Column: Be like the first family and adopt a pet
Published Feb. 9, 2009
I've already found President Barack Obama and the first family (which, on a side note, sounds like the name of a totally awesome Motown group, but I digress) their First Puppy. How did I accomplish this incredible feat that has everyone, from legitimate journalists at NBC to hacks at rags such as the New York Post, are still speculating days after the election? Simple: petfinder.com.
This Web site is the perfect combination of cuteness and philanthropic fuzzies. Animal rescue shelters from across the country can upload profiles and most importantly, photos of different pets they have up for adoption. Simply select the type of animal you want and your zip code. You can even specify the age, sex and size of the animal. Within seconds, the search engine brings up a, dare I say, litter of furry or feathered friends begging you to take them home. I dare you to search for available puppies in the Columbia area and not close your browser with a smile on your face.
This Web site is going places, y'all. It might save even more than adorable animals.
It's old news by now the Central Missouri Humane Society is having a hell of a time making ends meet. They've talked about charging a fee to bring in new animals and have been slashing more hours of operation than Circuit City and Mickey Rourke's drug dealer combined. If the Central Missouri Humane Society shuts down, thousands of abandoned pets throughout the region will be left with no refuge. This might sound cute at first, the idea of fuzzy friends roaming around the columns, waiting for the last journalism student with a soul to pick it up and give it a warm and loving home. But take it from somebody who's been to a foreign country where they treat cats like road kill, it gets ugly fast. What's worse, I will have one less venue to complete my community service hours to get out of a reckless driving citation. This cannot stand.
I believe petfinder.com could very well save the Central Missouri Humane Society. Cute pictures of puppies on the Web already lead to so many of us to procrastinate anyway. Raise your hand if you've ever been in the middle of a boring lecture with your laptop and wandered onto icanhashotdog.com or dailypuppy.com. Go ahead, wherever you're reading this, raise your hand.
So who's to say that we can't add another Web site featuring all things cute and cuddly to our repertoire? And who's to say that Web site can't give us incentive to do something to better our community with the newfound feeling of glee in our hearts?
President Obama (I will never get sick of writing that. But again, I digress.) had the right idea in letting the nation know that he wants to adopt a rescue dog. Honestly, it's the right thing to do. So next time some class is boring you to tears, tune out and log on to petfinder.com. It might be the stepping-stone to you giving a well-deserving pet a new home. It might help to get an important community service organization back on its feet.
Or it might make you look like a jackass when your professor calls you out for not paying attention. If that's the case, why the hell did you take my advice? I'm halfway across the world right now!