Month: February 2018

A few weeks ago, the Animal Welfare community lost a wonderful advocate, who made it her mission to rescue the dead and dying dogs in a field, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The dogs dumped in this field were either shot or poisoned to death, or simply dumped and left to die.  Over time, these dogs became known as The Field Dogs.

Every day, Tonya would go out to the field, collect the bodies of the dead dogs, and bury each dog individually.  And every day, Tonya would collect the living dogs, making sure they received food, water and when possible, medical attention.  Many of these dogs were able to be adopted out, and many were not.

When Tonya suddenly passed away, there was no back-up plan in place for these dogs.  Tonya lovingly did this on her own, every day. She was helped with monetary and dog food donations, but the rest was done solo without a failsafe in place.

It’s a wonderful thing when anyone steps up to make a difference and JUST DO SOMETHING. But even the best intentions can fall by the wayside if something happens to interrupt the flow of something great.

In this situation, since Tonya’s efforts for The Field Dogs were so well known, another reputable Rescue organization was able to quickly formulate a plan and engage a group of volunteers to step in and take over the feeding of these dogs.  Of course, at the time, those volunteers were only focused on feeding the living dogs, so not much is known (yet) about tending to the dead dogs in that field, or being able to pursue anything from a legal standpoint in terms of monitoring the field for abusers.

So, my point? If YOU are doing something wonderful to make a difference in the life of an animal in need, please – get a back-up plan in place so in the event your efforts are interrupted, that animal will still be taken care of.   Write it down, tell a few people, and ask around to see if anyone would be interested in learning about your efforts in the event that someone else needs to step in.  

There are awesome people doing awesome things to help animals, but sometimes it’s done so quietly that it might go unnoticed if they were to stop.

Life changes on a dime, and that means it can change for you, also. Make sure YOUR changes don’t impact the great works you are doing to save or better the life of an animal in need; it matters to that animal.

So, what’s YOUR plan for that? Hopefully you have one, and hopefully you are also a back-up for someone else. It matters.

Last February, 111.3 million people in the United States watched the Super Bowl, making it, as usual, the top-rated television broadcast of the year.

Along with the Super Bowl, just as many hunker down to watch the traditional “Puppy Bowl”, which is now synonymous with the Super Bowl in terms of popularity and TV ratings.

The ‘Puppy Bowl’ (and now the ‘Kitten Bowl’ also), sponsored by Animal Planet, helps showcase the plight of homeless animals and the number of wonderful animals available for adoption through local shelters (whether dumped, stray or int he shelter from over-population)  and those displaced by disasters – although the very first Puppy Bowl was not intended to heighten awareness of animals in need.  This event usually targets puppies and kittens, however this event also helps smaller animals like guinea pigs and rabbits get adopted as well.

In 2017, the “Puppy Bowl” introduced disabled and special needs animals for adoption. How awesome is that!

And this year (so happy), the “Dog Bowl” has also been added!  The Dog Bowl highlights adoptable dogs ages two – older, spreading awareness about harder to place dogs that need a forever home. Finally!

Over the years, and with Animal Welfare issues and involvement so prevalent (with the help of so many varied social media platforms available), these “Bowls” have been transformed from something purely created for fun into something initially not expected – a way to save animal lives and educate our public about the many (MANY) animals in need across our nation, and beyond.

Every animal showcased at the “Puppy” and “Kitten” Bowl gets adopted. Period. 

Another plus, many of those infamous and cute Super Bowl Commercials involving animals also help to spread and heighten Animal Awareness. And, many of the proceeds from them goes directly back into participating local animal organizations.

Win, win and win.

Please know, as one our of readers pointed out, and rightly so, that although the “Puppy Bowl” is beneficial for helping homeless and shelter animals in need, at the same, the Super Bowl is not as animal-friendly. Every year, thousands of pounds – THOUSANDS – of animal products are sold for human consumption at this event. This includes (but is not limited to) beef, pork and chicken in various forms. This year’s Super Bowl forecasts that there will be 1.33 MILLION POUNDS of chicken wings sold, and that’s just for chicken wings.  

And we are not even talking about the animal products bought and eaten at tailgate AND Super Bowl parties.  

Can you get a non-animal product food to eat at the Super Bowl? Yes, but they are few and far between, and not as highlighted as the animal product options.  And, since patrons are not allowed to bring their own food into the stadium, those who don’t eat animal products have a limited menu once seated – not that anyone would complain, because those that are devoted to veganism in support of animals are always happy to forgo meat based food options to help save a life.

And, Animal Planet, who is sponsoring the “Puppy Bowl”, isn’t perfect either.  Animal Planet has been in the poor limelight by supporting Animal Cruelty and Abuse by some of the shows they air, by stating incorrect facts on wild animals which seems to be geared towards scaring the public, and by mistreating some of the animals they use on air.

And sadly, the NFL still supports and funds animal testing for NFL medical research (example: using live rats for helmet hitting pressure testing – yup, these rats are placed immobile on a table, and their head is repeatedly bashed to see how much pressure it takes to cause injury and death), as well as the NFL still allows animal abusers to play on their teams. PS – Go ahead and sign/share that petition!

So, there are pros and cons to almost everything, including the Super Bowl.

Whether YOU are a fan of Super Bowl (or Animal Planet) or not, EVERYONE can appreciate the good they are doing to promote adoption and awareness for animals in need through these Animal “Bowls”.

Remember, if YOU are hosting a super bowl party tonight, don’t forget to pay attention to YOUR four-legged family members. Keep them safe, keep the food away that they aren’t supposed to have, don’t forget to take them on potty breaks during the game, make sure they are able to go someplace in your home to de-stress and make sure their needs are met no matter where YOU are in the game.