Shelter animals are close to our hearts here at JFF, so we are happy to support the 2009 Iams Home 4 the Holidays. We're a little short of time for posting so we were going to rerun last year's post with an update or two, but when we checked it, we realized 2009 brought great change at JFF and the old post no longer applies. So we'll have to start from scratch.
There are so many animals in shelters awaiting adoption .... or euthanasia. And with the poor 2009 economy, some shelters have been swamped with owner turn-ins. This means more healthy, happy, adoptable animals are needlessly dying daily. We advocate for shelter adoptions but we also advise caution. Give it some thought. Are you ready for the responsibility of a pet? Can you afford to feed, shelter and vet one? Is this just a whim and you'll tire of the animal after the holiday excitement has dimmed, or perhaps you'll tire of it when the cute puppy or kitten reaches maturity? If so, don't adopt! You won't be doing the animal any favor. It will likely end up either abused, abandoned or back at the shelter.
We know of one adorable small dog that was adopted from a rescue. The family called the rescue afterward to say they they loved the little dog and it was sleeping on the daughter's bed at night. So the rescue was surprised when Jan contacted the rescue's owner one day to ask about this particular dog's history. How did Jan get involved? Well, when school started, no one had time for the adorable dog any more and he was relegated to the yard or crated for long periods. Eventually, someone Jan knows offered to take the dog in for a short period, until the family got less "busy." The person who took him in temporarily fell in love with him and was relieved when the owner relinquished him to her. Now he has a good home.
Please, adopt a pet from your local shelter or rescue, but only if you are truly committing to the physical, financial and emotional responsibility involved!
We found a personal video (as opposed to a professional video) on the 2009 campaign. We enjoyed watching it and hope you will too.
If the video doesn't play, click here.
You can find more information on IH4tH here. And you can follow 9Iams Home 4 the Holidays) on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IH4TH.
And we promised JC we would let you know of Beau Beau and Noni Noni, 2 cats that have been at the Petsmart in Renton, WA for over 4 months. They need a home for the holidays, too!
Paws khrossed fur another sukhcessful Iams Home 4 The Holidays!
ReplyDeleteSo many of those pups in the video khould have been in The Xterra!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
We haz re-posted the linky in our bloggie, and used mom's Twitter account to tweet it, shared on her FaceBook account, and posted on da Cat Blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteHope dat draws sum more needed attenshun to this impawtent sichyashun.
Oh we wish we could have two more cats to take them both in--the Woman has an itch to run down there right now (but it might mean loosing the Male--all good as far as I can see!)
ReplyDeleteI cried watching the video. I have thought this season how I would love to give a pet a new home for the holidays. I remind myself though that I'm struggling as it is and I might not be able to care for it for it's full natural life. Not fare to them. Thank you for the wonderful, well written post.
ReplyDeleteOver a million pets adopted last year. Wahoo!!! Great rules for getting a pet. Mom has adopted two woofies at the animal shelter, Amber was one of them, the rest of us gravitated to her and she took us in. At least some of us didn't do time in a shelter.
ReplyDeleteCasper
What a wonderful video! Mom cried a little (well, more than a little) watching it. GREAT rules, by the way - adopting an animal doesn't stop at picking one up at the shelter! It's a life commitment...
ReplyDeleteWe're going to go purr by our mother so she feels better - if she can figure it out, Mom's going to link to your blog so we can help get the word out!
Nico, Austin & JayJay :)
I wish all the dogs and kitties around the world could have lovely homes like we have!
ReplyDeleteKisses and hugs
Lorenza
Jan .. thank you !!!
ReplyDeleteThat video made me cry.
Now to get those two boys adopted ...
That was a very wonderful post, and very dear to my heart too!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your support! I work at Iams and this event means a great deal to us. You might also want to cast your vote to FEED PETS IN NEED. Each month, the Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter with the most votes wins a month's worth of pet food. Details here: http://www.iams.com/iams/feed-pets.jsp
ReplyDeletePeace on Earth, Good Homes for Pets!
There are so many who need homes it makes us cry.
ReplyDeleteIn the purrrfect world the mom would have enough money she would open her own place for the little ones needing a home, it wouldn't be called a shelter, as she would want to keep them all for herself.
ReplyDeleteI hope this is another successful year for the Iams Home 4 The Holidays and many find a forever home that need one.
We wish we could have more than 3 kitttys here, but 3 is the rule.
ReplyDeleteSadly we thinks Sassy & Toby still need a home. So many animals who need homes and so few humans willing to give them one. ~S,S & F
ReplyDelete