For the Dogs

Claudia posted recently about discretionary spending, and asked a thought provoking question wondering what would be the last thing her readers gave up if it came the time eliminate discretionary spending. Unsurprisingly, there was a lively and thoughtful discussion in her comments, and it was really interesting to see what things people really valued in their discretionary spending. The people who talked about the fact that they’d go without before they gave up their companion animals really spoke to me.

At ARF, we’ve seen an upswing in the number of dogs who are owner surrendered – folks who are moving but can’t take their pets with them or who say they just can’t afford to keep their pets in this economy.

And I’ll admit that it’s likely that I am (more than) a little cynical. Because, really, what does it cost to feed a 5 lb

Chihuahua

? I buy my dogs Ultra Premium food, and feeding both of them costs easily under $20 a month. Certainly there are other expenses associated with owning Allie and Zorro. Allie is on two daily maintenance medicines which cost about $25/month, and their preventative treatments and regular vet visits certainly cost SOMETHING. But the thing is, when we made the decision to adopt Allie and Zorro, we were also making the decision that they were not, nor would they ever be, discretionary. Both of my dogs are rescue dogs – they didn’t end up there because they had fabulous lives before I came along. They ended up in shelters because something had gone awry in their lives, and when we took them home, we promised that we’d be the final stop for them. Almost two years later, I can’t imagine not having either of my dogs in my life, and in hard times, my dogs are what keep me going, get me up in the morning, keep me putting one foot in front of the other when what I’d really like to do is hide and wallow. My dogs are an integral part of my quality of life, and my quality of life is not discretionary.

When a 10 year old dog ends up in a shelter, my heart breaks, and I can’t help but wonder how you let go of a dog that’s been a member of your family for that long. I do know that there are absolutely cases where people find themselves in a position unable to keep their pet. I know that those situations happen, and that they are heartbreaking for everyone involved. It’s just that it feels a little too easy now for people to say “oh – the economy” and just like that, a former family member finds himself in a shelter.

With the upswing of owner surrendered pets, shelters nationwide are feeling the crunch. ARF is a volunteer run organization (there is not a single paid position on staff) and saves as many dogs as it does from donations it receives. In February, ARF placed 39 dogs in forever homes. I was lucky enough to know all of those dogs. Some of the ARF dogs break my heart, some of them are goofy, some of them are whip smart, some of them have a long way to go before they’ll be balanced family members again, but all of them deserve their second (and sometimes third and sometimes fourth) chance at happiness.

If you have a few extra dollars, take a minute to donate to ARF. Every $5 gets you into the raffle (drawing to be held this Saturday, March 7^th) and you have a chance to win some great prizes! This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to Stitches West and I picked up a few more fun prizes to the raffle:

 

A Knitwhits felted toy kit!

Chevron Cowl kit (yarn is baby alpaca and is AWESOME)!

Once you’ve made your donation to ARF, let me know how many raffle tickets you need either in the comments or by sending me an email to concateknit at gmail dot com. Let’s let the dogs know that we don’t think they're discretionary.

 

Comments

[weeza]

I adopted my dog when he was seven from a shelter that had adopted him out when he was two. I found it hard to understand why someone would bring him back like that as he is (mostly) an angel. He is costing me considerably more to keep as he ages (fourteen now with a terrible heart murmur and arthritis, had a stroke last year, very picky eater) and the vet has been saying 'maybe six months left' for about four years now. But while his quality of life is good, we'll keep going - he is not discretionary, he's family.

[Kimberly]

I donated $10 just now. :)

I have never considered my dogs discretionary. In all the times I've considered moving out of Fresno (like right now if I lose my job), I've always considered places that my dogs would be welcome at and place that I could afford to keep them in the sleeping-all-day-in-the-sun-or-on-their-orthopaedic-dog-bed lifestyles they've become accusomted to. The thought of giving them away makes me sad. I stopped dating a guy after he said something about getting rid of my dogs because he was allergic. Uh, no.

Long story short, I love that you volunteer at ARF and I hope to have more free time soon (but not the free time that involves job loss) so I can volunteer there as well.

[Kim W.]

Oh those eyes in that last picture! I almost missed them. What a cutie. :)

[Kim]

My dog Stella is about as discretionary as my husband or son. I love her more than I ever thought it possible to love a dog.
I donated $10- so please enter me in the raffle. Hooray!
Your raffle reminds me that I need to doante supplies and/or money to my local shelter too.

[Debbie in Iowa]

I'm always so moved by your commitment to ARF and the animals that they help. However, I can't in good conscience send money their way when so many animals are in the same situation right here where I live. So I'm going to pass but will most definitely continue to support my local rescue organizations. I hope you understand. And I wish you the best of luck, it's a most deserving cause.

[--Deb]

Having to give up my dog is one of my nightmares... Off to Twitter about your contest!

[Chris]

I have one of those KnitWhits kits that I should dig out. Poor deprived kitties... I will mention your contest tomorrow again! :)