promises, promises

i promise i'll update this more regularly. eventually, someone is going to read it, and then what?

anyway, happy turkey day to all who stumble upon ye olde blog. i'm currently trying to figure out how to spend the next 3 hours and 10 minutes until i get to go home and gorge on turkey and fixins. mayhaps... and i've lost my train of thought.

i guess i should list something that i'm thankful for. apart from actually having a job, a wonderful family, and a wonderful bf i love with all my heart, i'm thankful for one other little thing that's been on my mind: my shelter pooch.

i've been watching a lot of dog movies lately: bolt, lady and the tramp (personal fave), and today, hotel for dogs. i do love my disney movies, but these movies also make me think about adopting animals a lot. between my parents, my sister, and i, we've gotten a hefty total of about 10 dogs, all adopted or rescued, and they're the best dogs in the world. but mine is especially awesome because she sounds like a moose.



that one (if the image posting worked) is my silly little pup Riley, a beagle/basset hound mix that i adopted from a high-kill shelter in my hometown after finding her via petfinder.com, which i LOVE and advocate using. she was actually several weeks past her euthanization date, but the workers loved her so much they kept her off the books, so to speak. i took her without signing any forms or paying any fees. she was supposed to be dead already, so having paperwork on her adoption would have gotten the shelter into trouble. she's a great dog, but she practically grew up in the shelter with little contact from other dogs and minimal contact from the people caring for her.

i love that little thing with all my heart, and i know that there are thousands of other dogs just like her hidden away in shelters while people buy "purebred" dogs that have come from puppy mills. there are rescues for purebred dogs. on petfinder, you can find anything, i promise.

now, you might be thinking, "what's so wrong with buying a dog from a shop instead of adoption?" allow me to tell you.

i watch a lot of tv. well, not a lot, lot, but enough. mostly, i watch animal rescue shows (dogtown being my fave), and a lot of those shows deal with puppy mills, which are perfectly legal. however, the conditions the dogs live in are so atrocious that they should be listed at the top of "Cruelty to animals." the dogs they breed stay in cages, have limited food and water, pretty much never get to see the outside of a cage, are never groomed, and are killed when they've outlived their usefulness. the handlers select other dogs to breed, but they don't pay attention to genetics; therefore, the puppies that result from these practices often have genetic abnormalities, disabilities, or diseases. yet pet stores pick these animals up and sell them to consumers as the perfect little pet. sometimes this works out, sometimes it doesn't.

the point is that, while someone's picking out a puppy from a glass case, there are animals in shelters being put to sleep because no one wants a shelter dog. when i got riley, she was in heat, she had a skin infection, and she had no idea what to do with other dogs. she's doing much better now that she's been inducted into a pack and knows what her place is, but she still prefers people. she's the sweetest, most loyal, and funniest little dog, which makes her even more special. a lot of people passed on an awesome dog, but it's okay. she's mine. and i'm always thankful for that little face and those little legs and that smile. cause sometimes, nothing makes you feel better or more loved than your dog.