Joey’s Tuesday Tip – New additions

By Scott Lackenby | Dated February 24, 2015

Hey everyone! How are you all? I was a little sad to say good bye to Nurse Emma. 4weeks is a long time for her to be away. But she has promised me that she will send me a postcard to add to my collection, so I will be eagerly checking the mailbox!

It was on past my bedtime, but I heard about the awful story that Four Corners did on the Greyhound industry. I’m glad I didn’t watch it, it sounds like it was terribly confronting. As a result, there is bound to be a BIG shake up of the Greyhound industry. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that this will mean there will be an increase in the number of ex-racing Greyhounds who will end up either in shelters or being euthanised.

But it’s not just Greyhounds we see either looking for new homes or facing being put to sleep. Each year tens of thousands of animals are euthanised in shelter across the country. While some of these animals are put to sleep due to medical or behavioural issues that mean they cannot be re-homed, sadly the vast majority are euthanised simply because there aren’t enough homes for them. And while you may think that it’s just moggy’s and mutt’s with no “special” pedigree that end up in shelters or on death row. But you will also find pure breeds that end up facing the same fate.

In a perfect world, there wouldn’t be shelters or rescue organisations who are trying to find home for all of these unwanted animals because there would be no animals in shelters looking for homes. But sadly this isn’t a perfect world and there are thousands of animals out there, and not just dogs and cats, who are looking for their new fur-ever homes.

Now, I don’t want to get all preachy and say everyone must adopt from shelters and rescue organisations. But if you are looking at adding a new animal to your family, I would ask that you would consider adopting a needy animal. As I said, it’s not just dogs and cats who are in shelters or with rescue organisations. You will find birds, rabbits, rats, horses and chickens all looking for great new homes.

If you are going to adopt through a breeder, make sure you research them. While there are heaps of amazing breeders out there, there are some less than amazing breeders out there and I would hate for you to adopt from one of them.

And be sure that when you are adopting, whether it’s from a shelter or from a breeder, that you’ve done your homework and are adopting a breed that is suitable for you. You can take breed quiz’s online that will match you with suitable breeds or you can always talk to us for advice. We are more than happy to advise you on all aspects of adding an animal to your family. Because lets face it, animals are great!

Well, I’d better go. It’s time for my dinner. I’ll catch you on Thursday for another addition of Pet of the Week. Meows for now, love Joey xoxo