Someone asked how I choose which dogs to rescue. A wise man once told me, Do not bite off more than you can chew, know your limits, you cant save them all, so do right by the ones you can, be cautious with people, they will say anything to save a dog, and never, ever lie to a dog! Every time a message comes across my desk about a dog in need of rescue, I refer to this advice. I use my resources, fosters, fellow rescues, and trainers to see where a certain dog will be best placed. Not every dog that comes across the thread can be placed in a home with children, cats, or even other dogs. Some dogs do not like people in general. All of that is taken into consideration before choosing proper placement. Since I do not kennel my dogs, foster homes are the very foundation and heart of this rescue. Put simply, if our foster homes are full, or unavailable we can not pull. Then there are costs associated with each rescue depending on their medical needs. We do not take that lightly or go in blindly. We need to be able to financially care for these dogs and their needs. We do this out of our own pocket. I will not put my families well being in jeopardy. We fundraise and train to offset costs, but even then such as in the cases of our Senior and Mega E dogs, medical bills are inevitable. We have to be able to properly care for each dog that comes into our rescue, mentally, physically, and financially. How do I choose? I ask all the questions above, review our foster situations, and take the commitment we promise to each dog seriously. If we can in all honestly do right by that dog, we certainly will. When I was asked what about the others there, for every three we pull, three more will come in before we even leave the building. It is an epidemic that society wants to shove under the rug, turn a blind eye to, and continue to ignore. Until society changes, more people offer to open their homes to foster or adopt and education occurs at all levels so that our next generation is sympathetic and proactive, rescue will unfortunately continue. I think everyone needs to see what we see because I guarantee if they did they would think differently, value their pets a bit more, and the thought of dropping their dog off to the shelter would be a foreign thought. The need to choose who stays and who goes would not weigh on the hearts of those that are left to decide~
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 06:00:24 +0000