Dogs become the most popular gift at Christmas. But a dog is a lifetime commitment.
Then in January when the holiday festivities are over, the animal shelters become filled with dogs that are abandoned by folks who didn’t realize how much responsibility goes with being a “dog parent.”
Before a person gets a dog for themselves or for a friend, they need to think about the expense of having a dog for the next 10 to 15 years: medical bills, insurance, food, training, grooming, and the list goes on. Maybe, if a person thought about getting up 30 minutes earlier every day to walk the dog, they would have made another decision.
Now that you know the responsibilities of taking good care of your four-legged family member, what are some of the benefits?
To list a few:
– Unconditional love (when was the last time you got that??)
– Never angry at you
– Always want to be by your side (even on a bad hair day)
– Your best buddy
– Never talks back or gets embarrassed by you (like your child does)
If you value the above items and truly understand the responsibilities of being a dog parent, ADOPTION is for you. Here are a few adoption organizations that are reputable, in my opinion:
https://la.bestfriends.org/get-involved/adopt/pets?
http://www.laanimalservices.com/looking-for-a-dog
https://dogswithoutborders.org/adopt/
If you can’t take on the full-time responsibility of owning a dog, you can foster for short periods of time. Los Angeles Animal Services really do their best to work around your schedule. www.laanimalservice.com/volunteer/fosterprogram/
Here is a poem I found which sums up why any month, it is time to adopt an abandoned dog.
“A Rescue Dog‘s Christmas Poem”
‘Tis the night before Christmas and all through the town,
every shelter is full – we are lost but not found,
Our numbers are hung on our kennels so bare,
we hope every minute that someone will care,
They’ll come to adopt us and give us the call,
“Come here, Max and Sparkie – come fetch your new ball!!”
But now we sit here and think of the days…
we were treated so fondly – we had cute, baby ways,
Once we were little, then we grew and we grew –
now we’re no longer young and we’re no longer new.
So out the back door we were thrown like the trash,
they reacted so quickly – why were they so rash?
We “jump on the children”, “don’t come when they call”,
we “bark when they leave us”, “climb over the wall”.
We should have been neutered, we should have been spayed,
now we suffer the consequence of the errors they made.
If only they’d trained us, if only we knew…
we’d have done what they asked us and worshiped them, too.
We were left in the backyard, or worse – let to roam –
now we’re tired and lonely and out of a home.
They dropped us off here and they kissed us good-bye…
“Maybe someone else will give us a try.”
So now here we are, all confused and alone…
in a shelter with others who long for a home.
Poem found at https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/a-rescue-dogs-christmas-poem.580409/#i0tPlUG2YeO3F5ti.99