Animal Rescue and Adoption

I rescued my own best friend Erik from the Maricopa County Pound in 1988 - so animal rescue and adoption are very important issues to me. But it was years before I fully understood the magnitude of the horrendous plight of homeless animals in our society. Today, I am astounded by how many people are uninformed and innocently oblivious to this issue. I know that through education we can make a difference.

There are many human angels who dedicate their lives and bank accounts to animal rescue and adoption. Yet every person who shares his or her life with an animal companion can make a profound difference doing very little.

Spay and Neuter: The two easiest and highest impact things you can do.

Still the result is homeless animals that have to be euthanized because there are more dogs and cats entering shelters than there are people willing to provide them with loving care. The best way to prevent this or help impact this terrible number is to spay or neuter your pets. Even if you do find homes for your pet's puppies or kittens, that means there are fewer homes available to take in other pets from shelters. Animal rescue and adoption is the only way to help these unwanted animals. Spay and neuter is the only permanent, 100-percent effective method of birth control for dogs and cats."

Adopt your next pet
Every community has overcrowded large and small rescue organizations searching tirelessly for homes for adoptable dogs, cats, horses and other pets. Not only does purchasing an animal from a store or a breeder mean one less home for an animal in need of rescue, it can even unknowingly contribute to animal abuse.

Pet Rescue and Puppy Mills

So you’re in love with a breed and want a pure bred dog? There are pure breed rescue groups for every variety, as close as a Google search. Petfinder.com is a great source for animal rescue and adoption. Most rescue groups list their adoptable animals there in addition to listing them on their own websites. You can search the site specifically by breed, age, gender or location - and adopt the breed of dog you want. There are, of course, reputable breeders that care about their animals’ well being. Too often though, pets for sale come from "backyard breeders" or puppy mills versus responsible breeders.

One of the best resources for information about animal rescue and adoption is Best Friends Animal Society. The mission of Best Friends is to bring about a time when there will be no more homeless pets, and every dog or cat ever born can be guaranteed a good life. For more than two decades, Best Friends Animal Society has been dedicated to the simple philosophy that kindness to animals builds a better world for all of us.

The Best Friends sanctuary at Angel Canyon, at the heart of the Golden Circle of national parks in southern Utah, is home on any given day to about 2,000 dogs, cats, and other animals, who come from animal shelters and rescue groups around the country for the special care they can only receive at Best Friends. The sanctuary is also a destination for 30,000 visitors and volunteers each year.

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