We can ALL do this one thing to save animals’ lives!
I have always been moved by the plight of animals –rescued, abused, stray, lab animals, farm animals, and yet as one ordinary person, I’ve never felt that what I could do amounted to much. When I began my CD project several years ago, my hope was that it would help raise money for shelters and rescue groups and therefore help save lives. While a little of that has happened, it didn’t happen at the level I’d hoped for. So in 2016 when I had the opportunity to do a radio show about rescue, loss and love (Love Has Many Faces, heard Tuesdays on 1150 KKNW at 9 am PST) I also had a vision of getting the word out about various rescues, along with products and services that help animals and their people. And that has been ticking along ok. My motto has been “everyone just do SOMETHING”. Use your talents, time, donations as you can, or just forward an e mail if that’s all you can do.
But I have stumbled upon something that is simple, and yet so vital….and that is the issue of pet suffocation. It is tragic, but it is avoidable. If EVERYONE will just communicate this to one or two people in their lives we can spread the word. PETS ARE DYING because they are suffocating in snack bags. Yes, chip bags, cracker bags, dog treat bags. Now I’ve been an animal advocate for over 30 years but until about 2 years ago I’d never heard of this sad phenomenon. Prevent Pet Suffocation is an organization that was started in 2011 when the founder’s beloved dog suffocated in a chip bag. It can happen while you’re at home, in another room. It can happen if you leave the house and your dog or cat gets into the trash. It is so sad to read the stories on the preventpetsuffocation.com website. But guess what? The fix is simple. Really simple. Don’t leave snack bags out. Put your snacks in bowls when you serve. Make sure your trash is secured. When you’re done with said snack bags, cut the bottoms off before throwing them out so if your pet or a neighbor pet still happens to get into the trash, this danger is removed.
We might feel like our efforts are a drop in the bucket when looking at the millions of pets that need help every year. Of course making the effort we’re able to make at our own level is still important. As the old motto goes, saving one dog may not change the world, but the world will change for that one dog. But in the meantime, let’s just send an e mail, post something on FB, have a conversation with an animal lover. That’s it. What if everyone took 3 minutes, and sent this link to a few pet parents they know. www.preventpetsuffocation.com Let’s do this–we can start saving lives RIGHT NOW by simply sharing information. Will you help?
