A funny thing happened at the Green River Animal Shelter last week.
A reporter, going to the shelter to photograph an animal for the Pet of the Week advertisement sponsored by John Paras Furniture, was told they didn’t have pets available to adopt. While this means we won’t receive revenue from the weekly ad, this isn’t a bad problem for the community to have.
All too often, people abandon their pets for a variety of reasons.
Some are understandable, while others are tinged with a hint of callousness or cruelty.
Having a pet is a commitment and the fact is, a lot of of owners who can’t fulfill that commitment send their pets to the animal shelter or its Rock Springs counterpart, the Red Desert Humane Society.
While it’s unusual for the shelter not to have pets available for adoption, the broader view of the situation shows many of Green River’s homes are open to adopted pets.
This is something to be proud of, as many cities have shelters unable to take in all the pets people abandon, leaving the pet with two options, homelessness or euthanasia.
The furry good boys and good girls in Green River deserve much better than that and the city’s residents have shown they’re willing to take them home and bring them into their families.
For us, the lack of adoptable pets represents something we’re happy about: people pay attention to what’s printed in the pages of this newspaper.
As the world continues to push towards a digital future, people still read their weekly newspaper to take a break from the up-to-the-minute information cycle they’re subjected to.
Since we’ve started publishing the Pet of the Week ads, we’ve been told pet adoptions have increased at the shelter. While we’re happy to help families find the pet they want to bring home, most of the credit goes to those willing to open their homes in the first place.
Green River is a special place. It’s a resident’s willingness to bring home a pet from the local animal shelter is only one of the reasons the city is special.
While a world where animal shelters and humane societies would be a better place, a city that keeps its shelter with as few animals as possible is the next best thing.
Green River is a better place than most, for its two-legged and four-legged residents alike.
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