{"id":15155,"date":"2009-07-09T06:45:37","date_gmt":"2009-07-09T12:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=15155"},"modified":"2009-07-09T11:21:18","modified_gmt":"2009-07-09T17:21:18","slug":"blogathon-2009-blogging-for-the-denver-dumb-friends-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/blogathon-2009-blogging-for-the-denver-dumb-friends-league.html","title":{"rendered":"Blogathon 2009 &#8211; Blogging for the Denver Dumb Friends League"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Denver Dumb Friends League\" height=\"54\" src=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/dumb-friends-league.png\" width=\"254\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The Denver <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Dumb Friends League<\/a> was founded in 1910, and is the largest animal shelter and animal welfare organization in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. Its mission is simple:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The&nbsp;DFL is committed to the welfare of animals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> We shall provide shelter and care for animals<\/li>\n<li> We shall provide programs and services that enhance the bond between animals and people<\/li>\n<li> We shall be advocates for animals \u2026 speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>We were aware of the DFL for many years &#8212; they&#8217;re well known in the Denver metro area &#8212; but only first made use of their services a few years back. Their animal care facilities are remarkably humane, both caring for the animals (the dedication of the staff is clear) and providing comfortable environments for adopting pets.<\/p>\n<p>We adopted a cat that day, <strong>Sugar<\/strong>, who unfortunately didn&#8217;t live with us long.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"img-shadow-right\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Mimi\" height=\"375\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3653\/3374769298_d863a04bc8.jpg\" width=\"500\" \/><\/div>\n<p>We returned there earlier this year, and adopted <strong>Mimi<\/strong>, who&#8217;s turned out to be a delight. The process was professional, compassionate, and I was once again struck by the good work being done there, for the animals and their human adopters alike.<\/p>\n<p>The Denver Dumb Friends League was named after a London animal shelter, &#8220;Our Dumb Friends League,&#8221; in the obsolete sense of &#8220;dumb&#8221; meaning &#8220;mute.&#8221; The name has been kept because of its recognition, and because of the way it &#8220;speaks&#8221; to that third mission statement.<\/p>\n<p>The DFL:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<ul>\n<li> Provides shelter and care for more than 28,000 lost and abandoned animals every year<\/li>\n<li> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/up4adopt.htm\">Adopts<\/a> homeless pets to new families<\/li>\n<li> Reunites <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/inlost.htm\">lost pets<\/a> with their owners<\/li>\n<li> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/invest.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Investigates animal cruelty<\/a> and supports animal-friendly legislation<\/li>\n<li> Provides <a class=\"link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/tips.htm\">animal behavior assistance<\/a> through classes, a free telephone helpline and the Internet<\/li>\n<li> Offers free <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/paw.htm\">pet-friendly housing referrals<\/a> throughout Colorado<\/li>\n<li> Educates <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/kidsteens.htm\">children<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ddfl.org\/hed.htm\">adults<\/a> about the humane treatment of animals and the importance of spaying and neutering<\/li>\n<li> Offers highly subsidized spay\/neuter for owned cats and dogs in underserved communities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The plight of domestic pets &#8212; cats and dogs, mostly, but not exclusively &#8212; abandoned, lost, or homeless for various reasons &#8212; moves me. I don&#8217;t call them &#8220;companion animals,&#8221; the current PC term for pets, but these critters are bred and raised to be cared for (and to enrich the lives of) humans. We have a societal and special obligation to see that their lives are fulfilling and happy &#8212; and that there are no more of them than there are homes for (hence my support of DFL&#8217;s strong spay\/neuter policies).<\/p>\n<p>People who choose to purchase purebred animals from whatever source can make that decision. For me, so long as there is a cat (or dog) that is without a family to care for it, I can&#8217;t see for myself encouraging the breeding of more cats or dogs just because I want one that&#8217;s a particular variety or pedigree. (I suppose one could, and some have, argue the same point for kids; it&#8217;s more easily made, though, with pets.)<\/p>\n<p>The only part of DFL that is at all controversial is that it is not a &#8220;no kill&#8221; shelter. Animals there are, if necessary,&nbsp;euthanized. That&#8217;s a hard truth, but it&#8217;s one that important to face (and that drives the main part of the League&#8217;s mission). The flip side is that the DFL accepts every animal brought to it. I&#8217;ll talk more about all of that in a later post.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr width=\"75%\" \/>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/03\/stay-up-late-make-a-difference.html\" target=\"_blank\">I am blogging for the Denver Dumb Friends League for Blogothon 2009<\/a>. I would welcome your supporting me and the DFL. So far I have over $270 in pledges &#8212; you can add to that number <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blogathon.org\/pledge.php?blogid=132\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Thanks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Denver Dumb Friends League was founded in 1910, and is the largest animal shelter and animal welfare organization in Denver and the Rocky Mountain region. Its mission is simple: The&nbsp;DFL is committed to the welfare of animals: We shall provide shelter and care for animals We shall provide programs and services that enhance the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/09\/blogathon-2009-blogging-for-the-denver-dumb-friends-league.html\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Blogathon 2009 &#8211; Blogging for the Denver Dumb Friends League&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogathon","category-pets"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15243,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/19\/the-last-shelter.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":0},"title":"The Last Shelter","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 19-Jul-09 1:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A lot of animals are brought through the Denver Dumb Friends League's door. In their 2008 annual report, the DFL shows that 12,000 cats, 14,000 dogs, and 2,000 other animals were received. Of that 28,000 animals, about 16,500 were adopted. Another 3,000 (mostly dogs)\u00a0were reunited with their owners, who had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"blogathon2009-mdm","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/blogathon2009-mdm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15282,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/23\/blogathon-making-it-personal.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":1},"title":"Blogathon &#8211; Making it personal","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 23-Jul-09 5:43am","format":false,"excerpt":"According to this article, people are more responsive to individual needs than group needs. Seeing a little girl starving to death has more impact -- and solicits more contributions --\u00a0than seeing a village starving to death. It seems we're hardwired to the \"needs of the one.\" So, to jumpstart my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/cat-dfl.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15287,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/23\/blogathon-now-with-prizes-for-pledges.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":2},"title":"Blogathon &#8211; now with prizes for pledges!","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 23-Jul-09 11:22am","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, I should have done this sooner, but in reviewing what graphic novels \/ trade paperbacks I have for my reviews and getting them all sorted, I discovered that over the past few years I've gathered up a number of duplicate purchases (or some things that have been obsoleted by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"blogathon2009-mdm","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/blogathon2009-mdm.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15195,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/13\/stewardship-of-creation.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":3},"title":"Stewardship of Creation","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 13-Jul-09 10:57am","format":false,"excerpt":"In an ideal world, \"animal rescue\" would be something done by Superman regarding a cat being stuck in a tree. In our real world, \"animal rescue\" means saving animals from neglect, abandonment, and mistreatment. As a confirmed carnivore, I'm not to going to address consumption of animals for food, except\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15389,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/07\/26\/bt09-some-quotations-about-animals-blogathon.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":4},"title":"BT09 &#8211; Some quotations about animals (#Blogathon)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Jul-09 12:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, I haven't blogged much about the cause I'm Blogathonning for, the Denver Dumb Friends League. I did a fair amount of talking about\u00a0it in the days leading up the the 'Thon, though. While I take a quick Sunday morning shower and change into another Blogathon shirt, here are a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17790,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2010\/07\/06\/no-blogathon-this-year.html","url_meta":{"origin":15155,"position":5},"title":"No Blogathon this year","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 6-Jul-10 9:14am","format":false,"excerpt":"Part of me is slightly relieved -- though it would be interesting doing it (with my comic book topic) a week after the San Diego Comic Con. But the Blogathon gang have decided to pass on 2010. Unfortunately, due to personal, technical, and maybe even astrological reasons, Blogathon 2010 has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blogathon&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}