The importance of adopting shelter pets

If you know any of us here at News 25, you know we are big on supporting our pet family. This weekend, we are heading to Jackson County Animal Shelter to help clear the shelter.

Statistics show that each year, eight to 12 million dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens are euthanized because there are simply not enough homes for them. That’s where folks like you and us here at WXXV step in. WXXV Meteorologist Payton Malone said, “We love our pets. We’ve all almost rescued pets from Jackson County. I rescued Olivia a couple years ago and she was our pet of the week. We bring in a pet every week, we feature them on the show, on the noon show and then when I saw her, I fell in love. So I went out there and I rescued her.”

WXXV Anchor Taylor Rubach said, “Adoption obviously speaks volumes to me because I adopted Charlie, my Border Collie, from the Jackson County Animal Shelter a little over a year ago, actually. They help us and we help them. They help us because when we’re down and we’re in need of a friend they’re always there for you giving you unconditional love and we’re helping them by providing a new forever home hopefully.”

Jordan is also a pet parent. She says it is important to give shelter pets a forever home to see them really come alive. “You get to see the joy in the personality that comes out of that dog when it finds a home. Because these dogs do have personalities and they have real needs. And when you bring one home with you and give it that security of knowing that someone is going to be there to love it and feed it and care for it every day you get to see this personality and this dog is going to start loving you too.”

Hundreds of animals enter the Jackson County Animal Shelter door every month with no place to call home. “If they don’t know then they should know about how badly overcrowding is, especially at the Jackson County Animal Shelter. I know Maridee Mallette, the adoption coordinator there, was always explaining they take 400 to 500 animals every month. It’s just getting really bad and they really don’t want to have to euthanize animals that don’t deserve to be put down.”

But the most important thing to keep in mind is: “You’ve got to make sure you’re mentally, physically and financially able to go and rescue a pet. You don’t want to rescue a pet and then realize ‘Oh I can’t do this’ and have to take the poor thing back, you know, back to the shelter. That happens. So, I think one of the most important things is yes we want people to come out and rescue these animals and adopt them but make sure that you can come out and do it.”