Heh, yeah, Snarf had to get a word in there towards the end!

This story has so profoundly shaped how I live my life. I can’t remember where or when I first heard this story or even who told it to me but the impact is no less felt. To me, what this story tells us so simply is to do what you can. No one can save the entire world. No one can save every homeless animal out there nor can they stop all the cruelty in the world. What we can do, however, is make small differences in the world. We can choose to adopt a pet rather than buy one. We can volunteer our time to help a shelter or animal welfare organization. We can donate what we can afford to charities that support causes we care about. We can teach the world’s children that animals need to be treated with respect. If we can’t afford anything else, we can still help spread the message and reach people who have the means but might not have even known there was a cause needing support. The important thing to remember here is that you should never feel like you can’t give enough therefore there’s no point in even trying. Anything that you give will make a difference and if everyone in the world would just do one tiny thing to help animals then the change would be tremendous! And the world may not ever be perfect, but the difference we make will be felt by each and every individual animal that we save. And isn’t that worth trying for?

The Starfish Effect: it’s a very powerful concept.

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We believe in this idea so much that we’re making it our philosophy and it will have its own page. Do you have any stories that relate to The Starfish Effect? Any story about how you or someone you know has done something that might have seemed so small and yet the end result was so profound? Share the story with us! We can’t wait to hear what you have to say!

“Health officials often talk about the dangers of living with a smoker, but few pet parents are aware that our animal companions face similar risks—from respiratory problems to cancer—when exposed to secondhand smoke. New research suggests that secondhand smoke is unsafe at all levels—for humans and pets—so it’s time to get serious about ditching those butts for good.”

In this week’s ASPCA newsletter, there is an article on the effects of second-hand smoke to dogs and other pets called Silent Killer Hurts Pets, Too. Personally, the negative impact smoking has on animals seems (to me) obvious. You don’t want your children inhaling cigarette smoke, why would you want your furry kids to? Nicotine is a toxic substance that should not be in contact with any child – furry or not.

The article gives a few good examples of what can happen to your pet if he or she ingests cigarette wrappers or nicotine or anything that has to do with this unhealthy habit. I don’t know about you, but I get pretty annoyed when someone smokes in my face, but your pet can’t exactly tell you to trash the butt and pick up a better hobby. We’re their voice, right?

Right.

I’ve read innumerable articles on the subject at this point and most of them have sounded very grounded and reasonable. It seems to me that the people that comment on these articles are the ones with the biggest problems. Some of the comments are downright nasty and to be honest, it’s not the people disappointed that seems to be the most hot-headed. I’ve seen people personally attacking those who have voiced their displeasure and it makes me wonder just what kind of life those people lead if the best way they can find to spend their life is finding people to hate. And some of the things they say are just downright ridiculous. I can’t tell you the number of people that have said the whole situation is stupid because a dog is just a dog and we have so many other problems to worry about in this country. Well no kidding! No one in their right mind would think that the selection of the first dog is more important than the War in Iraq or the collapsing economy. There are plenty of issues that are personally important to me that haven’t been addressed either but I’m patient. That doesn’t mean that we can’t be disappointed with what happened in this case. Other comments have said that the “animal activists” are cruel because they’re saying that the dog should be ripped away from the girls who love him. I have a problem with this one for a few reasons. First not everyone who is disappointed is an activist. Second, calling someone an activist is always used in a derogatory manner which is stupid. Lastly, no one has ever suggested that they get rid of the dog! Not a single person. However, the children only met the dog after he had been chosen so it wasn’t like they just happened to fall in love with that particular dog. I also don’t like the suggestion that Bo is a rescue dog. He’s not. At all. He may be a second-chance dog because the first people that got him didn’t want him anymore but there is absolutely no way that dog would ever have ended up in a shelter. The breeder, who is actually very responsible from what I’ve seen, would have taken the dog back and found another home for him. It’s in the contract. That’s how all breeders should be and I commend this one for their policies. Still, this means that Bo was not rescued in any way. Now probably the dumbest and most irritating comment I came across was one praising President Obama for choosing a breeder dog because adopting one from a shelter would be “reinforcing all the irresponsible pet owners dumping their pets there”. This one just shocked me. Are people really that stupid? Shelters house countless strays and with this economy there are many people FORCED to surrender their beloved pets due to a lack of money or even the lack of a house. It is idiotic ideas such as that one that make some people leery of adopting from a shelter or rescue. My last comment on some of the excuses being thrown around is that while I’m glad that donations have been made to shelters that the Obama family were looking into that doesn’t really fix the problem. It’s a great gesture, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still not the message that so many people were hoping for the decision to send. This to me says that shelters are great but they’re just not good enough for us. If less people would think like that then there would surely be less animals sitting around in shelters.

That being said, I’m pretty sure that President Obama would never intentionally send such a message and that he truly does have concern for animal welfare. This decision fell short of my hopes but there are plenty of other causes that he can get behind that will help improve the lives of animals in this and other countries. And Bo is an incredibly cute dog and what really matters at this point is that he is cared for and happy. He still has a chance to be a role model of sorts for how pets should be cared for and that is something that is invaluable. So yes, many were disappointed, as they had every right to be, but I think it’s time that everyone start to move on and focus on other animal welfare causes that can still be supported to our satisfaction.