After the election, Obama family resolves to adopt a dog from an animal shelter
On Entertainment Tonight earlier this week, Michelle Obama shared the news that, per the promise she and her husband made to their daughters, Malia and Sasha, after the presidential election, her family would be adopting a dog from an animal shelter instead of buying a dog from a pet store.The announcement was music to the ears of animal rescuers and advocates across the country, although probably not to the American Kennel Club, which conducted an online poll in August to determine which purebred dog the family should buy; the majority of the 42,000 Americans polled voted that the family should get a Poodle.
It's highly likely that the Obamas' decision to adopt rather than buy a dog was influenced by one of their most prominent supporters, Oprah Winfrey, and the expose Winfrey's television talk show produced about the horrors of puppy mills, which supply the majority of the country's pet stores. The atrocities revealed in that now-famous broadcast, which aired in early April, resulted in Winfrey announcing that all of her future dogs would come from animal shelters.
However, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is taking credit for the Obamas' decision, citing an impassioned letter written to the senator and his wife by PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk on July 28.
In the letter, Newkirk wrote, in part: "Senator, no one needs to tell you that this country is proud to be a melting pot, and that there is something deeply wrong and elitist about wanting only a purebred dog. Millions of Great American Mutts - the dog that should be our national dog - are set to die in our nation's extremely overcrowded pounds and shelters for lack of good homes. Compassionate people nationwide are choosing to adopt a homeless pound puppy - a grateful refugee from a society that has not always treated the true "underdog" kindly - rather than cater to special interests who do not have dogs' interests at heart."
Newkirk's letter continued: "Adopting an animal not only saves a life, but demonstrates compassion, and the companion animal overpopulation crisis deserves attention from all Americans. Every animal purchased from a breeder or pet shop takes a home away from a needy animal at an animal shelter, waiting and hoping for a chance at the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
