As you probably have realized I have a special place in my heart for abandoned dogs. I have gotten all of my dogs as rescues of some sort. I can't even think of buying a dog when I know there are so many animals out there waiting to be adopted and many of them wind up getting put to sleep because no one wants them. More recently (past few years) I realized how many special needs dogs were out there and how they must have an even harder time getting adopted because everyone thinks of them as "defective" or a "hassle" and no one wants to take the extra effort to adopt them and care for them. So I've decided that as soon as we have an opening on the ranch (which will not be for LONG time, lest you worry) we're going to adopt a special needs dog. Petfinder.com even has a special search category where you can search for only special needs dogs (and other animals)! I'm partial to the deaf, blind, paralyzed or missing limbs dogs. I'm especially enamored with paralyzed dogs that have little cart wheelchairs. How can you not want to help a little guy like this:
Sigh. I want to save him right now. But I'm resisting the urge. There will be plenty more special needs animals when we're ready for more dogs. But if you are thinking of adopting another animal take a minute and think about a special needs animal.
