I'v heard people say that they would love to do something to "help out" with the animal problem but, " I just don't know what to do," or " I'm so low on funds I can't afford to do anything." There are things you can do that cost nothing, other than some of your time, and it's time well spent:
Instead of sitting around trying to think of something to do, go to the "free to good homes" section of your local paper in the "classifieds," call those people giving away their pet and say something like," Hi, my name is ____, I'm calling in reference to the dog/cat your trying to find a home for. I'm calling the free ads to offer my help in how to screen prospective new owners for you to make sure their not actually from an experimental research lab. It would be helpful for you study up on the problem so you can explain it to them if they are unaware of the such a problem. Tell them to explain to those interested in their pet that they are "screening" all prospective owners. Ask if they have had a dog/cat before? If so, how long did they have it? What happened to it? What vet did they use? (you are to call the vet at a later date to make sure the pet was kept up on yearly vaccinations and received care when needed) Get an address and a work place, home phone numbers, and ask if they have objections to you "occasionally" coming by to visit the pet. If they are animal lovers they will understand all of this! If they have children, especially small kids, are they taught that the pet is a living creature and you must be kind? Those that tell you their pet was killed by a car, find out the circumstances, what was the pet doing in the road? Why was the animal running loose? If they say they had to "get rid of it" find out why. Taking ownership of an animal is a lifetime commitment to the pet unless there are VERY good reasons such as the animal biting WITHOUT provocation . I have been doing this for years and have crossed only a handful of people that were not thankful for the information
WE MUST SPEAK FOR THOSE...WHO CANNOT SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES!
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