Free Write: The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoo

While visiting my family in Texas from July 20^th-24^th, I had the opportunity to visit the world’s largest animal rescue park, The Garold Wayne Interactive Zoo. My Aunt Jane, a frequent visitor of the park, generously drove us three hours from her home to Wynnewood, Oklahoma, where the park is located. She is always eager to introduce her friends and family to the park for the first time.

As we entered the park, I saw a sign that informed visitors that the cost to run the park and care for the animals for one month was $60,000, and that the park was entirely reliant on visitor donations and entry fees. As we traveled through the zoo, I saw countless signs hanging on animal’s enclosures asking passerby to sponsor them (starting at $25.00 a month).

Suggested Reading & Activism Spotlight: Save The Golden Lion Tamarin

Activism Spotlight

Picture courtesy of: www.savetheliontamarin.org

In honor of this month’s featured animal, the Golden Lion Tamarin, I’d like to shine to spotlight on an organization called Save the Golden Lion Tamarin (SGLT). Based out of the Washington D.C. area, SGLT was created in 2005 by a small group of conservation professionals dedicated to protecting the golden lion tamarin. SGLT provides technical and financial support to their sister organization, the Associação Mico-Leão Dourado (Golden Lion Tamarin Association, AMLD), based in Rio de Janeiro.
SGLT’s mission is as follows:

1. To protect the Golden Lion Tamarin, a tiny endangered primate, and to protect and restore the globally outstanding biodiversity of its natural habitat, the Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Rainforest.

2. To cooperate with other organizations with similar purposes.

3. To enlighten and educate society about preservation of the environment, especially the Atlantic Rainforest and the Golden Lion Tamarin.

4. To support and promote the efforts of AMLD, a Brazilian non-profit registered under the laws of the city and State of Rio de Janeiro, whose mission is the conservation of the biodiversity of the Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Rainforest focusing on the long-term protection of the golden lion tamarin in its natural habitat.

Freewrite: Animals in our Lives

This freewrite is a continuation of the topic I broached on in Monday's post: animal homelessness and cruelty, in honor of my rescue dog, Buddy, who passed away on May 20th.

My first dog was a black Labrador retriever named Sheba. I was a year old when we adopted her. To this day, it’s safe to say that Sheba taught me more and had a greater influence on my life than most humans. I have yet to meet a dog, or a person, with her level of patience, wisdom, and inner peace. Sheba was so happy to be alive and to be part of our family, and her paw prints are still in mine and my parents’ hearts today. I’ll never forget her and her endless devotion and unconditional love.

    Dogs are incredible creatures, and every day, they earn their title as man’s best friend. They give us a love, a trust, and a loyalty that is impossible to find in a human companion. That’s why Monday’s “Harsh Facts” break my heart. Dogs, cats, and other pets have so much to give to us, and too often we neglect them and give them nothing back. We abuse them, we abandon them, we over breed them, and due to the high volume of homeless animals in the United States and around the world, we euthanize them because our shelters are too full.

Harsh Facts, Ecofriendly Economics: Go Green in the Garden

Harsh Facts of the Week

Currently, no government institution or animal organization has the legal responsibility to tabulate national statistics in regards to shelter animals. While many shelters understand the value of keeping statistics, no national reporting structure exists to make compiling national statistics on these figures easy or even completely possible. These statistics are estimates made from the data available.

$2 billion of taxpayer money is used to capture, house, and kill homeless animals annually.

About five to seven million companion animals are admitted into shelters across the nation each year, and three to four million of them are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats). In 2008, approximately 3.7 million animals were euthanized in the nation’s shelters.

After being lost, less than 2% of cats and about 15 to 20% of dogs are reunited with their owners.

While virtually impossible to determine exactly how many stray animals live in the United States, estimates for stray cats alone range up to 70 million. 

The average number of litters a fertile cat can produce is one to two a year, with four to six kittens in a litter. For dogs, one litter a year is healthy, with about four to six puppies in a litter. In puppy mills, females are typically bred twice a year, and at this rate they burn out by age five and are put to death shortly after.

99% of puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills. 500,000 puppies are born in mills and sold in pet stores every year. 

Most dogs that are used to produce puppies in mills live their entire lives in cages.

Today, we put our dog, Buddy, to sleep. He was old and in poor health. But he was in worse health when we adopted him from a local shelter, and because of us, he lived a longer, happier life than he would have. Today, he passed away with contentment and was surrounded by a loving family.

I am a strong advocate of adopting dogs from shelters over purchasing puppies from pet stores. Rescuing dogs is endlessly rewarding because in most cases you're giving them a second chance at life. Our other rescue dog, Rosie, is now a certified therapy dog due to my mom's love, patience, and hard work. When you purchase your four-legged friend from a pet shop, you are most likely using your consumer power to inadvertently support puppy mills and the atrocious business they conduct.

When it comes time for you to acquire a new companion, thoroughly consider where you're buying your new friend from, and spend your money wisely. In honor of Buddy, I will write on this topic more thoroughly later this week.