While researching our book about animal rescue, RESCUED: Saving Animals from Disaster, we gave a lot of thought to animal shelters. In the past we have volunteered at local shelters and had mixed emotions about what went on in them.
Now, after discovering so many possibilities for what primo shelters can do for a community, we are still wondering what is best for the animals. On what programs and facilities are charitable donation dollars best spent?
In a world that hopefully is moving toward more enlightenment and viewing animals as spiritual beings, how do our animal shelters reflect changing attitudes and deeper understandings?
If you took an informal survey around your place of work, you would find that most people have never been to an animal shelter. They know shelters exist and that if a person wanted to adopt a mutt, an animal shelter would be a good place to start looking for one.
But there's all those sad eyes peering out of cages, pleading for a stroke of kindness, hoping to be liberated. And how do people feel coming into a place, not finding a pet they want to take home, and leaving? Do they feel guilty, thinking that the ones they didn't choose might die? It's just too off-putting.
Fifty years ago, dogcatchers ruled the animals in cities, striking terror in the hearts of pet guardians and animals who roamed much more freely than they do today. If a dogcatcher saw an animal on the streets, he would swoop up the hapless creature, throw him into the caged rear of a truck that looked like a paddy wagon, and take him off to the pound.
If the animal's guardian didn't realize that Fido or Felix hadn't come home that night, he would call the pound to inquire. If no one claimed an animal within twenty-four hours, the animal would be gassed. It was called "catch and kill."
In the bad old days, in the '70s and '80s, Jan Herzog and her friend, both animal lovers in their early 20s, decided to start a humane society in their small rural Texas town. They got a contract with the city to do animal control.
Jan told us, "It's a stressful thing to take a case to court. You testify and have your word questioned. The other side tries to make like you don't have the facts and aren't telling the truth. If you lose, an animal's life is at stake.
"We got a report of a farmer who was letting his cattle starve. The farm was twenty miles from town. My friend and I drove out there to check on the situation. I had my baby daughter with me.
"The owner of the cattle and his friend saw us and figured out what we were probably doing," Jan recalls. "They got in their vehicles. One was in an 18-wheeler truck and the other was in a semi-truck. They ran us off the road. I thought they would smash and kill us. We were terrified. They intended to intimidate us because we went out to look at their skinny cows.
"For my own emotional and mental health, I had to get out of the shelter business. I even left that town and with my husband, moved away to start a new life doing something else."
Thanks to sworn police officers, known as "the animal cops," city and small town shelter personnel have fewer of those kinds of experiences today. The bad old days are not behind us, but they are getting better, even in the less affluent areas.
Niki Dawson is the shelter manager for the Liberty Humane Society in Jersey City in an inner city area. She has a program in her shelter called "Pet it, don't sweat it" that does free neutering for dogs and low-cost spay/neuter for cats.
The shelter works with human food banks and social service agencies to get pet supplies to people who need them and to counsel those who have problems with their pets. Niki says, "We don't only help animals. We help people with animals."
In addition to all Niki does locally, she spent over two weeks volunteering in New Orleans and bringing back Katrina dogs for fostering and adoption. She also did Internet work to help with reunions. Hers is a shelter that operates on a limited budget and does the best it can to serve the community while striving to change citizens' attitudes toward animals as being disposable.
The animal shelters of the future and the more progressive (and well-funded) ones today enhance quality of life of in their communities as well as rescue and re-home animals. They are educational hubs offering classes that teach people about animal behavior, show children compassionate animal care, and help bereaved owners through pet loss.
Thriving animal shelters provide positive exposure to animals. Their trained volunteers take animals to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and schools. Their staff and selected volunteers are extensively trained to assist in evacuating animals safely after disasters.
These shelters work together with animal control to offer cruelty investigation services and intake. They use innovative programs to reduce animal overpopulation for domestic and feral animals.
What are the shelters in your town doing to improve quality of life for animals and people?
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Friday, October 9, 2009
When have you seen one animal choosing to help another?
Animals Helping Animals
We were walking with Leaf next to the Mississippi River and Allen threw the ball for him to chase. It went into the water a little too deep. Leaf watched as a large fish jumped out of the water near where his ball had landed.
Being a rescued dog Leaf had to learn how to take care of himself. He was not about to swim into the river where there may be creatures underneath trying to nibble at his feet or worse. So he stared at the ball and barked.
Then he moved toward the ball. He backed away. He barked some more. Because he knew how to swim and had often gone after his precious ball, he seemed frustrated at not being able to retrieve it this time.
As we watched, Allen was about to take his shoes off and wade out to get Leaf's ball. Just then a family walked by with its dog who also had short legs. Their dog looked at the situation, jumped into the water, swam, got the ball, brought it back to shore, and dropped it at Leaf's paws.
A happy Leaf grabbed his favorite ball and wagged his tail with gusto. We thanked the dog whose name was Lizzy.
It was nice to experience this. One dog made a choice to help another dog. And Allen was grateful that Leaf's hero had kept him from having to get his feet wet.
There is a wonderful book by Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M.S., KINDRED SPIRITS (Broadway Books, 2001). Dr. Schoen wrote about how his dog Megan took care of an injured one-week old goat by licking the animal and lying by her side, breathing against the goat's chest.
Dr. Schoen had to hurry away to save the life of a wounded kitten and wondered if it would be all right to leave the goat in Megan's care. Megan looked into the vet's eyes and seemed to assure him that she'd take care of the kid while he was gone.
He writes, "Megan had intuited and understood my role in life and now she had adopted that responsibility for herself. She was becoming a healer -- just as much as I was. Although I had been very close to many animals before, this connection moved beyond any I had ever made. In a moment's time, my sense of the human-animal bond had changed forever."
Over the years we have received thousands of stories from around the world about all kinds of animals helping, healing, and working with other animals in ways that sometimes are amazing. And we have many personal experiences with our beloved pets assisting each other over the years.
When have you seen one animal choosing to help another?
We welcome you to answer this question and the "Something to Think About" question at our blogs and forums, so everyone can see your comments.
***
DON'T MISS!!!
The launch for our new book, HORSES WITH A MISSION is on Saturday, October 10th, 2:00 p.m. at Borders Books & Music in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Hope to see you there!
Go to www.horseswithamission.com to read excerpts of the book, see video clips of stories, and join in the fun of launching this exciting new book.
Allen and Linda Anderson
Angel Animals Network
www.angelanimals.net
We were walking with Leaf next to the Mississippi River and Allen threw the ball for him to chase. It went into the water a little too deep. Leaf watched as a large fish jumped out of the water near where his ball had landed.
Being a rescued dog Leaf had to learn how to take care of himself. He was not about to swim into the river where there may be creatures underneath trying to nibble at his feet or worse. So he stared at the ball and barked.
Then he moved toward the ball. He backed away. He barked some more. Because he knew how to swim and had often gone after his precious ball, he seemed frustrated at not being able to retrieve it this time.
As we watched, Allen was about to take his shoes off and wade out to get Leaf's ball. Just then a family walked by with its dog who also had short legs. Their dog looked at the situation, jumped into the water, swam, got the ball, brought it back to shore, and dropped it at Leaf's paws.
A happy Leaf grabbed his favorite ball and wagged his tail with gusto. We thanked the dog whose name was Lizzy.
It was nice to experience this. One dog made a choice to help another dog. And Allen was grateful that Leaf's hero had kept him from having to get his feet wet.
There is a wonderful book by Allen M. Schoen, D.V.M., M.S., KINDRED SPIRITS (Broadway Books, 2001). Dr. Schoen wrote about how his dog Megan took care of an injured one-week old goat by licking the animal and lying by her side, breathing against the goat's chest.
Dr. Schoen had to hurry away to save the life of a wounded kitten and wondered if it would be all right to leave the goat in Megan's care. Megan looked into the vet's eyes and seemed to assure him that she'd take care of the kid while he was gone.
He writes, "Megan had intuited and understood my role in life and now she had adopted that responsibility for herself. She was becoming a healer -- just as much as I was. Although I had been very close to many animals before, this connection moved beyond any I had ever made. In a moment's time, my sense of the human-animal bond had changed forever."
Over the years we have received thousands of stories from around the world about all kinds of animals helping, healing, and working with other animals in ways that sometimes are amazing. And we have many personal experiences with our beloved pets assisting each other over the years.
When have you seen one animal choosing to help another?
We welcome you to answer this question and the "Something to Think About" question at our blogs and forums, so everyone can see your comments.
***
DON'T MISS!!!
The launch for our new book, HORSES WITH A MISSION is on Saturday, October 10th, 2:00 p.m. at Borders Books & Music in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Hope to see you there!
Go to www.horseswithamission.com to read excerpts of the book, see video clips of stories, and join in the fun of launching this exciting new book.
Allen and Linda Anderson
Angel Animals Network
www.angelanimals.net
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Feast of Saint Francis
Sunday, October 4th, is the celebration of the Feast of Saint Francis, patron saint of animals and ecology. Around the world churches hold a special ceremony called The Blessing of the Animals on or near this day as a way of remembering Saint Francis's love for all creatures.
To find out where this blessing is being held in your state, if you are in the US, go to www.americancatholic.org/Features/francis/us.asp
The actual blessing below is a lovely celebration of the sacredness in life.
"Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen."
About ten years ago we went to a local cathedral for the Blessing of the Animals. We wanted to experience it for ourselves. We've reprinted an excerpt of how we described the event in our book, ANGEL ANIMALS: Divine Messengers of Miracles.
"Hundreds of dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, iguanas, and ferrets waited inside boxes, sat next to their cherished people, or were draped over human shoulders as the sermons, songs, and barking resonated throughout the massive cathedral.
"To close the church service, a zebra, a falcon, and a camel led the procession down the middle aisle to the front where a minister intoned the liturgy for the Blessing of the Animals.
"After singing hymns and reading the liturgy in the cathedral, all the people and animals walked across the street to Loring Park, where we followed white-robed priests and joined two other churches that had had similar services.
"We walked with our yellow Lab Taylor close behind the priests with hundreds of animals and humans behind us. Smiles on the priests' faces conveyed their obvious joy and the love they felt at giving a service to the animals in this way. When we arrived in the park, a musical group from Ecuador played wind instruments accompanied by an occasional howling dog.
"The ministers and priests each dispersed to tents with people and animals lining up to receive their blessings. As the priest blessed the dog in front, Taylor scooted out of her collar and ran to where Allen stood, preparing to take her picture.
"He explained to her that the blessing is a special event to honor her and that she might enjoy it. She settled down and returned to where Linda stood in line.
"When it was her turn, Taylor stepped up to the priest, who looked amused. He leaned over and gently touched Taylor's forehead while offering a blessing that brought tears to Linda's eyes.
"He said, 'May the God who made you bless and keep you.' Taylor solemnly accepted the gift with her eyes wide open and her tongue hanging out.
"As Linda and Taylor left the line, a woman with a thick European accent said, 'She will always be with you now.' And so she will. Our love for each other is the forever kind."
Have you participated in the Blessing of the Animals? What was it like for you and your animal companion?
We welcome you to answer this question and the "Something to Think About" question at our blogs and forums, so everyone can see your comments.
***
HORSES WITH A MISSION was a top 100 bestseller horse book on Amazon.com this week!
LAST DAYS FOR SALE AT ONLINE BOOKSTORE Go to shop.angelanimals.net for a great sale. Both HORSES WITH A MISSION and ANGEL DOGS WITH A MISSION are being offered for 40 percent off this week. The sale ends at midnight Central Time zone, Monday, October 5th. The books will be autographed for you. It's a great chance to buy gifts for you and your animal loving friends.
DON'T MISS!!!
The launches for our new book, HORSES WITH A MISSION are on Tuesday, October 6th, 7:30 pm, CDT, at Garrison Keillor's Common Good Books in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Saturday, October 10th, 2:00 p.m. at Borders Books & Music in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Hope to see you there!
Go to www.horseswithamission.com to read excerpts of the book, see video clips of stories, and join in the fun of launching this exciting new book.
***
Watch and listen to Linda and Allen this week as they talk about HORSES WITH A MISSION and the book launches.
***Animal Wise Radio, Sunday, October 4, 1:20 p.m. Central Time. To listen live in Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, tune to KYCR (AM 1570) or KDWA (AM 1460. Listen streaming or later at www.KDWA.com. Podcast available at www.allpetsradio.com and www.animalwiseradio.com
***KARE 11 (NBC), Showcase Minnesota, Monday, October 5, 10:20 a.m. Central Time. If you miss the show live, you can see it online at www.showcaseminnesota.com/
Allen and Linda Anderson
Angel Animals Network
www.angelanimals.net
www.horseswithamission.com
To find out where this blessing is being held in your state, if you are in the US, go to www.americancatholic.org/Features/francis/us.asp
The actual blessing below is a lovely celebration of the sacredness in life.
"Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen."
About ten years ago we went to a local cathedral for the Blessing of the Animals. We wanted to experience it for ourselves. We've reprinted an excerpt of how we described the event in our book, ANGEL ANIMALS: Divine Messengers of Miracles.
"Hundreds of dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, iguanas, and ferrets waited inside boxes, sat next to their cherished people, or were draped over human shoulders as the sermons, songs, and barking resonated throughout the massive cathedral.
"To close the church service, a zebra, a falcon, and a camel led the procession down the middle aisle to the front where a minister intoned the liturgy for the Blessing of the Animals.
"After singing hymns and reading the liturgy in the cathedral, all the people and animals walked across the street to Loring Park, where we followed white-robed priests and joined two other churches that had had similar services.
"We walked with our yellow Lab Taylor close behind the priests with hundreds of animals and humans behind us. Smiles on the priests' faces conveyed their obvious joy and the love they felt at giving a service to the animals in this way. When we arrived in the park, a musical group from Ecuador played wind instruments accompanied by an occasional howling dog.
"The ministers and priests each dispersed to tents with people and animals lining up to receive their blessings. As the priest blessed the dog in front, Taylor scooted out of her collar and ran to where Allen stood, preparing to take her picture.
"He explained to her that the blessing is a special event to honor her and that she might enjoy it. She settled down and returned to where Linda stood in line.
"When it was her turn, Taylor stepped up to the priest, who looked amused. He leaned over and gently touched Taylor's forehead while offering a blessing that brought tears to Linda's eyes.
"He said, 'May the God who made you bless and keep you.' Taylor solemnly accepted the gift with her eyes wide open and her tongue hanging out.
"As Linda and Taylor left the line, a woman with a thick European accent said, 'She will always be with you now.' And so she will. Our love for each other is the forever kind."
Have you participated in the Blessing of the Animals? What was it like for you and your animal companion?
We welcome you to answer this question and the "Something to Think About" question at our blogs and forums, so everyone can see your comments.
***
HORSES WITH A MISSION was a top 100 bestseller horse book on Amazon.com this week!
LAST DAYS FOR SALE AT ONLINE BOOKSTORE Go to shop.angelanimals.net for a great sale. Both HORSES WITH A MISSION and ANGEL DOGS WITH A MISSION are being offered for 40 percent off this week. The sale ends at midnight Central Time zone, Monday, October 5th. The books will be autographed for you. It's a great chance to buy gifts for you and your animal loving friends.
DON'T MISS!!!
The launches for our new book, HORSES WITH A MISSION are on Tuesday, October 6th, 7:30 pm, CDT, at Garrison Keillor's Common Good Books in Saint Paul, Minnesota and Saturday, October 10th, 2:00 p.m. at Borders Books & Music in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Hope to see you there!
Go to www.horseswithamission.com to read excerpts of the book, see video clips of stories, and join in the fun of launching this exciting new book.
***
Watch and listen to Linda and Allen this week as they talk about HORSES WITH A MISSION and the book launches.
***Animal Wise Radio, Sunday, October 4, 1:20 p.m. Central Time. To listen live in Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, tune to KYCR (AM 1570) or KDWA (AM 1460. Listen streaming or later at www.KDWA.com. Podcast available at www.allpetsradio.com and www.animalwiseradio.com
***KARE 11 (NBC), Showcase Minnesota, Monday, October 5, 10:20 a.m. Central Time. If you miss the show live, you can see it online at www.showcaseminnesota.com/
Allen and Linda Anderson
Angel Animals Network
www.angelanimals.net
www.horseswithamission.com
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