Act of Kindness – Week #3!!

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”

*The act of kindness this week…show kindness by helping animals find their forever home which could bring countless years of happiness and love to the adopted animal and to someone else!!  

Some ideas of how to show kindness by helping animals in our community:

1)      Donate to a human society/shelter

2)      Volunteer at a human society/shelter

3)      When making a purchase at a pet store such as Petco, say “yes” when you are asked if you want to round up to the next dollar and donate that money to help animals

4)      Pay the registration fee at a fundraiser event to help animals

5)      Become a foster parent or adopt an animal at the humane society/shelter and become their forever home!

*My experience with the act of kindness…”Whoever said that diamonds are a girl’s best friend apparently never owned a dog!” I realized the truth in this saying when my husband and I adopted our first puppy (a 13 week border collie named “Jack”) in May 2013 and became puppy parents (picture below on the left)! I always had a family dog at my house growing up who I loved, but I have figured out that buying a puppy, paying your own money for numerous things for the dog, training the puppy, taking care of the dog every day, being one of the two people the dog sees everyday etc. makes the bond between a man or woman and a dog so much stronger! I just love our Jacky boy! He is such a loyal dog and greets me every time I come home with whimpers of excitement and such a fast wagging tail! We have had Jack for a little over a year now but it is hard to remember life without him since he has become part of our family (picture below on the right)! Jack brings more happiness and love into our home daily! 

                My husband and I wanted to bring Jack to the annual “Bark in the Park” event in St. Louis this past weekend and help support animals who need adopting with our registration fees for the event. Unfortunately, it did not work out but that did not stop me from still intentionally doing something to help animals this weekend! I looked up a local humane society’s website and found what items they suggested when bringing in donations. My husband and I then made a trip to Petco and purchased some dog food, cat food and a “thank you” card! As we were checking out, the cashier asked if I wanted to round my purchase up to the next dollar to be donated to help animals get adopted. Of course I said yes since donating to help animals was the whole point of my visit and purchase! (Side note: When a cashier asks you a question like this, the most you will donate is 99 cents. We all have 99 cents to give so let’s make it a habit to always say yes to donating in this way! We are all individually giving only so many cents at a time so it is teamwork!)

My husband and I then drove to the humane society and gave them our donation and the card! I also could not help but smile since it was the same humane society that my parents bought our family dog at years ago! She was a two year old basset hound named Sadie! Sadie Ladie brought so much happiness and love to my parents, siblings and I over the 11 years that we had her in our home! Maybe, just maybe, she was only able to stay at the humane society because of money and other donations before we came along to adopt her! Maybe, just maybe, our small donation this past weekend is helping another dog or cat live in the humane society until their forever home family comes to adopt them soon! By a simple donation (an act of kindness), you could be helping a person, a couple or a family have years of such happiness and love that only a pet can bring into a life!!

p.s. Please comment below with your own experience with this act of kindness! I would really enjoy hearing about it!!