“The responsibility goes back to how we can make a change when it comes down to animal welfare, as citizens, as the more intelligent animal on the face of the earth. I think we have to get engaged and play an active role. There’s enough animals out there that need to be adopted, that are in shelters. And instead of going and wanting a purebred dog or going to a puppy mill or going to a breeder, rescue an animal that needs a home, rather than that animal being euthanized.

Stop thinking about the absolute, what you want, the perfect thing that you want or something because it fits with your image. Animals aren’t a part of fashion. It’s not like because you dress a certain way or you’re into a certain type of music or you want a certain thing, that all of a sudden you want a specific animal because your favorite musician or your favorite actor or actress has that animal. So those pressures lead to people making really bad decisions. We have to be more proactive, and when we make a decision we have to be more aware. It’s not a spontaneous thing. You’re not window shopping when you get an animal. That whole How Much Is That Doggie In The Window song that we all grew up on, that should be a precursor to the fact that there should be no “How much is that doggie in the window”. That’s wrong. What it should be is “What dog needs a home?” It’s a whole different thing.

So become a surrogate home for a temporary amount of time to an animal. See what those responsibilities are. See what those limitations are. Do it for a while so that an animal is not in a refuge and is being socialized and given a good quality life before it’s adopted. Just try it out for a while. Give yourself an opportunity to really see what it’s about before you make a decision that’s a commitment for eight, 10 years of your life or something, that you may think now you’re okay with, but you don’t know where you’re gonna be in five years, you don’t where your gonna be in eight years. You don’t know where you’re gonna be living, you don’t know where you’re gonna be working. You might move to another country. You don’t know who you’re gonna be in a relationship with. Everything might change around you and you may not want that responsibility anymore.

So those are the things that I think we need to do as citizens. I think we need to ask those questions, do a little mental checklist, and then realize what we want to do when it comes to another sentient being or animal or anything in our lives.”