Giving animals a real chance

Banning pet shops from selling animals makes sense

By Jessi Raechelle

e’ve all walked into a pet
store to pick up a case of
dog food or kitty litter.

Your ten-minute venture soon turns
into an hour looking at all the cute
animals staring at you with those big
sad eyes just begging you to take
them home. They all have the same
effect. At the end of your time in the
pet store you want to take them all
home (even the ugly one that looks
like he’d rip apart your home). You’re
left with a heavy feeling in your heart
and the wonder that if you don’t
adopt these pets no one else ever
will. I am definitely guilty of these
thoughts. So much that I avoid the
section of animals all together when I

The other night I was standing at the
till patiently waiting for an employee
to notice me and ring in my pet food
when I noticed a clip board with a
page full of signatures on it. This
page of signatures was a petition for
people who are against banning pet

Pet stores should only be
allowed to sell animals if they have
a partnership with a shelter or rescue
agency that allows them to adopt out
homeless animals. When it became
illegal to breed rabbits for pet store
sales, Petcetera partnered with the

“Pet stores should only be allowed to sell animals if they have a partnership
with a shelter or rescue agency that allows them to adopt out homeless
animals. This type of partnership stops the breeding of animals for sale and
increases the amount of orphaned ones that get adopted.”

stores from selling animals. Let me
repeat this—the petition is for those
against a law that will disallow pet
stores from selling animals. The page
had about 50 signatures on it and

I didn’t even want to look to see if

SPCA. This partnership allowed
Petcetera to adopt rabbits through
their stores. This type of partnership
stops the breeding of animals for sale
and increases the amount of orphaned
ones that get adopted. As a result it

Qivaro

as opposed to adopting pets from
shelters is both unethical and morally
wrong. If you choose to buy the
puppy in the window of a pet store
(or sign a silly petition before really
thinking about it) then you are single
handedly promoting puppy mills,
homelessness and the euthanization
of animals in shelters. If pet stores
want to continue selling animals

in their stores, they should only be
allowed to adopt out animals that
come straight from rescue agencies.
This way, fewer animals will be bred
for sale and more animals in need will
be adopted out. In the end, this leads
to less animal euthanization due to
lack of room or not enough funding.
Passing a law that makes it illegal for
pet stores to get their animals from

 

 

go into the pet store. the stack of pages beneath were just cuts down on the number of animals anywhere other than shelters is a good
The reality is that animals in as full. This lead me to wonder, do that are killed because they are not way to ensure animals in shelters and
the pet store have a better chance people not thoroughly read things being adopted from overflowing rescues get a real chance.
of being adopted than animals in before they sign? Or are they just shelters.
shelters (yes, even the little ugly one). | undereducated and ignorant? - Buying pets from pet stores
Rethinking you life
By Patty Bojczuk thought the changes might bring.

n January 28,1 graduated from the
O Self Employment Program at Douglas

College. For the past three months,
I have observed the younger students of the
College studying before class and gathering in
their social groups. They exude such an energy
of enthusiasm as they embark on the learning
path that will eventually take them into their
desired future careers, and professions.

I just turned 55 and was once where they
are right now. I followed the passion of the
moment and pursued what I had originally
thought would be my life career and path. As
I look back at my journey from there to here, I
have discovered that what I thought would be a
life-long career, was simply a stepping stone to
more opportunities, to deepen the awareness of
my interests, my passions, and my purpose.

Sometimes the circumstances of life
played a factor in shifting my career focus,
like getting married, raising a family, caring
for an aging parent, and a downsizing in the
economy.

As a counsellor, life coach and
motivational trainer, I have seen many
clients who had been suffering from severe
depression, stress, and anxiety, that were
rooted in “fighting” their life changes and
focusing on the perceived problems they

-you look at do change!

I am always amazed at the positive change
in their mood and physiology when I simply
ask them, one question. “So what do you want
to be doing in your life?” This one shift in their
consciousness is like an engineer in the midst
of panic trying to deal with an out of control
train suddenly discovering the solution that has
them switching tracks and heading towards a
future destination that they “are” in control of.

Six months ago I was laid off from a
career I thought I would be in until I retired.

I have had to rethink my life many times, and
what appeared to be the worst thing that could
of happened to me, turned out once again, to -
be a blessing in disguise.

At a time in life when most are
contemplating their retirement, I have a whole
new lease on life as a business owner. I was
able to take all the years of education and
experience of my past careers and pool them =
into a valuable resource to help others ina new |
and more expanded way.

I am grateful to the Self Employment
Program, for the opportunity to experience the
excellence of it’s training, and all who deliver
it.

 

My story is living proof, that when you
change the way you look at things, the things