By Zoe SonkinLight and Dark

Shelter Dogs and Cats vs. Household Dogs and Cats

 I often think of times in our lives when dog and cats are mistreated

and unhappy. On the other hand, I think of joyful and happy cats and dogs. I think harder and realize that animals deserve to have a wonderful life, with friends, space, and owners that care about them. What I saw at the animal shelter was the opposite. My dog and cats are so much happier than the shelter dogs and cats. I wish that just a little bit of household animals happiness can go into every shelter animal. Soon it will happen; soon my dogs and cats wont be the only ones happy.

The photographs I took showed me the reason why household dogs/cats are happier. My dogs and cats get to have room to move around/play, and have owners who pay attention to them. While dogs and cats at animal shelters, have no room to move around/play and have little to no attention. They are stuck in small cages and don’t have any other animals friends nearby. No wonder why they jump and scratch their cages when a person comes in. All they want is love and space. Is that really that hard to get? Seeing how my dog reacts when I come home is nothing compared to when I go into the dog shelter room. Dogs are barking, scratching, whimpering, and begging for you to come and pet them. The cats at the shelter were sad and lonely. Fighting with their cage-mates and looking into their sorrow little cat eyes makes you want to cry.  

Being trapped in a small room with two other humans would not be an enjoyable life. This is how it would feel if you were the cats and dogs in shelters. Even if you did not like the people in your cage, you would have to deal with it. Even if you would get no attention from them, and never talk to them, you would have to deal with it. You should be lucky that you are not in their shoes. Even if you think it would not be “all that bad” it would most likely be a nightmare. Begging for someone to adopt you would be your job every day. Hoping that one person will scoop you up and pet you. This is the life of dogs and cats in shelters everywhere.

Over an estimated 6-8 million cats and dogs entered animal shelters in 2012-13, with only 3,500 shelters in the United States. Shelters must have been over crowded. The animal shelter I saw has not even made a dent with the amount of animals compared to other shelters. If this shelter was crowded, picture how many animals were at other famous shelters. The percentage of owned dogs adopted from animal shelters were only 20%! That would mean 80% of dogs would still be trapped in the small cages begging for love. The percentage of cats owned from anima shelters was only 26%, which is also very low. 76% of cats were still left with no one to love and no home. –Facts from www.humanesociety.org

 

I have not only tried to show you the comparison to household dogs and cats to shelter. But, I tried to show you how special it is to have someone to love. Sadly a lot of animals don’t, but soon that will all change. Not only should all people deserve a home but all animals deserve a home too.