“Rescue me, protect me in your arms.”

I’m a huge advocate for animals and animal rights. I am against animal testing, animal fighting (like dog fights) and any animal abuse at all, even in the form of “negative reinforcement” training, and it breaks my heart to see animals in shelters. Especially high risk breeds like “pit-bulls” (which is just a general umbrella term for American or Staffordshire terriers) and black cats, which are rarely adopted because of ridiculous superstition. There is no need for the massive amounts of animals in shelters, if you get your dog/cat fixed and don’t allow them to get out, and if people were more responsible in doing their research, and knowing whether or not they can handle a pet BEFORE they adopted/bought it, there would be no excess of unwanted or lost pets. I myself have a beautiful black cat and she was a rescue, and me and Jay have an amazing puppy who’s a mix and was also a rescue dog. I think there is no better feeling than saving a life and, if you adopt from a no-kill shelter, also knowing that you made room for another dog to be moved there so maybe they have a chance at finding a home.

So when my friend Becky posted about this shelter, Karma Rescue, I felt the need to make a post of my own, and spread the word. In Becky’s words, Karma Rescue is:

…a non profit that “saves at-risk dogs from the high kill Los Angeles area shelters. Karma provides each dog a new beginning and finds them safe and suitable permanent homes through adoption, advocacy and education.”

If you live in CA and you’re interested in any of these dogs (and cats!) available at Karma Rescue, then you can look at their site on PetFinder. If you’d prefer to see these pretties in person, you can visit them at their Saturday adoptions.

Otherwise, if you’re in the New York area and are interested in adopting, I’m a big supporter of North Shore Animal League and Bideawee. Both are no-kill shelters that have excellent reputations and standards of care. If you’d really like to literally save a life, however, try a city or town shelter. They’re usually not no-kill due to the limited space. I rescued my cat, Arwyn, from a town shelter and while they aren’t as clean or as large as North Shore, or as well-known as Bideawee, you’re really saving a life of a pet who may not otherwise have a shot. North Shore has been around since 1944 and is the state of NY’s largest no-kill animal shelter. Bideawee

If you’re neither in CA or NY, then use PetFinder to find available pets in your area. Also, there’s this site, called Save Our Strays. Its a list of all the no-kill shelters in the U.S. I encourage you to do your research before adopting a pet. It can be tough, and time consuming, particularly with babies (kittens and puppies). The rewards are great if you can manage it, but some people aren’t cut out for it. If you think you want to get a pet, please look into it first. Google it and read up on training, housebreaking, what supplies you’ll need, veterinary care, etc before you enter a shelter. That way, you’ll know what you’re looking for and won’t have to take the poor thing back to the shelter because of your ignorance and lack of preparation.

But please avoid buying from pet stores. Those dogs are supplied by puppy mills, which are horrible and disgusting. If people stopped buying them, the mills would close. You don’t need a chihuahua that looks just like Paris Hilton’s, or a perfect pomeranian replica of Nicole Richie’s. You will get more love and more satisfaction out of rescuing a dog, and many are indeed purebreds at some places. So don’t shop, adopt!

More links:

No Kill NOW! – dedicated to the national no-kill shelter movement to end the slaughter of millions of adoptable dogs and cats in animal control facilities

Animal Ark

No Kill Network

United Against Puppy Mills

Prisoners of Greed

ASPCA

Humane Society of the United States

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 11:36 pm and is filed under Misc., Pets, Social conscience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Tags: Save a life- adopt a pet!