With all the attention that coyotes are receiving in the media, is it foolish for me to still go everyday? Not a bit. That's not false bravado .... although I'm not a hunter, I am lucky enough to have had military survival training and a fair bit of experience in the woods.
Coyotes are nothing new here, so I've always brought Mom's old guiding whistle .... along with pliers jic we encounter an old barb wire fence and a small belt axe jic we need to clear a bit of tangle off the trail. Although I always bring my blackberry, I honestly think that my best protection is paying attention to the dogs. If Henry is too eager, or Andy too reluctant, there is always another path we can take.
I love the new emphasis that is being placed on pet retention. Best Friends has a wonderful First Home Forever Home campaign, Petfinder has FurKeeps and nearly every animal welfare and pet adoption site has a ton of Free information on how to navigate through life's waters with your pet.
It saddens me to visit the ads on Kijiji and see the excuses being offered to explain why these pets are no longer wanted. In fact, one of my deep dark secrets is that I was moved by this to write a couple of brochures for the society, Moving with Pets and Prenatal Preparation for Pet Owners .
In the space of my lifetime, I have moved and had children. Ever the optimist, I've been married and divorced twice. In other words ... like everyone else on the planet, I have seldom seen life's curve balls coming. So, like many others in the animal loving community, I know from personal experience that it is entirely possible to keep your pets for life no matter what.
No doubt about it, Kijiji does make it easy for people to get off the pet owning hook. In a very anonymous fashion, without really looking like an a**hole in front of their friends, family, neighbours and coworkers, people are easily able to discard the pet instead of taking any steps down a better (and more rewarding ) path.
Not every vet will kill a healthy adoptable pet at the owners request anymore. I know that my vet won't ... she didn't study for years to save life for that. ( The fact that owners often still choose the Cheaper Unhappy Tail over an investment in life for the pet that they love is a separate subject, and the reason why I Always bring brownies to the vets when I go )
Nor is there room in rescue for all of the good pets who had the bad luck to be picked by the wrong person. Not right now anyway, not without more adoption incentives and off site adoptions, eh?
So what is the solution:
- legislation to ban the traffic of living breathing sentient beings in the free online ad sites?
- humane education in the school system?
- low cost / high volume spay neuter clinics?
- free workshops on pet retention and support lines from municipalities?
- more aggressive adoption strategies
- a fun Nova Scotia Week for the animals to reach the majority who Never Go To the Animal Welfare and Adoption Websites?
- better use of social networking?
- educating the public health nurses to help new parents understand the need to prepare their pets Before Baby Arrives?
- educating landlords? And tenants? One bad apple in a landlords lifetime can spoil the bunch for every responsible pet owning tenant.
- all of the above?
Wait a minute ... didn't the society recently present a modestly priced proposal for a low cost spay neuter clinic to HRM? Haven't there been enough incidents lately on the news about the perils of purchasing a purebred through Kijiji?
What time is it? Its always time to remember that the way ahead for the animals will need to be paved with strong voter feedback. Its the only thing that has ever worked and it doesn't cost a darn thing to do. Think of it as humane education for our politicians, eh? After all, politicians are always acutely aware of something that we, as voters tend to forget ... we 'hired' them and we can 'fire' them : )))
The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing... - Albert Einstein
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