I am constantly being told that this blog is like a cult and that somehow I possess a Rajneesh-like control over all of you. Looking around at the one-room apartment I live in and the free furniture that decorates it, I can only wonder why I am the only cult leader in history living in so Spartan a style. Geez, not one measly little Rolls-Royce to be found. However, since I'm constantly being accused of being able to make my readers do all sorts of crazy things, I have decided to see if I can make any of you do a really awesome, good thing!
So here goes:
I am declaring Monday, February 2, 2009 to be National Adopt An Animal Already In Rescue Day. All of you who are thinking of adding another animal - whether it be horse, cat, dog, guinea pig, I don't care - to your household are hereby asked to go out and adopt an animal that is already with a rescue or at a no-kill shelter. It can't be an animal that is at a kill shelter or an animal from the auction or a CBER "OMG THE TRUCK IS COMING!" horse. No, if you are ready to adopt, I want you to adopt an animal that has been cooling its heels at a rescue for a while now, waiting patiently for a home and being overlooked because it is not in immediate jeopardy.
I always hear complaints that nobody wants to help an animal if there is no euthanasia/slaughter threat pending, and you know what? That's a valid complaint. There are way too many people who only step up to help or adopt when they can say they "saved a life." Well, for heaven's sake, you save a life every time you adopt, because you clear up space for the next one.
So, I'm giving you two weekends to look at animals and you can report back February 2nd if you adopted one. I'd like to know what you got and how long it sat in foster care or at the rescue before you got it. If you can't adopt, consider fostering an animal that is at a rescue and allowing it to escape the overcrowding and get some one-on-one love. Many rescues WILL pay you for the animal's expenses - ask around!
Want to make a rescuer's day? Go ask them which animal has been there the longest. I once adopted out a plain, shy black cat that we'd had in foster care for four years. I tell you, I nearly kissed that woman's feet. I was so happy for that cat and it has been such a great, great home.
So if you are ready to add another animal to your household, it's time to go shopping!
Along those lines, here's a horse I'd like to mention. Whiskey has been at SAFE for quite a while now after having to be re-rescued from an earlier placement from, yeah, you know, our favorite feedlot rescue. Poor mare wound up back in line for slaughter! Her papers didn't make it through the feedlot with her, but she's obviously a QH mare. She is better-than-green-broke and ready to specialize, and I am pretty sure what she wants to specialize in is cows. So if you're out our way and looking for a team sorting/penning, roping, or similar prospect, you should check Whiskey out. She is also very good on trails and has been ridden with traffic, over bridges, etc. She isn't a cuddly horse - she's a workhorse who needs a job. Whiskey is around 12 years old. If that's your kind of horse, come and see her! (Western WA to Portland, OR area only, please - due to site check constraints, SAFE only adopts to these areas)
