The NAPRP Blog

Sep 11

Written by: NAPRP Admin
9/11/2009 3:12 AM

This week, I'd like to thank everyone who sent in good wishes and healing thoughts for my little black dog who had surgery last Friday. (For those who missed it, Leia is the black dog smiling at you when you visit the NAPRP Web site.) The surgery went well and she's healing nicely. Probably the worst thing is that she's been wearing an e-collar and marching around bumping people with it. ("So Leia...how do you REALLY feel about that e-collar?!") The bad news is that her lump is cancer. But Leia is the happiest, perkiest sick dog you've ever seen, so we're certainly not worrying about her quality of life yet!

Anyway, all this good karma coming in from animal people made me think about the fact that, in general, there are two types of people: those who like and care about animals and those who don't.

Realistically, the people we come in contact with on a daily basis are all "animal people." If someone has asked you about adopting a pet, they have crossed an important hurdle. They are animal people and they want to adopt too!

People who want to adopt a pet are a special group. They have opted not to go to a pet store, not to get a free pet from the classifieds, or not patronize a breeder. So I feel strongly that we need to do our utmost to make adoption from rescue a positive experience. The people we are dealing with every day are people who want to do the right thing. We shouldn't be grilling them and making them feel bad for wanting to adopt a pet.

Instead, we should be congratulating them and singing their praises because they want to save a life. That's why I'm such a fan of programs like the ASPCA's Meet Your Match program and other systems that bring the adoption focus down to its core issue: helping people select the right pet. Of course, we want our animals to get a good home, but a good home may be closer than you think.

When we turn around the equation from "do you meet our standards?" to "how can we help you find the right pet for you?" wonderful things start to happen. You find people saying, "well I could go to that training class since Rover doesn't seem to know how to sit yet." Instead of looking for reasons not to adopt an animal, we should be helping people find solutions. ("So you work all day? Have you considered hiring a kid to let out the dog in the afternoon or dropping him off at doggie daycare?")

The myth of the "perfect" home persists, despite all evidence to the contrary. No animal or human is perfect. Technically, I don't have a fenced yard. I live on 40 acres of forest, and no, it's not fenced. Does this mean I'm a bad dog owner? No. It means I walk two of my dogs on a leash. The other two come when called, and none of them get to stay outside unattended. It's never been a problem, yet some rescue groups still might not adopt to me because of my lack of fencing.

When we start to trust the people who want to adopt, they start to trust us a bit more too. More and more bad press is coming out about how "hard" it is to adopt from rescue. Don't add to that stigma. After all, both you and your prospective adopters are all "animal people!"

As always, thank you for all you do to help the animals ;-)

~ Susan Daffron
Founder & President, NAPRP

 

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