This HAS to stop.

Pasado's Safe Haven is an NMO Shelter. What is an NMO Shelter?
A hundred years ago, when a man or woman brought children into a new marriage and the step-parent didn't get along with them, the children were often discarded at orphanages. If finances got tight, the same thing happened. If the family needed to move to accommodate the father getting a new job, and the children were too inconvenient to take along, one or all of them were dropped at the state or religious run orphanage. Sisters, brothers, and parents who had a sibling or son or daughter give-up their responsibility of raising a child, would turn to an orphanage to help, when just 50 years before, it was relatives, neighbors, friends who stepped up and took a child in. When parents died, and children were left behind, the community used to "step up". Then, orphanages became the dumping ground for children, until society said it was wrong.

Today's animal shelters are no different. When a husband or wife say they're "allergic" to the new pet of a new spouse, the animal is dumped (despite new medications that no longer allow this as an excuse). If times get tough financially, the dedicated dog or cat may be the first "thing" to go. We can't tell you how many times we've heard the excuse "we're moving" or "we're retiring and want to travel", so the beloved pet has to be abandoned. Because shelters exist, it's easy to just take that animal and toss them away - and let someone else take on the responsibility.

It doesn't seem to matter that the vast majority of animals dumped at shelters are killed, in the arms of a complete stranger. Pasado's Safe Haven will no longer tolerate the "easy" way to dump animals.

NMO means "No More Orphanages". We believe it's a concept that will become reality someday - when society no longer tolerates people not taking responsibility for their pets.

Our goal:
-To assure every pet is microchipped
-Get all shelters to believe in the NMO policy
-"But animals will be abandoned then, if no shelters exist!"
If animals are abandoned, abandonment laws exist, just like they do for children. By microchipping all pets, the owners would be identified and prosecuted. (Believe us - once people would start being prosecuted for abandonment, the next time "Little Jimmy" asks his mother for a pet, she'll think twice before saying 'yes'. We believe parents and others will start "thinking" lifetime guardianship for animals then, and only then.)
-"But what about pet owners who are ill or died?"
We believe families should step-up. As long as "shelters" exist, it'll be easy not to "impose" on family members and easier for family members to dump their mother or father's or grandparent's dog or cat.
-"What if people don't have family?"
That is a different story. In the case of children, foster care programs exist to answer exactly this type of situation. We believe that is the only role shelters should play in the future - to help animals who have NO other option.

What to do
It is vitally important that you know what NOT to do when trying to place an animal. We do NOT recommend placing an ad in a newspaper or on a website "board" such as CraigsList. Those who sell animals to research labs find them easily through these manners.

No matter how you try to find a new home, you should REQUIRE an at-home check, the ability to visit the family in 6 months, AND require an adoption fee, to place a value on your animal. We recommend placing a dog or at on www.petfinder.com and seriously screen all applicants to assure they are not "adopting" your pet simply to sell your dog or cat to a research laboratory where it will suffer and die in biomedical experiments.

Petfinder Tips
1. The great thing about Petfinder is people generally hate going to a shelter to find a pet. They find it depressing. Many people choose to find their new pet using the web.
2. Petfinder is "regional" based. This means that when you list a pet based on your zip code, people in your area will find you quickly making a match easier for them.
3. Take a great up-close photo of the animal. There is nothing like a crisp, well-lit photo to "market" the animal.
4. List the animal's great qualities. People want to know if a dog gets along with other dogs, cats, and children.
5. Above all, be HONEST. If you lie to try and place an animal your lies will be found out soon enough. If a dog hasn't been house-broken, tell the truth. And then add a link to a great website that shows how easy it is to housebreak an animal. Or, better yet, housebreak the dog first, then find him or her a great home!

We hope that you'll go the distance for the animal you're trying to place - and choose not the 'easy' way, but the most compassionate and responsible way to help this animal who has found his or her way into your life.