Paws4Change® - Animal Welfare Issues

your values are expressed through the choices you make

America is an animal-friendly society. Approximately sixty-eight percent of U.S. households own a pet - about 85 million families. Most of us consider our companion animals family members. We recognize that they enrich our lives in countless ways, improve our physical and mental health, and make us better people. We value the fact that they don’t care what we look like, where we live, what we do for a living or how much money we make; their love for us is unconditional. And we agonize over our decisions when the time comes to say farewell to them due to advanced age or disease. We often hold our values regarding companion animals above the values of many other cultures. We trust that shelters funded by our tax dollars and donations will give homeless animals that second chance.

There is, however, a complicated side to our relationship with companion animals. As much as we love animals, we don't always do what's best for them.

I admit that the name of my website and my advocacy work is an intentional play on words. My hope is to help educate you on some basic animal welfare concepts and lead you to subject matter experts who can help you explore topics in more detail. I'd like you to pause to think about these concepts and then perhaps change some of your previously held beliefs. You may find that you make different choices in the future which affect yourself, your family, your community and our country.

A lot of people ask, "what difference does it make what I do as one person?" The answer is simple: a lot. Your individual decisions can make a huge difference and you can be a force for change. When you get right down to the heart of the matter, it's really all about your choices

Your values are expressed through the choices you make.

I cover a number of subjects on my website which I think are important for people like me - people who are concerned about the welfare of companion animals, but may not be informed on issues related to them in our lives and also in our society. I am a no kill advocate which means that I advocate for the end of killing of healthy and treatable animals in our nation's tax-funded animal shelters. Doing so is both unnecessary and inconsistent with public values. All of the subjects I cover on my site relate to how shelters function in some way.

Puppy Mills

Community Cats and TNR

Why Adoption is Your Best Option

This is section 1.

your values are expressed through the choices you make

America is an animal-friendly society. Approximately sixty-eight percent of U.S. households own a pet - about 85 million families. Most of us consider our companion animals family members. We recognize that they enrich our lives in countless ways, improve our physical and mental health, and make us better people. We value the fact that they don’t care what we look like, where we live, what we do for a living or how much money we make; their love for us is unconditional. And we agonize over our decisions when the time comes to say farewell to them due to advanced age or disease. We often hold our values regarding companion animals above the values of many other cultures. We trust that shelters funded by our tax dollars and donations will give homeless animals that second chance. There is, however, a complicated side to our relationship with companion animals. As much as we love animals, we don't always do what's best for them.

This is section 2.

This is section 3.

I admit that the name of my website and my advocacy work is an intentional play on words. My hope is to help educate you on some basic animal welfare concepts and lead you to subject matter experts who can help you explore topics in more detail. I'd like to to pause to think about these concepts and then perhaps change some of your previously held beliefs. You may find that you make different choices in the future which affect yourself, your family, your community and our country.

A lot of people ask, "what difference does it make what I do as one person?" The answer is simple: a lot. Your individual decisions can make a huge difference and you can be a force for change. When you get right down to the heart of the matter, it's really all about your choices.