My name is Stephanie O'Brien. I'm an animal lover and enjoy volunteering. I have combined those passions into providing a temporary home to animals that would otherwise be sitting in a shelter or worse, euthanized due to lack of room in a shelter. For the past two years I've fostered pit bull type dogs for a rescue in South Dakota. I've also had the opportunity to do some presentations on responsible pet ownership and have been involved in fighting breed specific legislation in SD and IA. I'm looking forward to providing the readers with animal related topics and possibly answer any questions you may have. Enjoy! Stephanie Sioux Empire Pit Rescue Volunteer

Are You Up For The Challenge?

Posted Monday, November 25, 2013, at 8:18 PM

Boomer's Voice

I've been told I have a challenging personality. I take that as a compliment even though I don't think it's always meant to be one.

I try to look outside of the box on many things. I'm always trying to find ways to make things better, work more efficiently, and what will have the best impact. So when I say, ''what about doing it this way, or how about we try doing this?'' I'm not saying your way is wrong, nor do I think my way is right. I'm simply asking you to try and step out of the box and look differently at the task at hand.

I recently came across an animal rescue group in California that is doing some incredible outreach work. They are assisting people that feel as though they can no longer keep their pet due to various circumstances. Some of the help has been financial assistance for vet visits, a pet deposit on a new place to live, and even an impound fee because their pet was found without them.

Other ways they have helped was keeping their animal in foster care while the family got on their feet again, and even rehoming their pet if necessary. All of these animals have been kept out of the city or county animal control facilities saving them from possible euthanasia not to mention tax dollar money.

So here's your challenge. Does everyone have a right to own a pet no matter if they have a job, a house, an automobile, money to cover unexpected vet bills, or should these folks be denied pet ownership? Should we instantly accept every animal that an owner wants to surrender or should we work with the owners to find some solutions?

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I have also come across numerous articles lately about shelters that are working with owners on pet retention. I think it is a fabulous idea.

I've always said that it is very easy to become jaded in the world of animal rescue. After being presented with numerous false statements of why an animal is being surrendered, it lowers the capacity to feel compassion for those people...if you let it.

Not every person that presents with an unfortunate situation in which they can no longer keep their pet is being dishonest. Especially in communities such as this where pet-friendly housing is all but non-existent. It is very real that residents of NW Iowa are not able to keep their pets because of a move.

I would love to see a partnership working toward a solution for the person to keep their pet. Even if animals are only in a shelter environment for a short time, the stress they encounter is dramatic and can have a lasting affect on the animal.

What I would love to see, for areas with the problem of pet-friendly housing like ours, is more involvement in working toward a resolution. I'm not sure how it could even be accomplished, but since it is such a huge problem, I wish that steps would be taken that could find an area of compromise between landlords and tenants.

It is also really easy for many to say that if the person cannot afford vet bills, they shouldn't have the animal to begin with. I strongly disagree with that belief. I've seen, first hand, an animal that suffered neglect from an owner that was an "upstanding" member of the community, that had plentiful financial resources. I've also seen, first-hand, people that went without things they needed to provide their animal with vet care. Unexpected, or emergency vet care can be very expensive. Even the most financially stable person may not be fully equipped to deal with the payment in full policy of vet offices. It does not mean that person is any less of a pet lover than the next.

Thank you for choosing this topic.

-- Posted by simonsays77 on Thu, Dec 12, 2013, at 3:56 PM

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