So you think only humans have an impact on our environment?
Think again, animals impact our environment in some quite drastic ways.
No, I’m not just talking about cow farts.
The sweet little angel of a dog pictured here in this post is one of the two dogs my wife and I recently rescued.
Her name is Sophie (her brother’s name is Ender)…and they’re going green. But how?
The Story
On our way to breakfast one Sunday morning about a month ago, my wife and I saw a yellow mutt crossing a busy street. Since he had tags on, we thought we’d try to catch him to call his owners and get him safely home.
We were unable to successfully apprehend that particular dog, but perhaps we were never meant to.
We followed him down a street where he walked right up to these two beautiful black lab mix puppies, turned to look at us as if to say, “Hey, take care of these guys. I’m fine.” and then ran off.
We got out of the car, bent down, said “Come here puppies!” and they ran right to us.
After a week of searching in vain for some heartbroken person desperately trying to find these two lost pups, we realized they had probably been “dumped” and decided to adopt them.
Who knew that in itself was a major green step in the land of pet care?
How is rescuing a pet who has been dumped or from your local animal shelter a way to live green?
TreeHugger.com’s “How to Green Your Pet Guide” says:
“Pet breeders have only one goal in mind — to raise large quantities of purebred animals for profit. They’ve also been pilloried for misdeeds such as overbreeding, inbreeding, poor veterinary oversight, lousy food and living conditions, overcrowding, and culling of unwanted animals. Why buy when you can adopt one of the 70,000 puppies and kittens born every day in the United States? Love knows no pedigree.”
Every pet store employee, veterinarian, dog trainer, and owner of rescued dogs that I’ve talked with over the last month have all agreed on one thing:
Rescue dogs make the best pets… period.
Why? They know they’ve been rescued, and they’re eternally grateful for it.
Be sure to check back for LOTS more fun information on how to Green Your Pet!
I think every little step toward living green is an awesome one… but eco-snobbery sucks! My goal is to help newbies learn the most important steps toward living green — individually and collectively. Personally, I strive to have as little impact as possible on Planet Earth while I’m here.
