The Responsibilities Of Having An Animal

There are many responsibilities of having an animal. Along with basic health care, food, and water, their safety is very important. There are many different types of dangerous situations that can cause severe harm or death to your pet if he's not protected at all times!

It was very frustrating to read a letter written to the editor in our local newspaper. The woman who wrote the letter was very angry with an unknown driver for hitting and killing her dog on a very busy street. In her own words, she asks this unknown driver how he can look himself in the mirror or sleep peacefully at night knowing what he did. She was completely blaming the driver of the car for the death of her dog. As a pet owner it is her, and all of our responsibility to keep our own pets safe and know where they are at all times!

There are also many dangerous people out there that roam the areas looking for wandering pets. People have been known to use cats for sacrificial purposes, especially black cats around the time of Halloween. Normally Humane Societies will not adopt out black cats at or around Halloween time for this reason. Many animal abusers have no preference in choosing an animal to abuse and torture, they take whatever they can find. Make sure your cat or dog is safely confined, and you know where they are at all times!

Another unfortunate situation for wandering pets with no identification tags or chips is the risk of animal control picking them up. When animal control cannot identify an animal, and the owners are not found, euthanasia is chosen to end the animal's life. It is very important for your pet to have identification tags attached to their collar or a microchip implanted under their skin, and to know where they are at all times.

Sally Hayward, Vice President