Even a Kid Gets It: Shelter Pets are Better Fed Than Dead

In May 2011, then 9 year old Aaron Mims was taken to the Columbia Co pound to adopt a new pet.  The family chose a beautiful white dog and named him Arrow.  He left the pound wishing he could take home every dog in the place.  For his 10th birthday, he asked the kids attending his party to bring a bag of dog food instead of bringing him a birthday present.  He collected and donated 10 bags of dog food to the pound:

“I decided to do it for my birthday because I adopted a dog and I thought, since I couldn’t adopt all the rest, I should just give them dog food,” Aaron said.

Such a simple concept:  Even if you can’t personally adopt every homeless pet in the pound, you can still do something to help community pets in need.  Food not only provides life sustaining nourishment, it is also a universal symbol of love and comfort.  When times get rough, a full belly eases the mind’s worries.  Aaron can’t provide a loving home for every dog at the Columbia Co pound but he can help them feel nourished and loved with his food donations while they wait for adopters to find them.

Even a child understands that providing comfort to shelter pets is the right thing to do.  So why does Columbia County kill healthy/treatable pets instead of adopting them to loving homes?

In 2007, Columbia Co killed 42% of the pets in its care. I contacted the pound to get the most recent stats but did not receive a reply as of this posting.

There is a video at the link of Aaron scratching his dog’s belly and talking baby talk to him.  It’s tough to reconcile that image with the fact that Columbia Co may well have put Aaron’s dog in the dumpster had he not been adopted.

Aaron can’t adopt them all Columbia Co, so please take care of the pets at your pound until you get them into loving homes.  You’ve got donated food.  It’s a start.