My hometown is New York City. It’s a great place to be well off, but not so much if you’re on the streets. And the streets don’t only house homeless people, but also the homeless cats and dogs.
I grew up in a family with a soft spot for animals. This meant that pets frequently came from the dispossessed. I found our family dog, Butch, as a stray puppy, and our shop cats were strays who became family members. At times, it seemed we supported the local veterinarians as we took in street cats that had had one fight too many and took them in for patching up.
As a result, most of my charitable donations are to animal shelters and hospitals. My philosophy is that many organizations collect annually to aid humans, but many fewer aid abandoned pets, strays, and the pets of people experiencing poverty.
I’ve seen mass pet abandonments in my area when a local military base closed. So, I don’t find it strenuous to open my wallet to assist organizations that help animals.
If I were given a million dollars on my birthday with the stipulation that it be given away, I’d have no trouble finding recipients. They are the local volunteer-run pet shelters, a wonderful home in Tennessee that caters to senior dogs ( Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary), the veterinarians who treat strays, and many others.
And by the way, all our pets are former strays or rescue animals.
Even a million dollars spread strategically is much too little.
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New York City, fun to visit but not sure about living there, way to busy
A good place to be from, I love to visit, but I’d never go back!
Great post, Lou. All of my dogs/cats have been strays and rescues.
It says so little for my fellow Floridians that our governor had to make a statement yesterday that anyone who is found to have tied up their dog to a tree or a pole during the hurricane would be prosecuted. Who in the hell does stuff like that??!!
Nice post 🌺🌺
thank you!
Mine too — all but one and THAT is the saddest story in my long life of animals. It’s amazing how many of those turned out to be pure bred dogs; most of them, actually. Crazy. People buy a puppy and it grows up and they’re over it.
Our cattle dog Max was like that, dumped as soon as he stopped being a cute puppy. Idiots!
Idiots is right.
How awful that the military people couldn’t take their pets with them.
I’m not sure it was a case of couldn’t, it might have been simply didn’t. Very sad.
Indeed.