Soap for Hope
The Soap for Hope project was designed to make students aware that they, as one individual, can make a difference even without the masses. Students got into groups and chose a non profit organization that they felt they could help in some way. My group and I chose ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). After the organisation was chosen, all students made bath products, such as soap, lotion, bath bombs, ect. and decided to sell them and donate money to said non profit.
Issue Briefing: Old Dogs and their New Tricks
When families think of getting a dog, they search for the wide eyed puppies you seen on screen. No one, well at least not many people, think of the other animals, old in age but young in spirit, sleeping all by their lonesome on a bone chilling concrete floor. Or about the ones that roam the streets in search of food, hungry and sad without love. Or even about all the animals who are euthanized (killed medically by “humane” hands) because there simply is not enough space for them? There are so many homeless cats, dogs birds, ect. in need, but they are not even given a thought and this needs to change.
Overpopulation is one cause of animal homelessness. There is not an exact number for how many animals reside in the U.S., but there is an estimate of around 70 million cats alone (“Pet Statistics”). Did you know that for every cat and dog to have a home each person in the United States would have to own around 45 animals? (Maguire, Sharon) Now multiply that by the 300 million people living in the USA. In San Diego there is an endless cycle of animals traveling in and out of shelters.The Humane society, at the beginning of 2012, started with a grand total of 1,105 animals brought into the shelter. During the course of a year, 11,211 animals were brought into the shelter, some as strays (7,552), some were transferred from other organizations who were unable to house them (1,598), and others were brought in with requested euthanization (2,063) (“Annual Animal Statistics”). People do not seek out the elderly dogs left in the kennels. It is not really something people consider. In the time span of a year, around 5 to 7 million dogs are stuck in animal shelters all over the country while over 500,000 puppies originating from puppy mills are sold (“11 Facts About”). Even those puppies will be shoved back into shelters after owners underestimate the responsibility needed to love and care for them. People forget that puppies, while very cute and cuddly, are not potty trained and tend to view the world as their personal gigantic chew toy. Around 7.6 million previously owned animals are placed into a shelter each year (“Pet Statistics”) where they sit and wait for their former owner to return. Finding a home for these animals should not be as a hard a job as it has been. It is sad that people do not tend to consider the consequences when it comes to pets and a loving family. Only one out of ten loving and caring dogs a year even get to see a good home, according to Sharon Maguire, animal journalist. That needs to be fixed.
I care because I have a dog. I understand that a large fraction of the people in the U.S. have a dog. My dog sits in his cage all day long because the neighbors get mad when he barks at people passing by our window. He sits and sits just waiting for us to come home so he can run and jump. Except he can not run and jump then either because we are tired from work, school and have homework. I feel bad for my puppy because he does not get to do much. But those dogs in the shelters can not do anything. They just sit and wait for someone to hopefully unlock their cage door so they can run, frolic and be free. My dog could have a better family who could spend more time with him and play more fetch and leave him outside his cage every time they leave the house. But at least he has a family who loves him, which is more than I can say for the animals left in the shelters.
Overpopulation is one cause of animal homelessness. There is not an exact number for how many animals reside in the U.S., but there is an estimate of around 70 million cats alone (“Pet Statistics”). Did you know that for every cat and dog to have a home each person in the United States would have to own around 45 animals? (Maguire, Sharon) Now multiply that by the 300 million people living in the USA. In San Diego there is an endless cycle of animals traveling in and out of shelters.The Humane society, at the beginning of 2012, started with a grand total of 1,105 animals brought into the shelter. During the course of a year, 11,211 animals were brought into the shelter, some as strays (7,552), some were transferred from other organizations who were unable to house them (1,598), and others were brought in with requested euthanization (2,063) (“Annual Animal Statistics”). People do not seek out the elderly dogs left in the kennels. It is not really something people consider. In the time span of a year, around 5 to 7 million dogs are stuck in animal shelters all over the country while over 500,000 puppies originating from puppy mills are sold (“11 Facts About”). Even those puppies will be shoved back into shelters after owners underestimate the responsibility needed to love and care for them. People forget that puppies, while very cute and cuddly, are not potty trained and tend to view the world as their personal gigantic chew toy. Around 7.6 million previously owned animals are placed into a shelter each year (“Pet Statistics”) where they sit and wait for their former owner to return. Finding a home for these animals should not be as a hard a job as it has been. It is sad that people do not tend to consider the consequences when it comes to pets and a loving family. Only one out of ten loving and caring dogs a year even get to see a good home, according to Sharon Maguire, animal journalist. That needs to be fixed.
I care because I have a dog. I understand that a large fraction of the people in the U.S. have a dog. My dog sits in his cage all day long because the neighbors get mad when he barks at people passing by our window. He sits and sits just waiting for us to come home so he can run and jump. Except he can not run and jump then either because we are tired from work, school and have homework. I feel bad for my puppy because he does not get to do much. But those dogs in the shelters can not do anything. They just sit and wait for someone to hopefully unlock their cage door so they can run, frolic and be free. My dog could have a better family who could spend more time with him and play more fetch and leave him outside his cage every time they leave the house. But at least he has a family who loves him, which is more than I can say for the animals left in the shelters.