A well respected and much loved scholar said when tears cripple our ability to do and act those tears are worthless.
When I heard those words tonight completely outside of the Pet Community and Be the Change I thought no I knew I had to share it with you all. If all we can do is cry tears for shelter animals, abused, neglected, or abandoned animals the time spent crying is worthless. If on the other hand after crying the tears of horror, pain, or heart break we begin to do something to make a change in the way we think and act those tears are worth the time spent.
For those of you who were at BlogPaws we all know that at the Keynote address on Friday morning there was not a dry eye in the room. Proving that everyone in that room loved animals though I am pretty sure we already knew that. However, if the love we each feel individually for the animals stops at the tears and doesn't create actions then those tears were cried in vein and without purpose.
If however those tears have made you stop and think about what you can do as an individual to help make a difference, those tears have made an impact and were shed because you truly care enough to stand up and Be the Change. You don't have to Be The Change for every animal on your own but if you spread the word about the one small action you choose to take others will follow and soon there will be a community of people helping you reach your goal. Just look at the Pedigree Write a Post Help a Dog Campaign the idea was formed by a group of bloggers (myself included) who took the challenge to Pedigree. Pedigree never told us to do this or demanded that we do something on this scale in fact I don't even think they fathomed the number of bloggers we have gotten to participate. It literally started as a few friends with an idea and has become 300 blog posts strong all because one person told another person who spread the word to another person who all realized how simple it wold be for them to make a change for the recipients of their 20lbs of food.
For a starving animal dog, cat, or anything else 20lbs of food is the difference between life and death. Between hunger and a full belly. If you haven't written your post why haven't you? What is stopping you? Are you waiting for another brand to step up and take on this challenge themselves? (By the way I welcome any brand of pet food to contact me about doing a similar event.) I don't care if you only feed homemade or raw diet to your own pets I can guarantee that no company will step forward to donate either of those in the bulk quantity that is needed to feed the 4 million dogs in shelters each year. Are you going to cry tears for the 4 million without homes but not take action to do something about it or are you going to help 20 dogs get dinner so they can sleep with a full belly and be playful tomorrow when a potential adopter comes to look at them?
For me the answer was simple. I will spread the message and get the word out there. I will align myself with a Brand who is making a difference and has chosen to Be the Change because honestly tears just aren't enough. We need to engage in actions to make a difference for those we love and care about.
I was a Pedigree Adoption Drive Sponsored Blogger at the first and second BlogPaws events and I would be honored to represent them again in the future.