Sadly in the US, animals are considered property so rules for care are lacking if you ask me. This topic came to mind because I had a conversation with a lady & I was telling her that a neighbor of mine often leaves her dog tied up in her backyard & goes to work. The dog has access to the garage but it is detached & very hot if warm outside. The dog often barks & sure some of that is out of frustration & separation anxiety. Sadly as long as the dog has access to someplace if it rains & water to drink it is legal for her to leave the dog out on a leash all day alone. Is it right, I don’t think so. I wrote a post about the potential dangers, it is #73.
The conversation continued that she has a new puppy/dog & her dog is a doggie daycare & they are helping them with training. I asked where & when she said the name I said you might want to look into their training methods. I knew this place believes the ends justify the means. They will use choke collars, pinch collars & shock collars(e-collars) & convince people they are safe. I did a lot of research into this & wrote a post about shock collars which is #85. I have written many posts about a variety of training tools & methods & even about how would you like to be taught/trained if you were learning a new task. Some of the other posts I have written on the different types of collars are #26, 32, 57 & 79. Some of my posts I have written on training are posts #’s 45, 97, 99, 100 & 101. I enjoy researching & learning then sharing what I learn & also I share my experiences. In the beginning I wasn’t doing all the things correctly,(still learning) but I didn’t know better. I believe once you understand or learn a better way you should immediately move towards starting to do what is better.
It is not legal in all towns but many cats are left outside & many left to fend for themselves. I believe it is different for farm & barn cats, these cats are there to keep mice away & many are way more street smart than cats that live in the suburbs or the city. There are many dangers of cats being left outside & I included many in post #73.
Sadly cats are not the only domesticated animals I hear about being left outside, rabbits are often left outdoors. If the conditions are right & the rabbit has access to heat & air conditioning & can safely get away from predators. I have seen rabbits only have access to metal grate bottom cages which can hurt feet over time. I’ve seen no huts that the rabbit can go into to get out of the sun when it’s hot or other elements. As a child I had uncles who raised rabbits & I was clueless to the danger of predators, my uncles cared about their animals, but they didn’t know or have access to the info we do today. Sadly one of my uncles had 2 big dogs tear open the rabbit hutch & kill the rabbits he had. I was young so details were spared, but I overheard it was a real bad end for the rabbits.
Pet sales is a big $$ making industry & many places that sell pets are not monitored like they should be. Puppy mills are scary to even think about & I doubt many people really know how made the situations are. The ASPCA does commercials & some of the dogs & cats they show & the places in the background are puppy mills. I wrote a blog post on puppy mills it was #146. Some backyard or home breeders are great either, is smaller may not even be licensed, so not monitored. Pets are property so be aware when looking for a pet. Show breeders selling some pet quality pets can be a much better route. Show homes sell pets quality if a pet doesn’t appear it will grow up & reach the show requirements (too small, too big, too much or not enough of a certain color for the breed).
Pet food is also a big money maker, but as pet caregivers it is our job to investigate what it is the food & treats we are feeding. There are many items in pet foods for all types of pets that are not legally allowed to be put in any human food because they are considered toxic, a carcinogen, or dangerous to our health. The AAFCO is the organization that checks pet foods, but their standards of what is nutritious or safe are way below what my research has shown. I have written quite a few posts on foods so far, & written them for a variety of pets. I make my birds seed to be safe or healthy. I make my birds seed mix because of what I found was in all the manufactured foods I checked ingredients for (every brand I could Google search). My vet is an Integrative Vet (practices Western & Eastern medicine) so I had her muscle test my dogs food for them. Some of my blog posts about food & nutrition are posts # 28, 34, 37, 38, 40, 43, 51, 59, 74, 83, 102, 104, 107, 111, 113, 115, 116, 123, 129, 137, 140, 154. There are other posts that talk about specifics for certain types of pets, such as I did a series on Guinea Pig care & Rabbit & Ferret care & these posts also include nutrition info for the particular type of pet.
So just because things are legally allowed, sold or a training method using a certain method doesn’t make it necessarily safe or good for our beloved pets. We need to be educated & look at the whole picture & think hard & long about the long term effects. As pet lovers we want our beloved pets to be healthy, happy, safe, bonded to us & be with us for as many years as possible. By making smart educated choices about what is best for our pets & not just what is legally allowed we can hopefully achieve the above things in bold. Pets may be property under the law, but mine are part of my family.
I have been an animal lover all my life & I had pets growing up as well as an adult. There has never been a time in my life where I have not shared my home with pets. I fostered pets for 20+ years & also pet sat for a few people so I have had experiences with so many types of pets. They are all unique in some ways, but they all want to be treated with love & kindness, just as we do.
You can find a table of contents for all my posts on my home page under the show tab. When you see the posts you want to read, go back to the home back & scroll till you come the corresponding post #. Each post usually take 4-8 mins to read, I try not to make them too long.
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If you have questions for me directly you can email me at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com If you have an idea for a post feel free to email as well.
Thanks to all my subscribers & those who like & comment I really appreciate it.
Debbie
Echoing Great Pet Care 