CELEBRATE NATIONAL PET MONTH BY ADOPTING A NEW FRIEND!

May is a wonderful month to celebrate something, and it is chocked full of happy days to commemorate.  We have already celebrated such well-known events such as May Day (1st), Cinco de Mayo (5th), and Mother’s Day (11th), and are looking forward to Memorial Day (26th this year).  Some of us are also aware of other significant days such as National Teacher Day (7th).  The Kentucky Derby runs the first Saturday of every May, with the Preakness race coming right up.  May is also National Pet Month in the United States.  And, as if that weren’t enough, there is a specific week dedicated to pets during May – National Pet Week, which was observed May 4-10.

This Saturday, MAY 17th, the Fairfax County Animal Shelter is holding an Open House at its newly renovated facility to celebrate the positive new changes at the Shelter, and the public are invited to the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony which starts at 1 p.m.  Refreshments, tours of the building, and children’s activities will be provided afterward, and all available adoptees will be shown off.   Check out directions and other details at the following web site:  http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/animalshelter/

For some of us, every month could be National Pet Month because we love our pets so much.  And every month is a good month to rescue and adopt a homeless animal.  There are many humane societies and animal shelters in the Washington Metropolitan area that rescue lost, injured, and abandoned animals and try to find good homes for them.  Fairfax County’s Animal Shelter on West Ox Road is such an organization that serves the ENTIRE county and even some bordering jurisdictions. The Animal Welfare Leagues of Alexandria and Arlington are in the jurisdictions of the City of Alexandria and Arlington County but close enough to parts of Fairfax County that some people tend to go there instead.  If you want to look at prospective animal adoptees online before actually visiting a location, you will find that most shelters and animal groups use Petfinders.com as a showcase for advertising their pets for adoption.  If you are seriously considering adopting a rescue animal but prefer a breed specific pet, then you might be interested in researching rescue groups online by breed.  For example, almost every breed seems to have a rescue group that caters specifically to that breed.  Some of those breed-specific rescue groups are local, and some are farther away, but regardless of their distance to you, many groups are willing to work with you to find homes for their pets.

For the author of the Pet Tails Blog, May 1 is a day of personal celebration.  It’s the birthday of a very special little dog named Chuckie, who turned 15 this year.  Although Chuckie has been the proud and (dare I say it?) happy owner of his human for 12 ½ years, his life was very rough for the 2 ½ years before that.  Chuckie was rescued by staff at the Washington Humane Society after reports that he was neglected continuously and mostly tied to a tree in his yard, rain or shine, for the entire time since he was a puppy.   His human adopter found him online and fell instantly in love with his picture.  He came to his new home for a two-week trial period and never left.   In spite of a wretched upbringing and lack of human love and companionship in his first few and formative years, Chuckie has always seemed happy and well adjusted.  He has always been one of several rescue pets in his adopted household and has brought joy and unconditional love to everyone  – cats, rabbits, dog siblings – and, of course, to his human.

One of the arguments some people might voice about adopting a pet like Chuckie is that there is no guarantee as to what you are getting as far as behavior and health issues are concerned.  However, in reality, there is no guarantee that you will get the perfectly behaved or healthy dog or cat through a breeder either.  Many breed-specific pets end up in animal shelters not because they aren’t perfect, but because their owners are not prepared for pet ownership and have not known how to train their pets properly.  Many breed-specific pets also are born with genetic and medical issues specific to their breed, so health or medical issues are not necessarily related to their rescue status or their age.  These issues would have occurred regardless of whether or not the pets were purchased at birth or rescued some time later.

There is a dog like Chuckie out there for anyone willing to open their heart and their home for a rescue dog.  The same goes for the millions of cats that are also available at your local animal rescue organizations.  And if you want a puppy or a kitten to raise from the beginning, you can most likely find a young animal to adopt as well, especially during certain times of the year.  Like May, for example.  What could be more perfect than to adopt your new pet in May – National Pet Month!

Don’t forget to visit the Fairfax County Animal Shelter this Saturday at 1 p.m!

Happy Pet Tails!