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August 22, 2005
Animal House
I've written before about my soft spot for animals. Far more than three-fourths of my charitable contributions every year go to animal welfare organizations. I can watch stories of mass human suffering without flinching, but give me one dog or cat with a hurt paw and I'm "awwww"ing louder than anyone. This past weekend, I decided to put my spare time where my money is. One of the largest no-kill shelters in New York is within 20 minutes of my place, so I went over to the Elmsford Animal Shelter and volunteered for a few hours.
First of all, after having been there and seen cages upon cages of beautiful animals waiting for a home, I have to implore you, a la Bob Barker: Spay or neuter your pets. Please. If you've ever thought that it was cruel to deprive ol' Rex of his family jewels, I suggest you visit a shelter and see row upon row of abandoned animals cooped up in cages -- the biggest cages the shelter has room for, but still caged nonetheless -- mewing, howling, and crying any time someone walks by. Walk by, and realize that fewer than 35% of shelter animals are ever adopted into new homes. Realize that most of those animals will live out their days sitting in a cage and waiting for someone to love them... someone who will never come. And then tell me that a few days' recovery from some missing parts is cruel.
Okay, soapbox over. As I am a guy (the last time I checked), they seemed to automatically assume that I was a dog person, and walked me past the cats to the area where they pen all the big dogs. I guess they thought, "okay, big guy here, so we'll give him all the bigger dogs that smaller volunteers have trouble controlling." And so it was that I spent three hours of a Sunday afternoon getting dragged all up and down the nearby bike trails in 95 degree heat by 45 pound dogs. It was so hot that very few of the dogs could be out for more than about 15 minutes at a time, so I ended up taking about 10-12 dogs for walks during my time there. All of them were big, strong brutes, and all of them seemed ridiculously, gloriously happy to be outside.
If you click on the "click here to see our pets" link on the shelter site, I walked Cherries, White Chocolate, Wilma, Josie, Savannah, Quincy, Sylvester Stallone, Sissy, and a couple of other ones who don't seem to have pictures up. And yes, I am on a first name basis with all of them now. They were all beautiful, friendly, happy dogs who gave me no trouble at all and were all okay with being walked by a stranger.
If you happen to live in the New York area, and are looking for a pet, there are literally hundreds of dogs, cats, ferrets, and other animals at the Elmsford shelter, just waiting for you. I'd consider it a personal favor if, should any of you be looking to adopt, you went to Elmsford to find your new pet. And for those of you not in the NY area, if you're looking for a pet... please go to your local animal shelter instead of some puppy or kitty farm or breeder. These animals need people; they've had rough lives or a tough break and deserve better.
Remember, please spay or neuter your pets. And even if you're not adopting a pet, consider spending some time at your local shelter and giving the animals there a little comfort, in whatever way you can. Thanks.
Comments
Our beautiful boy was a shelter adoption. He was 10 months old at the time and had been in the shelter for about a month. I'd also recommend talking to the shelter employees and volunteers. The ones I spoke with that day knew all about his disposition and answered all my questions. I'd get another shelter pet in a heartbeat.
Posted by: eden at August 23, 2005 12:07 PM
Two dogs and a ferret all from the shelters. It's quite the fun little food chain here, but I love them all...
Posted by: Corey at August 24, 2005 12:32 AM
Funny thing. I am in the 'market' for a dog. But before I commit to actually adopting one I thought I'd post an ad on Craigslist to see if I could babysit someone else's pup for a week or so as a kind of 'puppy trial period.'
So I posted an ad saying essentially: I am a responsible guy who lives near a beautiful dog run (Thompkins Sq. Park) and I'm willing to watch your dog for free (for the above noted reason.)
Not a single reply.
I'm guessing that everyone who read my post must have had their typical NYer guard up. What does he mean free? There must be a catch! But no, there is not.
Alas, I'm going to give it another try -- my friends have all advised me to charge some nominal amount like $10/day so that people think I'm in it for the *money* and therefore trust me.
Not that that makes any sense.
Posted by: Ethan McCarty at August 24, 2005 03:52 PM
