Pets require commitment, more than just any gift

Posted on December 23, 2017
Pets call for serious commitment and should be seen as such according to Humane Society leader, Karen Gregory. (Photo courtesy Livingston County Humane Society)

By Cynthia Grau/WJEZ News

PONTIAC – It’s a common enough practice for children to receive new puppies or kittens as gifts for Christmas, but is it the right call? Karen Gregory with the Livingston County Humane Society explains a better way to adopt a new pet around the holidays.

She makes a point to try to end the practice in order to introduce the new family member more organically.

“We have certainly gotten our share of flack this year, about people wanting to give animals as gifts. And we have tried to explain to them, they need to go into a home as part of a commitment, and be a part of the family. A gift is something you can return, an animal is something you should not,” said Gregory.

For more information, visit them at lchumanesociety.com.

Cynthia Grau can be reached at [email protected].

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…