By Robbi Hess ~ Managing Editor Pet Calendar, Crimeless Cat Executive Story Editor, Chief Cat Herder
February is noted as Unchain A Dog Month and we want to share some information about the origins of this month. It’s believed that Fences For Fido, a nonprofit, started the Unchain a Dog Month as a way to help dogs live happier lives and not live their lives at the end of a chain.
The group, Fences For Fido, builds fences at no cost to the dog owner to help get the dogs off chains. It is easy to feel like you can’t make a difference in the lives of dogs you may see who live their lives on chains in the backyard. All it takes is one person — you — to make a difference for that one dog. You don’t have to feel as though you need to “take on the world” but every individual can make a difference in the lives of dogs they see in their own neighborhoods.
Pet Calendar: Unchain A Dog Month
Pet parents understand that their dogs just want to be loved. Their dogs just want to come in and share dinner time with the family, snuggle time on the couch and a warm bed at night but some pet parents — for reasons only they know — keep their dogs outside, on a chain and with limited interaction.
This month, and beyond, if you “see something, say something.” You can make a difference in the life of a dog who, sadly, has been chained in the backyard and hasn’t known the loving touch of a family member or the softness of a warm bed at night.
A dog who is let outside and put on a chain to run around and do his “business” is a different situation than a dog who spends his lifetime out in the backyard. You may not be able to change the mind of your neighbor who doesn’t feel that a dog is a family member, but you never know.
The Animal Rescue Site wrote an article about Unchain Your Dog Month that you can read here.