Community News for Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Northeast Phoenix, Carefree, Cave Creek and surrounding areas.
CITYSunTimes Web Exclusives November 2011 | Read the full SECTION
CITY PETS They’re Not Just Pets…They’re Family
Give Our Four-Legged Friends Something To Be Grateful For This Season
By Susan Luffey
In our current weary economy, let us ponder the things that we are thankful for this year. Perhaps it is the ability to still have a roof over your head at night, put food on the table for your family or still be employed. Can the unwanted four-legged friends say the same? Probably not, as hundreds of animals die daily at the hands of their cruel and uncaring owners in overcrowded shelters, in addition to those let loose on the streets. Local animal rescues desperately need our help! Call a rescue today and see firsthand how thankful these precious furry friends can be when a helping hand is extended. For a listing, go to www.pacc911.org.
By assisting these animal havens and/or adopting a new family member, you can have a little something extra to be thankful for this year.
ANIMAL RESCUERS CREED
I’ll never bring about world peace. I won’t single-handedly save the rain forest. I’m not a brain surgeon and I’ll never transplant an organ to save a life. I don’t have the ear of a powerful politician or world power. I can’t end world hunger. I’m not a celebrity, and God knows I’m not glamorous! I’m not looked
up to by millions around the world. Very few people even recognize my name. I’ll never win the Nobel Prize or end global warming. There are a lot of things that I’ll never do or become.
But today, I helped place an animal!
It was a small, scared, bundle of flesh and fur that was dumped at a shelter, or on the streets by unfeeling people who didn’t care what happened to it, but yet who were responsible for it having existence in the first place.
I helped find it a loving home!
It now has contentment and an abundance of love, a warm place to sleep and plenty to eat. Two little girls have a warm and playful new friend who will give them unending affection and teach them about responsibility and love. A wife and mother has a new free spirit to cuddle, nurture and care for. A husband and father has a furry friend to sit in his lap at the end of a hard day of work and help him relax and enjoy life. And he has a sense of satisfaction that when he is gone all day at work, there is a gentle spirit in his home keeping watch over his family.
No, I’m not a rocket scientist. But today, I made a difference! And I’ll do it tomorrow too, if given a chance.
– Author unknown
Susan Luffey is the owner of Pampered Pets & Plants, Inc. For more information, call 602.547.1121 in the Greater Phoenix area, or 888.547.1121 in Maricopa and Prescott or visit www.pamperedpetsandplants.com.