Hope for the Holidays

I love doing carpentry.  There aren't enough hours in the day to do everything, but after years of creating short lived culinary treats there is something so satisfying about building things that will last.   From big projects like the play yard to little bits of shelves, its a joy to finally have a nice little workshop where I can play.
Of course I wouldn't be able to do any of this without my tools.  If you've ever bought carpentry tools, you'll know they're not cheap ... but like most amateurs over the years my little collection has grown.  
Like any amateur, tools have always topped my wish list but one way or the other, here in the real world there is no tool fairy and  somebody has originally had to pay for them.  
That's of course why I'm always nattering on like a stuck record about the free tools available for animal rescue.  One of the best ones around is the increasingly popular IAMS Home for the Holiday's campaign. 
It doesn't cost a red cent for a group or shelter to join, and they reap the benefits of free tools and even a free national advertising campaign.  Which of course was why I was so disappointed last year to see that not one single group or shelter in Nova Scotia had bothered to take the time to sign up.
How does it stack up this year?  Ever so much better!  This year there are eight groups and shelters on board :

• SHAID, ( no surprise when they have led they way with everything else from Petfinder to embracing No Kill to promoting TNR )
• CAPS
• Atlantic Small Dog Rescue
• East Coast German Shepherd Rescue
• and all FOUR SPCA shelters!   Metro, Kings, Yarmouth and Cape Breton! 

Well then.   Now there are eight groups and shelters that have stepped up to the plate ... eight that have embraced the idea that holiday adoptions are NOT passing pets out like candy but rather they are adoptions that take place during a traditionally popular time to bring a new pet into the family.  They are groups that understand that if an adopter would pass the screening in September that same adopter should get a shot in December.
Even better ... they have all just boosted the odds for all their adoptables!
What time is it?  Its time to recognize that more holiday adoptions will reduce the consequences for animal rescue of the post holiday "buyers remorse"
But as a movement, we have to stop focusing our policies under the false premise that the public can’t be trusted, that the animals are better off dead than in the homes of those who believe that there is no better display of holiday spirit than to open their home to an animal in need. Because if there is a central lesson in the No Kill philosophy, it is that there is enough love and compassion in every community to overcome the irresponsibility of the few.  Nathan Winograd