SPCA
Spotlight
Via:The
Gettysburg Times, PA
March
, 2006
Imagine
being locked in a room with no TV to watch, no radio to listen to
and no computer to use. You have no newspaper or books to read and
you don't have a telephone. You get no exercise because you are
never permitted to leave your small room, so all you can do is pace
the perimeter.
Once
or twice a day, someone comes to your door and leaves a tray of
food and water for you, (if you're lucky) and luckier still if that
person spends five minutes talking with you.
During
your long years of imprisonment, you will rarely, if ever, get the
chance to bathe and you must sleep only inches from where you go
to the bathroom, which is never cleaned up, only trodden down from
your constant pacing.
The
only source of entertainment you have is to look out of your window
and watch the world go by.
Unfortunately,
this is the sad and daily existence of thousands of dogs across
America and in Adams County that are chained or penned 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year in backyards for their entire
lives, all but forgotten by their "owners".
The
Humane Society of the United States says, "Dogs are naturally
social beings who thrive on interaction with human beings and other
animals. A dog kept chained in one spot for hours, days, months,
or even years suffers immense psychological damage." You couldn't
invent a worse punishment for a dog than making him live a life
of solitary confinement on the end of a chain or in a pen if you
tried.
In
addition, both the HSUS and the SPCA say continuous chaining or
confinement of a dog is not only inhumane and cruel, but a threat
to the safety of the confined dog, other animals and humans as well.
If
you really love your dog and would like to give your "best
friend" a better life, than living on the end of a chain or
in a pen, The Adams County SPCA in cooperation with Dogs Deserve
Better, Inc. can help.
We
have volunteers that can help you with basic obedience training,
such as house training, so you can bring your dog inside to live
with his "pack". Don't want to bring your dog into your
home?
Although
this is the kindest and most humane option, fencing in your yard
to allows your dog the freedom to run and explore and is much kinder
than having him perpetually confined.
We
have volunteers that can help install fencing, and when funds are
available we can help with the purchase of the fencing material.
Likewise, we can assist in defraying the cost of spaying or neutering,
if you agree to bring your pal into your home to live afterwards.
Don't
make your dog a backyard prisoner! Bring him inside and make him
part of your pack! Call the Adams County SPCA at 334-8876 for more
information.
-- Christine Ameduri, Dogs Deserve Better
Representative, PA
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