I'd Rather Be a Turtle Than a Lemming

"Behold the turtle - he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out."

I'm stirring up some controversy with this blog and I love it. A post last week regarding banning the sale of all pets in San Francisco pet stores has generated a lot of response, both for and against my position.

When people discuss and hash out issues, creative solutions often come to light. For far too long in this state, we've have had a few old school types determining what was best for Wisconsin animals. Everybody else was a lemming following meekly over the cliff. We need some fresh ideas to close the gap between adoption numbers and shelter intake numbers. We can no longer "adopt the best and kill the rest".

In the past, nobody was supposed to question how things worked. You were welcome to volunteer and of course, donate your money;  but heaven forbid you raised a valid question about how things were done.

There are some refreshing new faces and voices coming on the scene, and it is a welcome change.

We don't need lemmings to solve animal welfare problems in our communities. We need thinkers. And we need people from all walks of life - bankers, teachers, businesspeople, volunteers, students - everyone who loves animals needs to get involved and be educated.

So don't be afraid to challenge the status quo. Just because it has been done one way for the last ten years doesn't mean that it should be done the same way for the next ten. The animals are counting on you to stick your necks out for them.