Why is it that every idiot thinks I'm his new best friend?
Saturday I went to Tri-Valley Animal Rescue's adoption day to help out with showing off the dogs we're trying to adopt. First, this guy comes up and starts telling me how he "had to" take his puppy into the shelter (which is a kill shelter, meaning that the chances of his puppy making it back out of the shelter are slim at best) because he didn't have time for it. He felt "half responsible" for this.

<rant>I have NO TOLERANCE for this. A dog is a lifetime (the dog's lifetime) commitment. You wouldn't adopt a child, then return it because you didn't have time for it, at least most people wouldn't, but somehow it's okay to abandon animals who are far more dependent on you than children???</rant>

I didn't know what to say to this guy. I wanted to read him the riot act but what would that do? No matter how hard we work at rescue, it will never be enough. So please, happy readers, spay and neuter your pets. Bob Barker wants you to and so do I.

Fun happy fact: since Bob began saying "Help control the pet population, have your pet spayed or neutered" in 1985, the number of animals euthanised for want of a home has dropped from 17 million a year to 5 million. Still a lot, but less.