Of twelve puppies, our three-year-old daughter picked the one female because she was the shyest of the litter. Four years later, Molly has become a loving part of our family.
A friend of ours was a foster pet caretaker for dogs that don’t do well in kennels; such as nursing mothers. We adopted Molly from a foster dog’s litter because we believe in supporting the mission of Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC).
MCACC cares for more than 50,000 homeless pets per year. In October 2005, the agency set a goal to not euthanize one healthy animal. Over a year later, we have not euthanized one healthy animal. We attribute the success to our spay and neuter programs and to everyone in the Valley who adopts animals from one of our three shelters.
Several of my colleagues at Maricopa County have adopted animals from MCACC as well.
Helen Purcell, County Recorder:
“I adopted a one-year-old apricot Shih Tzu. She seemed like such a sweet little dog. Though I had not been seriously thinking about getting another dog, the situation just presented itself. I already had a small dog named ‘Duke,’ so I felt ‘Duchess’ would be good company for him.”
David Smith, County Manager:
“ ‘Sheldon’ is a shelty/sheepdog mix. He looks a lot like an Australian shepherd that I had growing up. He had some adjustment problems like growling at men (me!) or strangers, but now he does this little dance, balancing on his hind legs when we come home. Our twelve-year-old son is enjoying him.”
James Candland, Chief of Staff for Supervisor Don Stapley, District 2:
“When I saw the Cocker Spaniel, I immediately thought of our oldest son, who I knew would really love a dog. ‘Jack’ loves to wrestle with the boys, especially our three year old. He is very gentle, and has a sweet disposition. Our five boys are thrilled.”
Even my Chief of Staff, Jim Bloom, adopted:
“Supposedly, my dog is an Australian Cattle dog, but he’s more mutt than anything else. I named him ‘Joey,’ like the Aussie kangaroo baby. He tries to herd my two cats around without much success. I wanted a dog and wanted to do my part and adopt an animal.”
You, too, can do your part. A total of 36,000 dogs and 14,000 cats, annually, are wagging their tails and purring, waiting to be taken home. After we met our goal of not euthanizing any animals, we decided to set another goal. In November 2006, we pledged to save 20 percent of all animals that are afflicted with treatable illnesses. That equates to saving an additional 500 dogs and 900 cats.
MCACC is putting out a plea asking that you become foster parents so that these treatable pets can get well, away from the shelter environment and then find their new, forever homes. Please visit the MCACC website for more information and to find out about our programs: http://www.maricopa.gov/pets