Living Large tip of the Week: Recycle a Pet
Animals have been a central theme this week at Living Large, so I thought I would continue that on with the Tip of the Week: Recycle a Pet.
Over 5 million healthy dogs and cats are killed in shelters each year in the United States. Millions more struggle to survive on their own on the streets and in the countryside.
If you put all of the animals killed in shelters each year together, it is more than the human population of Los Angeles and they would equal the populations of Chicago and Houston combined.
That’s a lot of animals.
We taxpayers also foot the $2 billion bill to capture, house and ultimately kill these animals.
Homeless, feral cats also have a profound effect on the environment and eco-system, greatly reducing the number of birds in some areas. I couldn’t find any statistics with regards to how much of an environmental footprint shelters leave on our planet, but it must be astounding.
So, why is it necessary to continue to breed pets or buy “new” pets from breeders or pet stores? It isn’t. It’s American consumerism, the need to have the “best,” the “prettiest,” the “fastest” the “biggest,” the “smallest…” whatever descriptor. It is because we see animals as an extension of our lifestyles, instead of living beings with feelings and emotion.
Some may also feel that shelter or rescue pets are “broken,” or have behavioral issues that cannot be fixed.
That is simply not true. We’ve had a total of 7 rescue cats and 9 rescue dogs (including a foster) in our married lives, none of which required anymore training and socializing than I would have put into a “new” puppy. Of these, 3 of them were purebreds, which also proves you can find purebreds, if you so choose, in rescues and shelters.
There’s a saying in animal rescue: “Shelter animals are not broken, they’ve simply experience more life,” and we’ve found that to be true. Our rescues have all also been the most loyal of pets. Emma, our German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix even saved me once from a charging horse.
Dale brought home a new stray last week. He's a younger Beagle mix. He is very needy and clingy, he needs lots of attention and love. He also doesn't seem to have been house trained. But I know when he settles in and he knows we won't leave him or dump him, he'll be a great dog.
We're calling him Dexter, because he has "killer" eyes that will melt your heart.
If you cannot adopt a homeless pet, there are other ways you can help the effort:
- First and foremost, please make sure to spay and neuter those pets in your care. Two unaltered cats and all their descendants can theoretically number 420,000 in just seven years. Two unaltered dogs and all their descendants can theoretically number 67,000 in just six years.
- Volunteer your time and any unneeded pet toys, beds, blankets, towels, linens and other items your shelter may need. Food and of course, monetary donations, are always welcome too. Many shelter and rescues have sponsorship programs, which are great gifts for the people in your life that have everything and need nothing.
Here at Our Little House, we believe the 3 R’s of Repurpose, Reuse and Recycle is not just limited to “things;” but also to the beings that we, as a species, have domesticated, making all of us responsible for their humane care and the imprint we leave on the environment in doing so.
We would love to hear all about your recycled pets and how they found you.
Meatless Mondays at Our Little House
When I posted the other day on Living Large’s Facebook page that it was Meatless Monday, one of our friends there asked what this movement is all about.
I’ve been doing it for so long, I had forgotten where I read about the movement. I looked it up and found out Meatless Mondays was an initiative actually started during World War I to help conserve resources for that war effort. You can read more about that here, as well as get some recipes:
I just know it’s a good idea for us for 4 main reasons:
On the Road Again at Our Little House
I’ve known for sometime that I would most likely one day be known as the “Crazy Dog Lady” here on the mountain.
Last week, I think Dale thought that day had come to pass.
I wrote in July about our 9–10 year old Doxie, Molly, being diagnosed with a severe enlarged heart.
Unfortunately, Molly cannot take walks with us any longer and this was inhibiting my ability to take Dakota, the Dachshund/Beagle mix on walks. The larger dogs can go out by themselves to roam, but Dakota is too small and now too old and I fear some big bad wild animal will get her if she’s not on a leash.
This left us with only these choices, none of which were good:
Living Large Tip of the Week: Clothespins as Chip Clips
Back in the 1980s when we were just establishing our home, we thought these plastic chip clips were the best things since sliced bread (it turns out commercially produced sliced bread isn’t so wholesome either, but that’s another post…)
As I learned more about plastics and sustainability, I learned that the United States consumes about 30 percent of the world’s resources, although we only make up about 5 percent of the world’s population.
It takes resources to make plastic items and then those items typically end up in the landfill someday.
Dale worked in a landfill for nearly 25 years and saw first-hand the effects of the never– degrading plastic trash discarded.
Our solutions for “chip” clips, which we use on bags of flour, cereal, dog food, dog treats, coffee, etc…
Wooden clothespins.
Wood, of course, is biodegradable, so when these break, we don’t feel as bad chucking them into the trash (or even the fire).
We didn’t even have to worry about any new resources to make our clothespins. We bought a huge older bag of them at a garage sale for .25.
Clip that!
Do you use wooden clothespins on anything besides hang drying clothes, if so, what?
