Today is National Specially-abled Pets Day! And you guessed it, today we are celebrating and honoring those animals – be they dogs, cats, even guinea pigs – that have a disability or face certain physical challenges. These dogs who brave life with paralysis, missing limbs, blindness, and deafness. Whether due to disease, birth flaws or injuries, their disabilities do not make them any less capable of showing love and living a fulfilling life.
National Specially-abled Pets Day celebrates all the amazing disabled and special needs pets in need of finding a forever home. Although, physically challenged these animals are fully able to love! They are just waiting for the perfect family to find them!
Animal Rescue Advocate, Colleen Paige, created the day to celebrate “pets that become challenged due to disease, birth flaws or injuries, tend to develop greater senses than your average pet. Most of the time, it’s as if they never had to readjust to life…and we need to keep up with them!” Many of these pets are surrendered due to the special care they require, and their owners are unable to care for them properly. Traditionally, these incredible pets are harder to adopt. In some cases, these animals can take four times as long to adopt.
This day is a reminder that disabled pets are very able. They are able to love, able to feel, and able to enjoy a good and healthy life. It is a day to educate the public about caring for them, and encouraging people to adopt them from shelters or foster care. Unfortunately, specially-abled pets are often overlooked at shelters because people feel that it is too much work to care for them. But these animals have a heart full of love that they are willing to share with their forever family.
There is often a perception that these animals don’t want to be active, or are limited to what they can do. While that can be the case sometimes, more often than not they will be up for anything. Do blind dogs want to go on walks? Absolutely! Does a deaf cat still need your tender loving care? Certainly! Do dogs in wheel chairs still want to play with toys and snuggle? For sure! Does a senior overweight cat still want to cuddle up and play and purr? Of course! These pets are not thinking about how limited they are by their disability. To them, this is just their everyday life.
With modern technology, caring for these animals is becoming even easier. 3d printing has allowed for us to create prosthetic limbs and customized wheel chairs for the pets who need some help getting around. Blind and deaf dogs or cats can easily be trained to understand voice and hand signals to communicate. There is endless opportunity for these amazing companions, if we only give them a chance to show their greatness.
If you are looking to adopt a pet, consider one of these special animals who are so unfairly overlooked. As true with any other adoption process, the key is to make sure the temperament and lifestyle needs match yours. Interested in adopting a specially abled pet? Check out Pets With Disabilities listing to find one in your area.
Other Ways to Celebrate Specially-Abled Pet Day:
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Share and retweet any specially-abled pets you see for adoption, to help them get the most exposure.
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Donate to rescues that specifically care for specially-abled pets.
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Adopt a specially-abled pet if you can.
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Volunteer to care for specially-abled pets at local rescues.
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Photo Credit: Tony Stock / Shutterstock.com