AC Pup: Resolve to help animals and people this year
Are you still keeping your New Year's resolutions so far? It is the middle of January already, and those goals of losing weight, exercising more and eating healthier are great goals to have. And sometimes hard to keep.
Setting our focus on what we want to achieve is an honorable thing to do. If you've had the urge to get more involved in helping animals and the people who love them, I have some ideas for you.
Not everyone can foster an orphan, operate a shelter or rescue homeless animals off the street. But everyone can do something, even if it's from the comfort of your own home. Of course, if you're able to do the hard physical work and heavy lifting of rescue, there is no shortage of work. Just contact any shelter listed on this page, and you'll be put to work.
There is always help needed to find great homes for loving pets currently in shelters even if you don't have a computer or a Facebook page. You can start with the pets listed on this page each week.
Take a look in those sweet faces and then decide to become their advocate. Help network for them by calling friends you know who could offer terrific homes. The contact information about the pet is listed on my page every week. You could actually help save a pet and never leave your house.
If you are on Facebook, then you could help in a mighty way by sharing photos of missing pets and homeless pets. There's really no end to the influence you could have.
Another big way to help now is to speak out about the Georgia fireworks law. I'm probably the most unsophisticated political guy around, and I don't know a thing about how laws are made or amended. But I do know what I've experienced since the fireworks law changed in 2015.
Every holiday since the Fourth of July 2015 has challenged the safety of animals and probably not just domestic pets. Even though many pet parents try to provide a safe haven for pets when fireworks are anticipated, for many reasons, not all pets can be brought inside a home.
It seems that since the new law went into effect, there have been pet casualties in Middle Georgia from pets attempting to escape the scary sounds of fireworks. New Year's Eve was no exception.
It breaks my heart when I get the messages from families desperately searching for pets that jumped, climbed or dug out of fences out of sheer terror from the fireworks noise. And then there's the immeasurable grief we all feel when we learn the pet did not survive the ordeal.
The good news is there may be changes proposed to the law. State Rep. Keisha Waites from Atlanta has pre-filed legislation to amend the law. She is interested in limiting the times fireworks can be used and placing some boundaries on use in residential areas.
While I doubt it will eliminate the jeopardy pets face during fireworks, this is certainly a start. You can help right from your home. Please let your voice be heard.
So no matter what your situation might be or time restrictions you have, everyone can do something to help animals in 2016. Won't you please make it one of your goals, too?
Send questions to acpup247@yahoo.com. Visit www.acpup.com or like his Facebook page.
This story was originally published January 15, 2016 at 9:49 PM with the headline "AC Pup: Resolve to help animals and people this year ."