Are some issues really black and white? Probably

First of all, let me remind you, that for almost any problem, issue, debate, or discussion, I can generally see a depressing amount of viewpoints, options, and shades of gray.  It's a headache to me and probably everyone else who's ever met me, but there you have it.

Take for example my most recent dilemma: Should any group be allowed to adopt out unaltered animals?

This is where we get into shades and options and blah. 

On one hand:

• There's probably no way I'd would send any animal under 4 months old to get spayed or neutered (s/ned).  
• Whether I agree with this practice or not, there are organizations that just don't have the funds to s/n everything that they adopt out and so they rely on s/n deposits or some other kind of contractual obligation to try to enforce s/n.  
• I've been told that Michigan law  requires that a s/n deposit of at least $25 is charged upon adoption of an unaltered pet and that followup is the responsibility of the adopting shelter/organization. Those that do not comply can be prosecuted, adopters and organizations.

On the other hand:

• The last kitten I adopted (years ago), was allowed to come home when she was around 3 months old.  They would only return my s/n deposit if I got her fixed in the next month, which I did not feel comfortable doing, because her vet and I wanted to wait until she was 6 months old.  
• Who knew or would've thought that you could prosecute if one of the two parties failed to complete their end of the s/n commitment?  
• How many really believe that your local law representatives are going to follow through with a complaint, either as a rescue, shelter, or individual?  If the organization doesn't give you your s/n deposit back, if it's the state minimum $25, are you going to really raise a ruckus?  

Did the organization that I adopted my last kitten from (which actually WAS her vet's office) contact me about her spay?  No.  

Did they follow up with me about her spay when I didn't send in the certificate to get my money back?  No. 

Did they try to take my kitten back from me when I didn't complete my end of the barging?  No.  

From their view, they got my kitten "out of their organization," they "knew she was going to a good home," they didn't have to cover any of her expenses anymore.  Oh, and they got to keep my s/n deposit. 

One someone else's hand:

• Who's going to donate to those organizations that can't afford to s/n their animals? 
• What do you do about the animals that are too young or physically unfit some way?  Do you keep the young animals until they're old enough?  If so, where?  What about those that can't be s/ned for medical reasons? 
• What should happen to adopters who don't fulfill their obligation?  I don't have any real idea as to what that consequence should be.  I would think that the organization should remove their animal from the adopters home, since they failed to fulfill that contractual obligation.

What does it boil down to?  To me, it boils down to 3 simple options

1. If your organization is going to utilize a spay/neuter deposit option - enforce it and give it teeth.  Follow up on it, just to legally cover your butt, and have it clearly worded in you contract the consequences of failure to up hold the agreement.  Maybe make the deposit amount actually mean something besides a trip to the movies.  If the adopter doesn't complete their end of the bargain or at least arrange for spay or neuter at a later date to allow for adequate maturation, health, whatever, then take your animal back, get the law on your side, do something.  I know, sounds stupid right?  But seriously, not only should rescues and shelters be working to help and save homeless pets, they should also be working to STOP making more homeless pets.  Which we can't do if we're still allowing unaltered pets to roam around, making more unaltered pets.
2. Do some research.  If you think that there isn't money out there for the taking that can help you spay or neuter your animals, you must not have heard of this great thing called Google.  In 5 seconds, I found the following links on spay/neuter grants:
1. The DJ & T Foundation awards two types of grants. They are (1) Spay/Neuter Clinic grants and (2) Spay/Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP) Grants.
2. Grants for Animal Shelter, Animal Control, and Spay/Neuter Programs
3. Public Funding for Spay/Neuter - Best Friends Animal Society
4. Pet Smart Charities Targeted Spay/Neuter Program
5. Grants for Nonprofits : Animal Welfare
3. Don't forget your regular spay and neuter clinics - even if you don't want to discuss your problems with other groups or ask for help, you can find tons of resources, again online - look at what I found on ONE site  (thank you NOOTERS CLUB®, I don't care if there are repeats or not, this is still good stuff)

• * Spay Michigan
        Hotline offers information and referrals for low-cost spay/neuter in Michigan.
        www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/SpayMichigan.html
        888-5-SPAY-HELP
• All About Animals Spay/Neuter Clinic
        32863 Hayes
        Warren, MI 48088
        14 Mile and Hayes
        www.allaboutanimalsrescue.org/spayneuter.html
        586-435-6930
• All About Animals & Michigan Humane Society
        Spay/Neuter Program for Cats
        Open to limited Income Individuals who live in Detroit (all zip codes) and these communities in Macomb County: Centerline (48015), Clinton Township (48035, 48036, 48038), Eastpointe (48021), Macomb Township (48042, 48044), Mt. Clemens (48043), Roseville (49066), Sterling Heights (48310, 48312, 48313, 48314), Utica (48315, 48316, 48317) and Warren (48088, 48089, 48091, 48092, 48093). Also open to individuals bringing in feral cats from these areas as well as parts of Oakland County. Cost is $20 per cat and includes one-year rabies vaccination and initial FVRCP vaccination.
        Contact All About Animals Rescue for appointments at 586-435-6930. 
• Capital Area Humane Society Spay & Neuter Clinic
        CAHS provides an average of 2,500 public spay and neuter procedures each year. We are often booked a full month in advance and receive up to 10 calls per day from people in need of low-cost spay or neuter services. With expansion to the new clinic, we will be able to more than triple our public surgery schedule with capacity of 8,400 procedures per year.
        5919 S. Cedar St., Lansing, MI
        www.cahs-lansing.org
        517-908-0756
• C-SNIP
        (Community Spay Neuter Initiative Partnership)
        Low-cost spay/neuter clinic
        Open to anyone
        Grand Rapids, MI 49512
        www.csnip.org
        616-455-8220
• Humane Society of Huron Valley
        High volume spay/neuter clinic in Ann Arbor, MI. Serving all of Washtenaw County.
        3100 Cherry Hill Rd.
        Ann Arbor, MI 48105
        www.hshv.org
        734-661-3522 
• Kalamazoo Humane Society - Operation Fix-It
        Kalamazoo Humane Society offers an innovative approach to controlling pet overpopulation by making spay/neuter services convenient and affordable to low-income families in and around Kalamazoo County. With our mobile clinic we can go wherever we are needed. Cats are checked-in in the morning and discharged in the afternoon or evening of the same day to recover at home. Each surgery is performed by a licensed veterinarian. The dogs in the program are spayed or neutered at private local animal clinics partnering with the Kalamazoo Humane Society.
        4239 S. Westnedge
        Kalamazoo, MI
        www.kazoohumane.org
        269-345-1181
• Michigan Humane Society
        Provides 10 certificates per month for each of three shelters serving southeastern Michigan.
        www.michiganhumane.org 
• Michigan Pet Fund Alliance
        Low-cost cat spay/neuter clinics for low-income Oakland County
        residents.
        www.michiganpetfund.org 
• Spay Neuter Express
        The Spay Neuter Express provides low cost, high quality spay/neuter services, as well as vaccinations, routine testing, and parasite control medication.
        http://spayneuterexpress.com/
        616-897-8865
• Click here for a list of numerous programs in Michigan!  These MAY be out of date, but give more good places to start looking

Pit bulls and the rest of the world

My dog is a pit mix.  And while I love my dog completely and, according to my husband, may occasionally take her side over his (don't ask me how that happens, as I have yet to witness my dog and my husband have a disagreement that sides can be taken), she ... well, she's not exactly the most people friendly dog I've ever seen.

She was a rescue.  The rescue organization says she was literally like a possessed animal, and no, I don't mean in a good way.  They call her a "throw away dog," a dog someone got just to have a dog.  Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted her to be a fighting dog.  I'm pretty sure you don't dock a pit mix's tail unless you're trying to reduce... holds.  Or unless you're (understandably) crazy and think an unnecessary procedure is just the thing to put your dog through.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm kinda thankful someone did it to her, cuz i know she would've had one of those whip tails that does massive damage to people and things.

But that's neither here nor there.

With city after city banning pits and pit mixes, shelter after shelter denying them save haven, and report after report about the "evilness" of pits and pit mixes or their "naturally" vicious behavior... well, you know, sometimes a body just gets fed up.

I remember when dobermans were regarded in the press and public eye as the spawn of Satan.  Remember that anti-rottweiler craze there?

So here's what I have to say about that (and trust me, i've said it so many times other places that i don't even have to think while i type):

Pit bulls (and their mixed offspring) actually used to be called the “nanny breed” because they are absolutely loyal and devoted protectors.  The problem with the statistics is, I would bet you any amount of money, that

• any animal will bite if provoked, mistreated, or fearful of their life for whatever reason
• pits are too smart and loyal for their own good, so yes, they do need to be owned by an experienced dog owner who’s willing to give them the kind of training they need, and 
• a lot of people aren't those owners, thus pit and pit mixes get thrown into the media frenzy because of some ding dongs.

Again, like my dog.  I’m probably not the best owner for her.  She needs training and socialization that I don’t have the money or time to get her.  However, whenever she is not in my house or my backyard, she is in her harness, on her leash.  If I think there’s going to be any situations that she’ll respond poorly too, she’ll be muzzled.  I don’t like to muzzle my dog, but she has some aggression issues that can lead her to… nibble with not happiness.  And again, time and money are tight.

What’s my final problem with all this slander against my dog’s breed?  Ohh you asked such an easy question, thank you, I’ll answer it right now instead of making you wait for another posting.

Due to cross breeding, the mix of breeds that went into what is currently called a “pit bull” or pit mix, and the tendency for those labels to be applied incorrectly, most people, even in the animal safety, animal protection, animal rescue/shelter field are most likely unable to have a 100% accuracy rate of determining what is a pit, a pit mix, and what isn’t.

What does that mean?  Simple.  Either a dog is labeled a pit/pit mix that isn’t or a pit/pit mix is labeled as something else.  That’s a warm fuzzy thought, isn’t it?  Wanna see some proof?  Go to http://www.pbrc.net/breedinfo.html and bone up on the breed info. 

Where did I get all my opinions?  Besides my own inflated ego and somewhat unhinged brain?

http://stopbsl.com/fortherecord/myths/
http://stopbsl.com/fortherecord/scientific-studies/
http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/breed-specific-legislation.html
http://www.pbrc.net/breedspecific.html

Don’t trust me cuz you think I’m mental?  I can understand that.  I can respect that even.  Just do me a favor: go into your favorite search engine and type in “Breed Specific Legislation” and actually read some of the pages that come up.  Try to keep an open mind.  And if all else fails, remember, blaming the breed for an individual action of either a human or the animal is unfair.  Yes, I know life isn't fair.  But maybe it could be, if people started taking responsibilities for their own actions and we all worked together to MAKE it fair!

Pepsi Refresh Everything, here I come!

I've been working like a crazy lady trying to get my nonprofit off the ground.  Of course my biggest needs are the things EVERYone has: money, time, and people.

That's why I submitted an idea to the Pepsi Refresh Everything Project - http://pep.si/9NA07F

Okay fine, you want to know what my organization does/will do?  I understand.  Really I do.  But I'm sorry, I'm gonna have to be a little self serving here.  For details about my organization, please go to either www.armich.org or follow the link to my Pepsi Refresh project, as the info is there as well.

Please.  Vote once a day.  Every day.  For me.  And you can vote for the thousand other great ideas out there as well, please do, but don't forget us in the mix!

Thank you!

Self importance

It's a strange thing, being self aware.  I'm pretty sure it's what leads to ... shall we say an over exaggerated feeling of self importance?

I'm not knocking feeling that you're important.  I mean, if you don't, well... that generally means there are a few screws loose somewhere in your belfry.  Which is kind of part and parcel of being human, don't get me wrong.

As it's been said in oh so many different ways and at oh so many different times, normal isn't.  And even if it was, it's totally boring.  And, thankfully, from my perspective, is not a label that's ever been applied to myself.

But seriously, what in the heck is going on with the world today?  Why does anyone care what Paris Hilton thinks?  Who cares if Lindsay Lohan has a whole host of addiction problems?  Really.  No, really.  Yes, their families and actual friends should care, but why does anyone else?

For that matter, why are you reading random people's blogs?  To see if they're as crazy as you?  Yes, they are.  Maybe in different ways, but, don't worry, they are. 
To see if their life sucks as bad as yours?  Probably.  I'm pretty sure there's maybe a total of 5 people in the world who have a perfect life. 5.  And so what, reading about someone else's crappy life makes your life look not so crappy?  Well, yes, on certain days I bet that's true. 
Or are you just that nosy?  And if you are that nosy, here's a free tip from my fingertips to your eyes (I would hope it goes through your eyes into your brains, but don't worry, I'm not holding my breath):  GET A LIFE.  Get a hobby, get a good book, a good movie, go DO something with yourself instead of wondering what other people are doing.  Because I gotta tell you, when you're busy with your own life, you don't have time to waste on wondering if some person you don't know has got the newest coolest pair of shoes ever.  You won't need to know if that guy that was in that one movie is being cheated on by his wife or girlfriend.  You'll have (wait for it) more important things to wonder or worry about.

Yes, I do realize that I just told you to STOP reading my blog and to go out and get your own life.  So what are you still doing here?  Did you forget that there's a whole freaking world that exists OUTSIDE of the computer?  Then maybe you should branch out and work on a new hobby.