I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving... now comes the rest of the holiday season... Time for a few tips! If you are planning to get a pet as a gift for someone, please make certain they are as committed to accepting that gift and caring for it as you are giving it. Its not returnable, its a commitment of several years. Depending on the age of the pet at adoption, up to 20. If its young, is your recipient willing and able to care for the pet, train it, socialize it, and make it a part of the family? If all parties in the house are going to be committed, GO FOR IT! Otherwise, step back and make sure its a family decision to commit for the life of the animal. Next up... Holiday pet safety... if you missed my earlier post and want me to repost the dos and donts of décor and dangers to your pets, I will! A reminder that the fleas are still out in force, keep your pets protected. Its a lot of money to spend on treatment but its better than a few hundred dollar vet bill when things get out of hand. Now, I keep hearing people say its not the breeding season as an excuse to let their un-altered pets roam free. Its ALWAYS the breeding season! If your girl goes into heat, some dude will find her and then we have to have a baby shower. If they are not fixed, either do so or keep them indoors and be vigilant not to allow your dog or cat near any unaltered animals. And they are indiscriminate - brothers and sisters, moms and offspring, they dont care... As you can imagine, inter breeding leads to health issues. Cant afford to spay or neuter your pet? Call 289-0409 for help - whether you can pay a little or a lot, lets get it done. Lets do our part to prevent littering. And if you have a litter you are giving away, please encourage your adoptive families to spay and neuter as well... shelters are over run, kittens are cute, but they grow up and make more kittens. Same with dogs! There are programs out here to help! We can either give some assistance, advice, or lead you to other assistance programs depending on your situation. No pet is ever FREE, they all cost. Which is why we encourage to adopt a shelter pet that has been vaccinated and altered, and will cost you far less money than a free pet you pick up elsewhere. If you choose not to alter your free pet, you are adding to the over population of unwanted animals. Spend the few dollars to get an animal that is healthy, vaccinated and will not litter! Lastly, put a collar and identifying tag on your pet if you wish to have them returned should they get lost. This is a very sad reality... 98% of the lost or stray animals we get in the shelter we KNOW are someones pet that has gotten away. 2% have tags or are microchipped. Of those that are tagged or chipped, many are not up to do date. A collar is a few dollars, choose a light colored one where you can write your phone number in permanent marker. The odds of your animal being returned in a couple of hours is increased exponentially if the finder has a way to contact you. If your pet does not have a number to reconnect, the odds of never seeing your pet again decrease to about 10%. They do not stay in the area where they were lost, their finders do not necessarily take them to the nearest shelter, and they sometimes hitch a ride way outside of the area. And if you are not from that area, you may not know where to search for your pet. Many lovely cats and dogs come to our shelter every week, confused and heart broken, and we hold them, notify authorities, post on the internet, and attempt to find their families. One small act on your part can prevent the loss of your pet forever. Please put marked collars on your pet, tags if you can, and call all shelters, police, and animal control facilities if your pet is lost. And if you need help accessing this information, we are happy to do what we can to put you in touch with the right people! Wishing you and fur-family the happiest of holiday season, to be happy and safe together! Ruff... Meow! Flogging Molly
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:35:07 +0000