It is a beautiful thing to have a pet in your family. For many, many reasons! But as a natural born animal person and professional groomer I see much too often how people just do not realize the commitment it takes to have a pet in the family. This is sad and tragic. Most of these pets end up in a shelter, re-sheltered, or worse.
What's just as tragic is that there is NO ONE educating people! We've achieved a major milestone in the "rescue" movement and "no-kill" shelter policies. How compassionate of us.
But now, what do we do with all these animals? We place them in families that have no idea what they've gotten themselves into. They do not know the first thing about animals - their nature, their specific and individual needs, their peculiarities, the way they communicate, the costs involved..... And worse again is that the people who work or volunteer at shelters and rescues have very inconsistent education and information about animals so they aren't prepared to equip new pet parents with all that they need.
Love speaks volumes!!! Love is the answer. But real love sometimes needs to get down and dirty, get tough, get real. "Animal rights" is great. But what about animal education for HUMANS?
We should start in school. Kindergarten. Animal awareness, animal behavior, animal nutrition, animal communication.... these things should be taught to children throughout their academic careers. Then everyone would know at least some basics. The lack of knowledge about how to care for pets is mind-boggling! I see it everyday! Most people with live pets really just need to get a stuffed animal at Toys R Us... really. We've come so far...! But we're top-heavy! We need to balance all the compassion and rescue efforts with some good wisdom and education!
The only source of information most people think they have about animals is a veterinarian. This too is sad. There are some very good, gifted, compassionate and aware vets in the world today. But they are very few and far between, and hard to find. Vets are a dime a dozen.... They have a very expensive education. They passed some very hard tests. Yet most of them have no gift....
Cesar Millan has a gift. No one taught him to do what he can do with animals. Temple Grandin has a gift. No one taught her to understand animals the way that she does. Gifted people like this have much to teach the world about our animal companions. Even the late Steve Irwin had a gift, an intuition, about the animals he loved. But there are many more gifted people in the world than these I've mentioned who have risen to fame. These people need to speak, they need to come forth and give the wisdom and knowledge they have to the world. An expensive education means nothing. Results mean everything. Scientific studies mean nothing when they're only designed to patent a new product for a corporation to make money.
We believe every commercial on TV. We believe every pamphlet we read at the vet. Yet we have no actual knowledge of anything. This shows the huge informational/educational gap in our society.
You pay your $5000 dollar trainer who has a certificate and I'll keep watching the one-time illegal immigrant from Mexico.... You pay your $3000 vet bill and I'll read Animals in Translation written by the weird Autistic girl and see animals in a way NO collage educated doctor could even imagine, much less teach you about....
Wake up human beings. You are conscious. You are limitless. Learn!!! Teach!!! Stop being afraid of offending people. Stop being afraid that the puppies in your kennel won't get adopted if they get too old. Stop putting the cart before the horse. We've done great things because of love. Let's not let stupidity unravel all we've prayed and worked so hard to accomplish.
I have worked professionally with animals for over 12 years. I can help you with your pets....! Make an appointment.
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