So today is Thursday, and I'm totally ready for the weekend to just get here already!  

Today I wanted to share something with you all that really irritates me.   

I really hate it when people ask me questions about something they know I'm proficient in...such as animal care for example.  I give them a ton of advice and they choose to blatantly ignore me.   Then, when they have a problem, as a DIRECT RESULT of ignoring my advice, they come crying back to me to help them fix it.

I REALLY hate that. 

My opinion is that, if you are asking for advice from someone you consider to be an expert in their field, it's probably because you don't know a lot about the subject.   So if you disregard my advice, why would I want to help you later on?  The truth is, I don't.   But...99% of the time, the advice you asked for and then subsequently disregarded, led you to go out and purchase a new pet, that you now have to find a new home for.   Which means, that if I don't help you, the animal has to suffer.   

The same applies for pet stores.  No, the pet stores aren't asking for help and disregarding it, but hear me out.

I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a pet store and seen an animal in there who is clearly sick.   The problem, is that pet stores don't want to spend the money to have their animals looked at by a vet (even though it's required by law in most places).   If I leave the animal there, it suffers.  But if I buy it, the pet store makes money and gets another one to replace it.  So now, I've just perpetuated the problem.

Sometimes I think back to how blissfully ignorant I was of stuff like this.   Before I became a volunteer in animal rescue, I had no idea that animal abuse was taking place in pet stores; the very places that claim to LOVE animals!  (And yes folks, neglect - especially of a sick animal - is abuse!)  I had no idea that people would actually go to pet stores, buy an animal, and then release it onto the street a few weeks later, for any number of poor excuses...I mean "reasons."  Back then, I had no idea what a puppy mill was, or what really happened in slaughterhouses (you'd think that one was self-explanatory but hey! I was ignorant!).  

As nice as being blissfully ignorant was, I'm glad I know now what's going on out there.   Because now I can do something to help.  No, I can't single-handedly shut down every puppy mill in the country, or stop people from throwing rocks at a stray bunny that some dumb-ass let go to fend for itself (true story), and I can't stop people from throwing their 7-week old puppy from the 3rd floor window of an apartment building, subsequently breaking it's leg (also a true story).   But if ONE person takes my advice seriously and doesn't get a pet they aren't prepared to handle....if ONE person adopts from a rescue instead of perpetuating the pet store/breeder cycle...if ONE person brings their pets to be spayed/neutered and prevents a plethora of unwanted litters....if ONE person removes an animal from an abusive situation, not knowing anything about how to care for it, but just knowing they HAVE to get it out of there....Then I've made a difference.  A HUGE difference.  

Have you ever heard that saying "To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world?"   That's kind of how I feel about animal rescue.   I might not change the world all at once...but every little bit helps!

Fun Fact:
Did you know that rabbits have a 28 day gestation period, can give birth to 4-10 babies depending on the size of the mother, and can get pregnant again within THREE HOURS of giving birth?   They can also stop the birth process if danger approaches, and continue delivering their babies when it's safe?   Oh yeah, and females reach reproductive age at 4 months old!   Now you know where the saying "Breed Like Rabbits" came from!