Can’t Adopt In Las Vegas? Then Borrow A Dog For A Day

Okay, this has to be one of the coolest initiatives we've seen recently for our local rescue animals. If you're someone who loves dogs but can't adopt one, this is right up your alley. Many rental properties here in Las Vegas don't allow pets, and other people just can't afford an adoption. Or they work too much to give a dog proper care during the day. Whatever the reason, there's someone amazing you can do for yourself, and a local rescue dog, if you're in this boat.

Thanks to a new "foster field trip" program through the Animal Foundation, you can borrow a dog for an hour, several hours, or the whole day. Grab a dog for your daily run. Going hiking at Red Rock? Take a pup with you. There are benefits for both the animal and the person borrowing. For the human, there's the bonding time with an animal when you can't have one of your own. There's also safety in running or hiking with a dog at your side. And of course, you get the warm feeling of knowing you're doing a good deed for an animal in need.

For the pup, the benefits are immensely abundant and important. Dogs in a caged environment get sad. They become a different version of themselves. Some even act out of fear. This doesn't get the dog adopted when it's time to choose. When these animals get to spend some time outside, at a park or in a car with a human, their demeanor changes. They're happier and less stressed out.

The foster coordinator at the Animal Foundation, Alec Petronsky, spoke with the RJ recently. He said that the dogs who've gone out on these field trips get adopted sooner (reviewjournal). The dogs show so much excitement when someone comes to walk them. It's just heartwarming. And the foundation allows dogs to be "borrowed" for up to two weeks.

Contact the Animal Foundation at (702) 955-5934, or stop by 655 N. Mojave Road in Las Vegas to borrow a dog today. Freedom Park is right next door to the foundation, so going for a quick run or park outing on your lunch break or after work would be a breeze.  –Wendy Rush

Follow us! Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

New Year's resolutions have been around longer than any of us can remember. But where did the concept even come from? According to history.com, it was the ancient Babylonians who first did it, about 4000 years ago. Their New Year started in mid-March, when spring brought new crops.

For their New Year, the Babylonians would hold a huge religious festival that lasted 12 days. They would crown a new king or reaffirm loyalty to the current one. They would make promises to the gods to pay back their debts and return borrowed items to their owners. If their promises were kept, they believed their gods would bless them in the coming year. If not, they would fall out of favor with the gods.

This festival was called Akitu. And it can be considered the catalyst to New Year's resolutions. Of course, we don't believe anymore that we'll tick any god off if we don't follow through with ours. We just carry around a heaping helping of guilt for a few months. Which might be worse for some of us.

It might have been nice to get another holiday off in March. Though we've gotten used to the massive holiday season with Christmas and New Year's being a week apart. Well, we can thank Julius Caesar for that. Around about 46 B.C., Caesar declared January 1 the first day of the new year. He named the month after Janus, a two-faced god in Roman culture. It was believed that Janus could simultaneously look back at the previous year and ahead to the new one.

And thus, January became the traditional time to make promises for the new year and let go of regrets for the old one. But it's not just humans making resolutions. Animals do it too. Check out this gallery of New Year's resolutions some of our animal friends are making for 2023. –Wendy Rush

Follow us! Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.