Let Them Live

The Grand Rapids Times
8-21-2009
Adult's Walk
By Marcel Gamble

Part I
Every day, every hour, every minute another human is brought into the world.
A number of these babies leave their birthplaces and enter loving homes where they live healthy lives.
Some of these babies are adopted into loving homes where they have the opportunity to live comfortably.
A majority are released into foster homes where they are more likely to grow up not feeling loved because they don’t have stable parents, and they are passed from family to family.
Unfortunately, other babies are born and left to fend for themselves in the streets.
These babies are left in dumpsters and various other places that seem vacant.
Why is it possible for people to continue to have children when they are aware that they are incapable of providing for them?
It saddens me a great deal to see an individual brought into this world only to experience suffering their entire lives because of their parent’s poor decisions.
However, neglect of babies isn’t only an issue among the human species it is also problematic with animals.
They say that a dog is a man’s best friend, but with the pet overpopulation increasing this saying doesn’t seem true.
It seems that as the numbers of irresponsible pet owners grow the number of neglected pets increase simultaneously.
Thousands of dogs and cats die on daily bases after being born in the streets and not in loving homes.
They become ill, they are euthanized by shelters, or they become road kill.
People have to realize that euthanizing isn’t the only solution to pet overpopulation.
The solution that gives cats and dogs the opportunity that they deserve to live is fixing them.
Overpopulation wouldn’t be an issue if pet owners understood the importance of spaying and neutering.
If more cats and dogs were spayed and neutered, deaths wouldn’t occur on a frequent basis amongst healthy animals.
If more people become responsible pet owners, taxes wouldn’t have to be raised to fund the shelters that house most animals for a few days only to euthanize them.

Continued next week