Good evening it’s October and I wanted to bring you our series featuring National Holidays. Did you know this month it’s Adopt A Shelter Dog Month. With my dog Sandi passing away last month I’ve been thinking of getting a new Puppy and now may be the perfect time. Would you like to go look for a dog/ puppy with Charlie and me?
Adopt a Shelter Dog Month
October is the month when we turn our hearts toward the dogs waiting to find forever homes during Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) sponsors and promotes Adopt a Shelter Dog Month every October, while the American Humane Society has celebrated a month-long October campaign encouraging the adoption of shelter dogs in 1981. Community shelters make it a priority to match each dog with a compatible owner and environment to support the dog’s best second chance at a loving and stable forever home.
HISTORY OF ADOPT A SHELTER DOG MONTH
No one knows the exact number of dogs that find safe harbor and temporary housing in community Animal shelters each year. These shelters are the last hope for an estimated 3.3 – 4.5 million misunderstood, unwanted, abused, or neglected Dogs in need of a fresh start with a compassionate human friend.
Lost, abandoned or unwanted dogs have not always had shelters where caring humans provide help and hope. As we celebrate Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, we would be remiss to not recognize the founder of America’s first animal shelter, Mrs. Caroline Earl White.
Mrs. White and a group of 30 female animal rights activists formed the “Women’s Humane Society” in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Society’s initial mission focused on advocating for the humane treatment of Carriage horses on City Streets. Horses were considered beasts of burden for industrial purposes at the time, and Carriage Horses were often seen being treated harshly on City Streets, and frequently Carriage Horses were denied access to clean Water or Medical Care.
After success in advocating for more humane treatment of Horses, these women turned their attention later that year to smaller domestic Animals when they opened a shelter where lost Dogs could be found and reclaimed by their owners or placed in new homes. As their commitment to cause continued, the Women’s Humane Society began the first formal Educational program about the humane treatment of Animals. In 1909 they raised enough money to open and support a dispensary where owners could bring their Dogs and other small Animals for medical attention.
The determination and commitment to Animal Rights by Mrs. White and her band of Animal activists paved the way for Dogs to be treated humanely some 50 years before these women could even vote. Their original shelter, which opened as “The Women’s Branch of the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,” is still in operation today as the “Women’s Animal Center” in Bensalem, a suburb of Philadelphia.
Today there are approximately 5,000 community Animal Shelters nationwide and perhaps as many as 10,000 when including rescue groups and animal sanctuaries in the count. Knowing there are so many places of refuge for unwanted dogs gives us hope that every dog in every shelter will be adopted into a loving permanent home.
HOW TO SUPPORT ADOPT A SHELTER DOG MONTH
- Sharing your personal story of a successful shelter dog adoption is a great way to celebrate National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month. Hearing about your experience may be just the reason another human to make room in their heart and home for a dog in need of a best friend and forever home.
- We admit that “puppy dog eyes” are hard to resist. But the most loyal of all dogs may well be A Senior Dog rescued from a shelter. The advantages of adopting an older Dog may include fewer “accidents” since most older Dogs are house broken, less destructive chewing and saving money on obedience classes.
- If you already own a dog or love dogs but cannot commit to having a dog in your home long term, try being a doggy foster parent. National Adopt a Dog Month is the perfect time to contact your local shelter about providing foster care for a dog. There is a great need for people willing to provide temporary, safe, caring homes for dogs in transition who need to be observed before being made available for adoption.
5 FACTS ABOUT DOG OWNERSHIP
- Owning a dog forces otherwise lazy humans out of bed early every morning and off the couch late every day for walks. Including visiting the local dog park once a week for dog and human playtime.
- Petting a dog has a calming effect on people by stimulating the release of relaxation hormones and lowering levels of stress hormones in the human body, according to studies including a report by Harvard Medical.
- Gazing into your dog’s eyes releases a bonding hormone in humans called Oxytocin, according to one study reported on in the journal “Science.”
- Humans experience a reduction in blood pressure and a decrease in heart rate when petting a dog.
- The American Heart Association released a statement in 2019 that owning a dog may in fact protect us from Heart disease, based on their review of all available research on the calming effects of owning a dog.
Reasons Everyone Needs A Shelter Dog:
- Adopting a Shelter Dog makes you a hero because you are saving a life, which makes you a hero to the dog. Adopting a dog may save two lives. The dog’s and your own.
- Shelter dogs can become a loyal and best friend. Cherokee American actor, author, and humorist Will Rogers once said, “No man can be condemned for owning a dog. As long as you have a dog, you have a friend.” We know from experience the most loyal among friends are those rescued from shelters, because the dogs are forever grateful and faithful to the human willing to give them a second, third, or even fourth chance at a home.
- Adopting a Shelter Dog saves you money because you can spend thousands of dollars to purchase the perfect purebred dog that may or may not ever take a liking to you. Or you can go to your local shelter, get on an adoption list, check-in every few days for weeks or even months until one day “The dog” you’ve been waiting for arrives at the shelter. Once the dog see’s you both of you will know you were meant for each other. Not only that but you will pay less in adoption fees vs buying that purebred dog, but you will also have a fabulous story to tell about how you and your BFFF found each other.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
