Be Kind to Animals & Support Those Who Work to Prevent Animal Cruelty

My Granny with her animals in the early 1950s

Last month was ASCPA Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month. Since this is a cause that I feel so strongly about, I want to remind everyone that we should teach our children and encourage other adults to treat all living animals with kindness. To help your children learn more about protecting our furry friends, visit http://www.aspca.org/aspcakids/ I also wanted to share with you a story about animal rescue that I treasure so much:I come from a long line of animal lovers. My grandmother-"granny"-would not and could not pass up an opportunity to help ANY animal in need. She even rescued a baby duck! Strangely enough, the duckling was in an urban area -nowhere near water or anything else for that matter besides apartments, houses and cars! While taking a walk, my granny heard a commotion and saw some dogs near an abandoned storage building. She walked closer and saw that the dogs were trying to get to something. She then discovered a precious, lone baby duck that was about to be attacked. She rescued him and took care of Oscar for the next several years but when my grandfather was hospitalized for several weeks, she had to find a loving home for him - it broke her heart. 

A REALLY old picture of my brother with Oscar

Living in a very populated urban area, there were always stray dogs or cats and granny couldn't resist taking in the animals. She kept them in her house and took care of them as though they were one of her grandchildren. She always nursed the animals back to health then she'd try to find them a good home. If she couldn't find a home for them, she would keep them herself. She would always say "This is the last one! Ya'll better not bring ANY more animals in this house. I am not taking in another one!" Then next week, she'd have a new litter of kittens in her bedroom and a skinny, really old doggy she was nursing back to health in the living room. She was on a very low, fixed income but if one of the animals needed attention, she did not hesistate taking it to the vet. I remember at one point, her vet bill was outrageous but thankfully the veterinarian put her on a payment plan. My granny passed away in August 2007. My little girl and I had been staying with her that week and granny had just taken in a kitten that one of the neighbors rescued. I remember the kitty was full of energy and we laughed all week while watching her jumping and climbing all over the place. My daughter was young but she says that she can remember sitting in granny's lap while granny held a string, making the kitty jump at it while my daughter howled with laughter. The day before she passed away, my granny sent me to the store with the last $20 bill she had so that I could buy the kitten some toys, litter and a litter box and kitten food. She was the most loving woman I know and I am so thankful to have had such a positive influence in my life. She instilled in me the importance of really taking care of animals like you would take care of a family member. The animals were her family members. My granny followed the vet's advice on what to feed her animals and she didn't give them table scraps.  I had to tell this one story that illustrates just how much my granny loved her animals: Granny and I were at my aunt's house and she and her doggy were about to go home. We were hungry but she realized that there was very little to eat at home. I was a teenager and had no money so I couldn't help. When we got to her house, she had a couple of beautiful pork tenderloin chops, a couple potatoes, few slices of bread and a little bit of cheese. Now my granny was an amazing cook. She turned the potatoes, bread and cheese into a great meal for the two of us. BUT for her dog, she cooked the chops- she cooked them just like she would have if she was fixing them for herself. They looked and smelled so good! I can still almost smell them. I was amazed at that one act. I have told that story so many times - I don't know if people actually get it though. This was a woman who rarely bought fine cuts of meat - they were a luxury. She'd been saving this meat for a great meal but when it came down to deciding whether to let her dog eat cheese or meat, she gave him the meat and it wasn't even a decision for her. She didn't have to think about it. She was hungry and she could smell and probably almost taste that delicious pork loin chop but she let it cool, cut it into bite size amounts and fed it to her dog. I will never forget that as long as I live. 

I teach my daughter to treat animals the way she would want someone to treat her. She loves animals of all kinds and she is eager to help any animal in any way. Right now we are helping our local Humane Society with donations and my daughter is saving her allowance to go along with whatever we donate. They are desperately in need of help because of a recent rash of tornadoes and thunderstorms that devastated our county and other counties nearby. We are taking a truckload of supplies next week and I hope that we can keep on helping. The picture at the top of this post is of a puppy that we rescued. Some people who lived near us abandoned their dog while she was pregnant.  My father brought her home and we took care of her and when she gave birth, we took care of her puppies. Unfortunately, we could not keep all them because both there were so many. We have very little space and both of my parents are disabled -my father has dementia and taking care of him is a chore in itself but we were able to keep one puppy - the one in the picture at the top of this post- and my daughter named her Lexie.

Please remember the importance of showing kindness to animals and in working to end animal cruelty. One such organization is Anniewear. They provide high quality clothing and accessories for babies and toddlers but more importantly, Anniewear donates sales to animal rescue programs across the country. They also are offering you a discount: get 15% off your purchase when you use code BLOG2011. You can find my review for Anniewear here.
One more important thing to remember: please report animal neglect to your local humane society. Every little bit we do can help save animals makes a difference!
Disclosure: This compensated post was sponsored by the Role Mommy Writer's Network.