
I was struggling this morning about what to post today because I haven't taken more than a couple of photos this week (and I usually post "Friday Night Photos" on Fridays). Then I saw that today is "National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day"--and I thought I would just bombard the post with photos of Joey, our shelter-rescue dog.
Jerry and I went to the local animal shelter (a.k.a. "the pound") on February 3, 2015--and we left that day with a 1-1/2 year old (estimated age) labrador-chow chow mix. In cutesy terms, that's a "chabrador" or "chowbrador". We had no idea just how much he would change our lives!

We wanted our boys to grow up with a dog and they were at a good age for it (9 and 10 years old). We named him Joey (after Joey Tribiani, to stick with the 'Friends' theme for our pets' names). Joey is truly the BEST dog--he loves to be around his people. He is fantastic with the kids and with our cats (the cats pretty much own him--poor dog!). My parents love to dog sit and my sister said if we ever want to re-home him (we would never!) she would take him in a heartbeat. He is an all-around well-behaved dog and we couldn't have wished for anything better.
When people are thinking of getting a pet, I always suggest checking out the animal shelters. There are so many dogs and cats that need homes--it is heartbreaking to think of all of the unwanted animals waiting for homes.
Out of the 60 million dogs and 75 million cats that are owned in the United States, only 10-20% of them were adopted from a shelter. Here are some more interesting facts about shelter pets (source):
Approximately 8-12 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year and approximately 5-9 million are euthanized (60% of dogs and 70% of cats).
Less than 2% of cats and only 15-20% of dogs are returned to their owners.
25% of dogs that enter local shelters are purebred.
Only 10% of the animals received by shelters have been spayed or neutered. 75% of owned pets are neutered.
It is sobering to hear that 6 out of 10 dogs and 7 out of 10 cats are euthanized every year in shelters. Just because these animals are in a shelter doesn't mean there is something "wrong" with them--there are lots of reasons that pets wind up in the shelter. When I think that Joey could have wound up euthanized, it breaks my heart--he is a fantastic pet!
Clearly, I am very passionate about shelter pets. (My cats did not come from the "shelter", which is why I'm making this post about Joey; Phoebe and Estelle were strays that people were trying to find homes for, and Chick and Duck came from an animal rescue.) I just hope that if you're looking for a pet, you'll check out the shelters first. When you adopt from a shelter, you're saving TWO animals--the pet that you adopt, AND the animal that now has a spot in the shelter.
While I am at it, just a quick fact about spaying/neutering... a female cat can have about 180 kittens in her lifetime. And those kittens can reproduce... and those kittens can reproduce... and so on. In 7 years, that ONE cat and her offspring can total 420,000 cats. (source) Isn't that insane?! So by spaying or neutering your cat, you could be saving hundreds of thousands of cats from winding up in a shelter one day. A quick google search or checking with your local animal shelter can provide you with low-cost spaying and neutering options. The animal shelter is HAPPY to help, because they don't want pets to wind up in the shelter either.
Okay, so on to the fun stuff... pictures of Joey throughout the last six years. Can you believe it's been that long since we adopted him?!







































