Mirror, Mirror

If it was raining at all in your side of the world, that was probably me shedding all those tears watching the HBO documentary focusing on different issues and stories about dogs in the U.S. I gotta warn you, this will probably be one of the most serious posts that I will ever write but I really, really need to get this off of my chest.

About 2 million dogs are put to sleep annually in animal shelters due to a surplus of stray dogs as well as "surrendered" dogs. When I say surrendered, it means that the owners willingly send their pets to the shelter and leave them to be (hopefully) adopted by other people or euthanized, if no one wants to adopt them. Do you know that some shelters still use gas chambers to "euthanize" dogs and cats? I've honestly heard about these gas chambers before but actually seeing a footage of dogs being dumped in one small container and getting gassed to death...that is another thing. It will change you, it will change how you see humans. That 60-second footage (edited by HBO) will change your life, I know it changed mine.

This is what we do. This is what we, precious humans do to helpless, healthy dogs. These dogs never hurt anybody, never killed anybody, never lied, never cheated nor stolen but we kill them anyway. Let me ask you a question..who the f*$&#* died and made us humans the ones to decide on who lives and who dies on this planet?

This overpopulation of dogs is caused by puppy mills ( unlicensed/ unregulated breeders who over-breed dogs under the most extreme living conditions for the sole purpose of PROFIT-MAKING) and irresponsible pet owners who don't spay or neuter their pets. You may call me an irresponsible owner because I haven't had Sky neutered yet. But it's only because he is the only dog in the household, he lives in an apartment so there's no way for him to jump out of a backyard and run away plus I do want puppies from him later on. Trust me when I say that I'll keep ALL of the puppies if I have to. I won't even second guess it.

A photo taken of a typical puppy mill

The reality is that people treat animals like merchandise. If you don't want them anymore or change your mind about them, you can always send them to the animal shelter. Oh, I had to move to a different city or state and I can't take the dog with me. Oh, it was getting too expensive to maintain a dog. Oh, I just don't have the time to take care of a dog anymore. Oh, I didn't know that the dog was going to grow that big. Are you f*&$#*^* kidding me? Once you take an animal into your home, it is your duty to take care of that animal until they die. If for some really valid, good reason that you REALLY cannot take care of the animal, it is your duty to make the effort to find them a new home.

 My dear readers, I beg you. Don't take in an animal just because you thought that a cute puppy would be such a great gift to your girlfriend/boyfriend or your daughter/son. That puppy will eventually become full grown and it takes a lot of time, dedication and effort to take care of it.

If you don't believe me, watch the same footage that I couldn't bear to watch anymore. Press play if you dare. I cannot even hold back my tears as I remember the sick, inhumane and downright cruel act of putting animals in a crammed up box and killing them through carbon monoxide. The video is old but the method is STILL shockingly used by some shelters up to this day.

"Non violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all living beings, we are still savages." - Thomas A. Edison

..ergo, we are still savages.