Is pitbull awareness month still necessary, or is it time to put an end to “team pitbull” and simply focus on all dogs as a whole? Setting a group of dogs aside and labeling them differently makes them seem different to adopters, and that’s not always a good thing.
How can shelters decrease barking? Animal shelters are crazy loud, right? The ASPCA’s webinar “Canine Behavior and Acoustics” focused on noisy shelter environments and how the noise affects the dogs. The webinar was presented by Dr. Patricia McConnell, a certified applied animal behaviorist. I was most interested in the section on how shelters can decrease …
Why do people give up their pets when they move?
Sometimes we worry about what could happen if shelters made it easier to adopt a dog or a cat. But do we really need to worry?
Pet overpopulation is a myth because there are more people seeking out pets than there are pets without homes. I’ll get to the actual numbers in the next section.
Myths and negative stereotypes do not help dogs get adopted. Shelter volunteers love to use them, though, and it’s hurting the dogs. “We have so many unwanted pitbulls,” a volunteer might say to a potential adopter. But pitbulls are far from “unwanted.” They’re among the most popular types of dogs in America. “We also have tons of …
Duluth shelter accepts 63 extra cats It’s Friday, and that means I’d like to share an example of people doing amazing work for homeless animals. This week Animal Allies Humane Society in Duluth, Minn., was faced with the challenge of accepting more than 60 cats from an alleged hoarding situation, according to the Duluth News Tribune. …
No adoption fees on barn cats from Animal Allies! I want to focus on some of the various programs that shelters and rescue groups are offering to make a difference for the animals in their communities. Animal Allies Humane Society in Duluth, Minn., offers a barn cat adoption program. Its slogan: Got mice? Adopt a …
Thoughts on the No Kill Conference A strange piece to the No Kill Conference that I attended last weekend was how person after person told me “I didn’t tell my shelter I’d be here.” A woman from Georgia said she would definitely be fired if her shelter director knew she attended. A woman from Louisiana said …
Black dogs might have a harder time getting adopted simply because of their color. This logic mostly applies to big, black dogs. And also black cats. I’ve written about the topic before on this blog and for other publications. But lately as I look at the black beauty sleeping at my feet I wonder if …