Ten Days To Live

Ten Days To Live

By: Holly Abidi

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What if you only had ten days to live?

         They open our hearts and we open our doors. They live with us constantly and become like our children. They are our companions, whom fill our lives with joy and happiness. They also reduce the stress we face in our busy lives, maybe because they’re always there to lend an ear and never question us in return. They simply support us in ways we can’t begin to understand. I’m talking about the animals that we adopt or buy from a pet store. These companions end up warming our lives with more than friendship. They heal us, they give us hope, and they give us a purpose to live, changing our lives forever—or maybe not.

         Once these furry little kittens, puppies, or any other animals are in our homes we suddenly decide we don’t want them anymore. The decision is simple we just get rid of our problems. Maybe it’s the mess, the lack of interest, or the work. But suddenly we decide, with a snap of our fingers, that we don’t want that “problem” anymore.

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         But think about this. Daily countless cats and dogs are dropped off at the SPCA or the Pound. Those that go to the SPCA usually get taken care of or placed in another home. After all it works for you. You get rid of your problem. You take off and continue on your merry way. Gleeful that that animal is no longer there to mess up your life. However, not all the animals that go to the SPCA or an adoption program have a happy end. Most of the animals, particularly cats and dogs, aren’t lucky enough to ever be placed into a proper home. Most don’t go to an adoption program, but instead they go to the pound.

         So we must realize that any animal we decide we don’t want doesn’t just cease to exist. That animal is a living-breathing creature, a life, just as a child. Yet, sadly some of those animals we don’t want end up homeless. And many then suffer extremely difficult lives. Often most of the homeless animals die horrible deaths. Many are plagued with fleas that eat them alive or they stave to death because they are simply unable to fend for themselves. They are left completely helpless, because we don’t want them anymore. And that’s not all, the majority of these pets end up in the pound.

         In the pound in Richmond Virginia, I was informed that the animals, which are countless cats and dogs, once our beloved pets, have only ten days to live. Only ten days to live—that is before they are ruthlessly murdered. Does murder sound to harsh? Well many people would agree—it’s not. Pounds all over the country, anywhere, it doesn't have to be in Richmond Virginia, kill healthy, loving, caring, and innocent pets everyday. And they deserve so much better.

         Every animal deserves a chance to be adopted, no matter how long it takes. But sadly instead of them getting a second chance and a proper home they are killed. They are ruthlessly seen as a burden, garbage, and their lives are ended. They are “humanly put out of their misery.” But the only misery these animals suffer from is the misery we’ve inflicted upon them in the first place. It’s our fault and that’s how we deal with the situation. We destroy another creatures life, just because we don’t have the room to house them. I’d say they were better off running free as a stray than put to death. These helpless animals, they don’t have anywhere to go and they have nowhere to hide. Their fate, their lives are in our hands and we turn around and murder them!

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         It’s about time we get real. We are supposed to be the most intelligent creatures on this planet, so it’s about time we act like it. We can’t go around killing endless lives. It’s not right. Instead, we should be coming up with a proper solution. There is no good reason why we continue to take the lives of billions of animals. They don’t deserve this! And sadly enough they can’t even say so.

         These pets we call them are domesticated wild animals. They were domesticated by humans in the first place otherwise they were living naturally in the wild. Living in the wild keeps their populations down. They then don’t grow in numbers, because nature always takes care of itself. Yet, once again we have screwed this up. Now cats and dogs that are either in shelters or are homeless number in the millions or more. These animals can breed quickly. For example, when a domesticated dog has puppies usually they all survive, because they are taken care of. And a dog can have 4 to 8 puppies twice a year. A cat may have around 2 to 5 kittens twice a year. Now, as you can see this is a lot of dogs and cats that need homes. That means the population explodes out of control, but whose fault is it? It’s ours!

         In our complex world “murder” is the only solution we have to a problem we brought on ourselves. We need to put an end to pounds and kill shelters. No one should have only ten days to live! There should be something we can do to help save these precious animals. They are after all our responsibility. It’s not an option to consider, instead something has to be done to put an end to pounds and kill shelters, it’s inhumane. We need to open up more adoption and no kill shelters for all the animals, because we don’t have the right to take the lives of animals at will. It is immoral, that is exactly why abortion is such a huge issue. That’s why putting the elderly or prisoners out of their misery are also against the law. But why does that seem so different than killing an animal, it’s not. Think about it.

         Coming up with a better solution and accommodation for all the animals will mean making a lot more shelters. It means we need to figure out a better solution than murder to solve our dilemma. It won’t be easy; no one said it was supposed to be. And it’s never too late to make changes. In fact, it’s time we change the past because TEN DAYS to live is far too short! How would you like it if you had only ten days to live? Now that doesn’t sound so good does it? Well, it’s not.

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         Killing thousands of animals every ten days isn’t a solution; it is just getting rid of the problem inhumanely. We need to change the way we have done things in the past and save the lives we are all responsible for today. Take a stand and talk to your local humane societies, and spread the word. It’s now 2007 and it’s time we put an end to nothing more than animal cruelty. It’s time there were laws in place, which prohibit such atrocities. It’s that simple, it should stop.