a family decides that moving, their new baby, their hours at work or the fact that they've become bored at being a pet owner are good reasons to drop their one-time best friend off at the pound, we take a step back.

Every time someone decides not to spay or neuter their animal, we take a step back.

Every time someone decides they can't find the pet they want in a shelter (25% of shelter animals are purebred, according to the ASPCA), we take a step back.

Behind the scenes of our nation’s shelter system are the aforementioned countless volunteers and rescues working to undo the harm done by all of those steps back in our society. These people take on the monetary strain and energy drain of trying to save as many animals as possible.

They rehabilitate abused and broken dogs and they nurse puppies back to health.

They foster dogs that run out of time in overcrowded shelters, or that are too old or sick to be in a cage and experience the stress of a shelter.  

They work tirelessly to transport dogs from shelters where they would be killed for space to shelters or rescues that can spare them more time.

And they lose sleep at night trying to figure out what they can do to save more dogs...

 
So what's the missing piece?
I'd argue that it is "you."

You don't have to rehabilitate dogs or nurse puppies back to health. You don't have to foster or transport dogs. All you need to do is care.

I'd also argue that if you care, you could do three small things that would make a huge difference.

1. Adopt.

I really see no excuse for anything but rescuing an animal, if you feel you have a really valid reason that you really needed to buy your dog from a breeder or a pet store (aka. puppy mill storefront) please feel free to send it my way. However, please check out www.petfinder.com before you decide there is some designer-dog that you cannot find for adoption – and that you can justify the death of other animals – for you to have.

2. Spay and neuter.

This is the most simple of all. It is not cute when your animal has a litter; it is a death sentence to a half-dozen puppies already in the shelter system. Please spay and neuter your pets.

3. Treat your pet as your family member.

Pets are for life. You don't drop your kids off at the local homeless shelter when they get sick, old, annoying, or when things in your life change, so don't do it to your animals. While you might have a fairy tale in your head that they will be better off without you, please know that the reality is that they get depressed, they miss you, and they could very well be one of the 6/10 who don't make it out alive. Puppies, purebreds, and good/sweet/adorable/cute dogs die in shelters every day, so don’t believe that yours would be any different.

Nothing will be different unless we all step up a little and chose to make a difference.
And it is as simple as that – you do have the power to save lives.