The Puppy Chronicles

I don’t know how this relates, but I recently saw a story about an animal shelter in New Richmond, Wisconsin . Anyway, it’s a “no kill” shelter and they tend to get animals with disabilities, injuries, and some that just aren’t wanted anymore I guess. That shelter may close down because there just isn’t enough money. It costs her $15,000 per month to run it and with donations going down she has to dip into her own pocket to keep it running. She had stated that if something did change she would have to stop taking animals because she can’t personally afford it anymore. She would keep the ones she has until they found homes but wouldn’t take any new animals after Oct 1st. I’ll attach the link below and you can read about it or watch the video clip that KARE11 did last week. I guess I’m not surprised at how much it costs to get an animal from a shelter knowing that this lady runs hers for $15,000 per month. That’s a lot of money, and with donations going down it only stands to reason that the money to run it has to come from somewhere. I don’t know what pet shops charge anymore, but years ago I know that to buy an animal from a pet shop was more then $200. I used to make my mom take me to the pet shop in the Burnsville mall every time we went there so I could look at the animals, and the puppies there were around $300 at that time and that was probably 20 to 25 years ago. I also remember getting one dog from the pound once and I think that was $75 at the time and that was 20 to 25 years ago too. I’m guessing in that amount of time the price of a pet in either a pet shop, the pound, or a shelter have gone up, everything else has. I wish there was a way to lower the price on shelter dogs too, but I have a feeling it would maybe be cost prohibitive to the shelters and they wouldn’t make enough to cover expenses. A lot of times the animals that end up there spend a lot of time there and they need the vet care while there. Now if there were more turn over that may change. I don’t know, but it would be nice if more animals didn’t have to spend so much time in shelters, and I have a feeling the owners of these shelters feel the same way. They open their homes and hearts to these animals and I think they care and would rather see them with loving families. We did get a shelter dog a couple years ago after we had to put our two labs down within a week of each other. We did get a dog, and I think it was in the $150 range, but he didn’t work out. He was scared to death of the girls riding their bikes. I felt so bad when we had to take him back. He would have been a wonderful dog for a single person or a couple without kids, but with the kids and his fear of their bikes I was worried for the girls safety, and I didn’t want the dog, to do something that may cause him to have to be put down. We didn’t feel it was fair to him to stay here and be in fear and for us to be worried about how he might react to the girls riding their bikes someday. Anyway, here’s the link if you are interested in seeing the story I mentioned above.

Wis. animal shelter faces closure as donations dip
http://www.kare11.com/news/article/1034344/391/Wis-animal-shelter-faces-closure-as-donations-dip

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Love reading the comments and your replies. I’m thinking the solution lies more in the education of the public at large to spay and neuter your dogs and cats! People think “oh, it would be so cute for our dog/cat to have puppies/kittens”. Well then, what happens to the little ones? It’s not enough to have just one animal? Yes puppies and kittens are cute, but they also take time and money to care for before they find a home. Or, need to go to a shelter that is likely already busting at the seams. And guys, get over the fact that neutering your dog does NOT take away from your personal manhood. Geesh!!! …. Apparently I hopped up on your soapbox Patty!

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