Photo Credit: Marissa Hoefenkrieg.
Twenty years ago, I woke up on Christmas morning to a silent house. I made my way downstairs to all the presents sitting under the Christmas tree, just begging to be opened up. I heard my father watching TV in our basement, so I opened the door to make my way down. To my surprise, I was quickly told to stay upstairs and wait for everyone else to wake up. Little did I know, my dad had the best Christmas gift (that could not be wrapped) sitting in the basement, waiting to make their grand appearance upstairs.
The last present unveiled to my siblings and I was a dog named Buddy. He was a collie mix of some sort, with a long, beautiful coat. He was six years old, the same age as I was at the time. Buddy was a part of our family for another six years after that and was the best dog I’ve ever met to this day.
My siblings and I were told that “Santa rescued Buddy from the shelter for us.” Of course, my parents didn’t want to tell three young children that they themselves rescued the dog. It was special knowing that we adopted an older dog from the shelter and was able to provide a quiet, family environment for him. Adopting him opened my eyes to the world of animal rescue and how important the role of shelter systems are.
Over the years, I have had friends buy puppies and dogs from the store, who ultimately end up living sick lives. I always asked myself, “why don’t these people just get their dogs from the shelter?” Usually, it came down to wanting a certain dog breed and not wanting to travel to find a reputable breeder. I still never understood the desire to buy a dog when there’s hundreds of dogs sitting in shelters nearby.
To this day, I make it a point to adopt my pets. I have four rescue chinchillas under my roof at the moment, and plan to adopt all my future pets from shelters and rescue organizations. For a few years, I had an extra chinchilla cage in my bedroom that housed foster chinchillas who would stay with me until they had a permanent home.
One chinchilla I fostered, named Rudy, was from a hoarder’s home. I even ended up adopting the eldest and the youngest chinchillas from the same hoarder’s house, named Noodle and Sebastian. All three chinchillas were extremely difficult to handle for the first few months. Rudy, in particular, was sometimes a nightmare to handle. After a few months of daily care and handling, all three chinchillas made a total personality change. Rudy ended up being one of the kindest chinchillas I cared for during my time as a foster parent.
Rescuing animals, and even fostering animals for rescues, has become an important part of my life. I always preach the importance of adopting an animal versus purchasing from puppy stores, and will continue to do so for years to come.
