That's me giving the puppies a little love!
As a young child, I remember visiting the local humane society and petting the dogs. I’m not sure why we were there, and I don’t remember my family adopting a dog, but I thought it was the best place on earth. There were dogs everywhere! I was too young to realize that these dogs all desperately needed homes, and that it wasn’t really the best place for a dog to be.
Fast forward 40 years, and it seems that the problem has grown exponentially. There are more shelters, more rescue groups . . . more dogs.
I remember volunteering several years ago at my local shelter. They had just completed a new wing and for some reason, the addition of all the space made me sad. I knew that it would soon be overflowing with dogs. Unfortunately, in rescue, if you build it, they will come.
Instead of focusing on puppy mills and the fact that many people think that animals are disposable, I’d like to focus on something positive.
“Everything you are AGAINST weakens you. Everything you are FOR empowers you.” -Wayne Dyer
What can we do to positively affect the pet overpopulation problem? How can we focus on the good and be FOR positive change?
Let’s start by making adopting cool. The Shelter Pet Project has done a fantastic job with their ”A person is the best thing to happen to a shelter pet” campaign. Their goal is to make shelters the first choice and desired way for acquiring a companion animal, ultimately increasing the rate of animals adopted from shelters. I love it!
How can you help? You can adopt a shelter pet, you can blog about how much joy your shelter pet has brought to your life, and you can help educate everyone you come in contact with about the benefits of adopting. You can foster a dog, you can volunteer at a shelter, you can donate supplies (& money!) – the options are endless!
YOU can make a difference – YOU can be that person.
So spread the word. All the cool kids are adopting from a shelter. 
Let's be social!
