Tips to reduce animal homelessness plus an inspirational video tour of my local animal shelter

Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time

I have to say, this post was an emotionally tough one to create. The other day, I visited my local animal shelter and these two dogs stood out. If you are in Houston, TX and want to adopt, consider one of these sweet dogs. I stayed with them as long as I could and thought if only I could adopt them. However, because I have 4 rescue pets at home, I already have a full house. So, I’m grateful I can blog to a community that cares.

We all know that there is a tremendous need, so I’m not going to go over the statistics. My goal here is to inspire our Steemian community to help reduce animal homelessness by sharing a few tips on things we can do today.

Spay or neuter your pet

Little puppies and kitties are adorable, but they grow into dogs and cats. Any vet can help with this. If you want to help a stray and funds are limited, you can Google "spay neuter assistance" to find a local non-profit who can help offset the cost. I truly believe my dog, Bouncy-boy, may have been abandoned by his previous family because he grew too big. He was neutered, knew all the sit, stay and paw commands, but he's huge. We take him everywhere with us and we couldn’t lose him if we tried.

Get your pet microchipped ASAP

The average one-time cost to microchip your pet is $45 at your local vet. This fee often includes registration in a pet recovery database. There is usually no annual fee unless you need to change your contact information. The microchip is a little bigger than a grain of rice and is painlessly injected by the shoulder blade and typically guaranteed for the lifetime of your pet. If your pet is ever lost and brought to a vet or shelter, they will scan your pet, retrieve your contact information and return your pet asap. This is your pet's absolute best chance to return home if ever lost.

Consider adopting from one of your local shelters

Unless you are set on buying a certain kind of puppy or kitten, consider adoption from a local shelter. Here are some alarming statistics about animal homelessness. Although there are some reputable breeders, more often than not, the dogs come from puppy mills. Puppy mills are often abusive and cruel, keeping the animals confined in cages without love or care for their entire lives.

My Video Tour

These next two videos are the ones I took as I toured the Houston SPCA. Watch the most adorable kitty named Hailey.

And watch how despite their situation, you can see that the dogs just want to be loved.

Two happy endings to report

First of all, this little guy was adopted and still doesn't know. Wait 'til he finds out he's going home! He'll be so happy! I wish I had seen more of these "I'm being adopted!" signs.

Next, this is my sister’s dog, Kirby, who she adopted several years ago from the same shelter I just toured. I still remember the day I went to visit him at the shelter. He had heartworms and even to this day, bears the scars of the halter that he outgrew and cut into his flesh. As you can see, all he cares about now is getting a piece of my angel cake.

Kirby's on the left

Special shout out - UPDATED!

Our fellow Steemian @arbitrarykitten rescues cats. Please go to her post she just put out What is a rescue home? to learn and support one of our own.

Previous posts...

• The Creation of My Custom Steem Gear (Tshirt) with a Video of My Beautiful Tshirt's Birth.

• How Two Unknowns Became Known Worldwide By the Power of a “Resteem”

And, of course, please upvote, follow, resteem or comment to show support. :)

Much Luv,

@karencarrens