End animal suffering in KCMO urban core

Education

Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Chain of Hope receives about 30 calls a day from people in the urban core of Kansas City, MO asking for help with their animals. We respond with supplies, resources, free spay and neuters and most importantly, education.

Education is key. The majority of our clients have outdoor dogs. Many of them live on chains in the back yard. They are first and foremost there to be a guard dog-to let them know when someone is around. We teach the owners things like their pet's need for socialization, interaction and stimulation. These are things that most of our clients have never thought about. We are changing an entire mindset. It's easy to chain your dog to a tree if that's what your parents did and that is what you know. We bring forth new ideas for people to consider as far as relating to and caring for their pets. These animals are much more than property. Once Chain of Hope is involved educating and explaining more of what their pet needs, that life improves for that animal. Change comes slowly, but it does come.  

We teach pet owners how to control the flies and the fleas in the summer that can leave their pet bleeding and hairless. We teach them that even though their dog is outside in the winter, they need a good, insulated dog house, out of the wind, with straw or hay for bedding and warmth. We give out free straw all winter long. We teach pet owners that instead of a heavy tow chain looped around their dog's neck, their pet needs to have a good fitting collar and a strong, but much lighter weight tie out cable. We also provide these free of charge to pet owners.

Our goal is always to improve that animal's life. There are hundreds of chained animals in KCMO and we can't possibly make all of them become indoor dogs. Some people are just not going to do it. What we can do is provide supplies and education. By educating the pet owners and checking back with them periodically to make sure things continue to go well, we drastically improve that animal's life. By educating and providing assistance, we have had many people take their dogs from being chained to a tree otuside and bring them inside with the family, That is the success of our program and always the goal!