Doubtful you pay real close attention to what goes into your trash every day. But, for the sake of homeless animals, let’s do for a moment.
Are There Really Dangers In My Trash?
It’s common knowledge that plastic bags are very dangerous around young children because of the potential for suffocation. They are also very dangerous to your pets for the same reason. Your pet, like a child, might see a plastic bag as a play thing and get tangled in it, only to suffocate.
Plastic bags are also dangerous even to stray and wild animals who search through our trash for food, or encounter discarded plastic bags floating randomly on the wind. A stray or wild animal might get tangled in it and suffocate as he’s searching your trash for precious food.
Here’s a hazard you likely have seen on YouTube–plastic jugs. The wild fox running around blindly with a plastic jug lodged over its head. Without those kind folks having stepped up to get the jug off his head and save him, that beautiful little fox would have died.
Another extremely hazardous item in your trash are the plastic ring carriers that hold your six-packs of soda. Your pet can get one of the plastic rings around his neck and suffocate that way as well.
Is This Really Such A Big Deal?
These are not imagined events–they actually occur. Those of us involved in pet rescue and animal welfare see it too often. Yes–it’s a very big deal. Imagine how devastated you would be to come home from work and find your beloved pet has lost his life on something that could have been easily prevented with just a few seconds of your time.
How Can I Eliminate Hazards In My Trash Without Spending Lots Of Time I Don’t Have?
You can eliminate trash hazards quickly and easily. Before tossing a plastic bag in the trash, and this includes recycled trash as well, take literally 10 quick seconds and a pair of scissors to cut the bag all the way open. If the bag is particularly large, like a drycleaning bag, take another 10 quick seconds to tie a few knots in it too. That’s it–that’s all you need to do. Cut the bag open. Now your pets are safe. You’ve done a wonderful thing for the safety of your pet, and you didn’t have to “carve out” a block of time in your schedule to do it.
Same thing with those plastic soda rings–cut them all open, every last loop. No more strangulation dangers for animals.
Plastic jugs–cut the top off so there’s nothing to grab onto around an animals’ neck should he poke his head inside.
You’re Protecting Lives Now, In The Easiest And Quickest Way.
By this simplest act of kindness that takes literally less than one minute, you’re saving lives. What an amazing good habit to get into. And your kindness will reach far beyond your own home, to other animals who will surely and easily come into contact with your trash. You’re actually protecting animal welfare in your community. And these protective fixes are costing you barely a moment of time and effort. Feels good, right? 🙂
Need a good pair of all-purpose scissors? Try these: super sharp, all-purpose, disassemble for easy cleaning, come with a protective magnetic shield, and lifetime warranty. Excellent choice. 🙂
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God Bless and Happy Pet Parenting!
With love and good wishes,
jeannie. ?
About jeannie: I’ve been pro-actively involved in pet rescue all of my life. I founded Milagro Senior Pet Refuge© (Phoenix) in 1998, and BareFootPets (TM) in 2008. Animal welfare has always been and will always be my heart’s work. If my only legacy is that I save a handful of precious souls that would not survive otherwise, I’m good with that.