Its been 1.5 years… Let that sink in 1.5 years. Ok maybe that sounds short. Let me put it in a way that’s more magnitude. Over 500 days… 500 freaking days. I started Mydearlayla over a year and half ago. I was energized and determined. I want to make a difference. This was a place to keep track of my thoughts and efforts, to layout my game plan to make a difference. About a year ago, I sat down and focused to think about what effort I could do to help our pet friends. And now we are here, I figured something out, I’m gunning for it. Lets do this.
The effort and plan is Pet Loyal. What is it? Pet Loyal. What does it mean? What is it about. Be loyal to your pet as they would for you. I’ve done ton of research. I have in my mind a pretty complete understanding of it all. I’ve read the battles between people on forums or article replies I’ve seen what other people have done and what protests they held. Its hard I know. To fight the system everyday can be hard. But I think I have something here we can share and all do.
The idea I came up with is to print a pet tag that signifies the movement and to spread awareness. From this tag, people can visit the Pet Loyal website. Here they can learn and understand the issue and what is happening. They can spread word. People who see the tag will be interested and want to learn more. We want people to show they can be loyal. It takes each person, one by one, to make a difference. Its odd in times of social media, even though we are connected through the masses and a wealth of information is blasted into our face daily. We are disconnected so much from each other and our society.
And so it takes good ole groundwork, the door to door work, through sunshine or rain. To spread word of what is going on to pets. Do people know that 3 million pets are euthanized each year? Do they know this is happening everyday. What can we do to stop it? We keep seeing adoptions upon endless adoptions. More pets keep piling into shelters and not enough people to adopt. There has to be a better way.
I can finally say I have something concrete. I have a plan we can move forward with and share. I’m tired of writing the letters that get nowhere. People don’t care to read a paper. But when its face to face with me and I’m telling you the problem with your dog and cat at your side. Can you really tell me you don’t care? Can you tell your cat or dog who comes to sleep, play, guard, bring you happiness, that you won’t be loyal to them? All it takes is to wear this tag and maybe tell a friend. Hopefully we can stop people from buying a pet who aren’t ready. Hopefully we can help stop the person about to relinquish their pet to the shelter to take a second thought. Maybe I can do something about it, maybe they can understand that this poor animal will die because of them.
I have constructed the plans in place. I contacted the suppliers overseas who are ready for production. And most amazingly I have my logo. I can’t believe I was halted from progressing this project over a logo. I couldn’t think of the perfect image to sum up this work. I thought why not find somebody who could. And luckily I found the perfect person to work on this logo.
I put an ad out on craigslist and Megumi found me. She is just as passionate as I am to save animals. She understands the work. She understands the love and care of pets. She knows the torment they go through. And I wanted all these feelings and thoughts into my logo. I couldn’t be more happy about the logo. I’m going to be so proud to pass these tags along and this logo will showcase everything this movement is about. And it also feels a part of my heart is in the logo.
Megumi has done her own animal advocacy work in a number of ways. Shes has a Facebook page to spread awareness and has volunteered at local animal shelters. Biggest of all she has her own art shop on Etsy where she donates part of those earnings to ASPCA and Alley Cat Allies. If you could visit her shop and know full well that any purchase can help save more animals. Its a win win situation.
Kawaii Kitten Design Etsy Shop: bit.ly/EKittenD
I have family and some people I met through my work praise me for my efforts. I never really got to feeling good about it because I haven’t done anything yet. I sit at a computer, I read, I think. But for the first time, I feel empowered. I’m so close to the start. I can actually start to make a difference. I can help stop one animal from going to the shelter or another pet from being sold to wrong person. I’m happy that action can finally be taken and its a reality.
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