Buy a Stamp, Help a Shelter Pet
Gabi Moore | May 11, 2010 | Comments 3
Peaches the cat was born under a porch. Buddy the golden retriever was surrendered to a shelter by a family who didn’t want to deal with his bad hips. Trevor the yellow lab was abandoned as a puppy at a construction site.
All of these animals had bad beginnings, but through animal shelters around the United States, they 
ended up in the loving homes they are in today, and now they are some of the 10 faces of the new Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter pet stamps. The U.S. Postal Service, Ellen DeGeneres and Halo: Purely for Pets are coming together to launch this new series of stamps, along with donating a million meals to animal shelter pets. The stamps feature five dogs and five cats that were adopted from shelters and are focused on bringing awareness to the need for shelter animals to be adopted. Almost half of the millions of animals that go through shelters each year are euthanized, and they don’t need to be. Stamps to the Rescue offers several reasons why you should adopt a shelter pet.
Shelter pets aren’t in a shelter because they’re bad pets. Most shelter animals come in simply because their owners can’t afford to care for them anymore. Even the dogs who come in as strays are always well socialized before they’re made available for adoption. Having personally spent a lot of time volunteering at an animal shelter, I know most of the dogs and cats that are adopted are well trained, already housebroken or litter trained and great to be around.
Not all shelter dogs are mutts. If you’re looking for a particular breed, it doesn’t mean you need to go to a breeder. About a fourth of shelter dogs are purebred dogs, and if you’re looking for a specific type of dog, there are many rescues dedicated to a particular breed of dog that can help you find a dog that needs a home.
Save money. Getting a dog from a breeder can cost hundreds of dollars, which seems like a waste when you could be getting the same breed of dog that actually needs a home. Plus, many shelter dogs are already spayed or neutered and have their shots, so it saves on many of the vet bills.
Save a life and improve your life while you’re at it. Almost four million shelter dogs and cats are euthanized a year, and new purebred puppies are being bred to breeders or puppy mills while others die. Adopting a shelter pet saves, and changes their life. And studies show that spending time with animals lowers blood pressure and cholesterol. Adopting a pet gives you a loving bond that lasts years.
You can purchase an Adopt a Shelter Pet stamp and other merchandise featuring the 10 rescued pets here and learn more at the Stamps to the Rescue website.
Filed Under: Take Action
About the Author: Gabi Moore is a Michigan State University journalism student. She's still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up, but she harbors a passion for telling moving and meaningful stories, and appreciates the power of storytelling to influence the world. An animal lover since she can remember, she volunteers at her local animal shelter and is involved with Michigan's Children, pushing for legislative support and funding for children's programs across the state.
[...] Have you seen the posters at the Post Office of the new animal stamps that were on the way? I have but I didn’t know the exact meaning behind it. After reading this article at http://www.globalshift.org/2010/05/buy-a-stamp-help-a-shelter-pet/ [...]
Hi
Thank you for explaining why the USPO issued the animal stamps I didn’t know the story behind it. I wrote a small post about your article on my site. http://toppetpics.com/buy-stamps-feed-animals
[...] bred to make money, seems assisted by the many campaigns to encourage adoptions. There’s the new Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps, and one of my favorite campaigns by Pedigree dog food, which has created an organization focused [...]