Mazzy and Rachel's Visit

After meeting Mazzy, I was really shocked to hear that he once was an abandoned bald puppy with mange that probably had little chance of surviving. Like Rachel told us, even no kill shelters will put down animals that are sick. And even if they’re not put down, they’re not likely to be adopted. Two years later, Mazzy is an ADORABLE, well-behaved, healthy dog. After seeing him, it’s so painful to imagine what his alternative fate could have been. If only every animal out there that’s in need of rescue could be as lucky as Mazzy has been. But the truth is, most of them aren’t. I remember on the PSPCA’s cat website they had been asking for foster homes for a few cats that had ringworm, and it said that without a place to go and a person to take care of them they wouldn’t survive. A sick animal needs special attention, and a shelter busting at the seams with animals just can’t give all the animals the help they need to survive. The problem is people come in looking for something really specific, and I really doubt anyone ever comes to the shelter to adopt saying “I want a sick animal.” Animal shoppers instead pass right over the skinny sneezing cat shriveled up in the corner. And it makes sense, you know? I can’t judge anyone for not wanting a perky purring cat—why wouldn’t you want that?—but it’s such a shame because with the right help that sick cat can eventual be just as lovable as the others, as was the case with Mazzy.

Anyway, on a more positive note…I learned so many little things from Rachel that I probably never would have known, and certainly wouldn’t have guessed. The rest of the day I told all my friends about carriage horses spurring the animal-welfare movement (which is fascinating to me for some reason) and the various animal shelters around the city that are doing great things just by being in business (hopefully one day putting breeders out of business), and also the harder to swallow facts like the 5 million animals that are killed every year and the fact that pit bulls are the most plentiful dog at the SPCA and the least likely to be adopted. Some people don’t really end up caring about any of it, and maybe before recently I wouldn’t have cared either, but once you see the number of pit bulls there are at the PSPCA or the overflow of animals there are there, it’s not something you either can or really even want to ignore anymore.