A Little Rant

If you were hoping for an uplifting and inspiring post, this probably isn't the day to read my blog. But, if you love animals and are sick and tired of what people do to them, you might be glad someone else feels the same way.

It is hard not to get burnt out doing rescue work. There are times you want your naivete back. There are times you are tired of shedding tears and times you worry why the tears don't come as easily as they used to, and wonder if it is because you've just seen too much.

The reality is, one cannot just do the fun part of rescue work. Most foster people are not fortunate enough to have an animal in need delivered to them, find them the perfect home and then sit contentedly back and bask in the happy ending. The work usually sucks one in wholly and completely and then, along with the rewarding experiences, you must also suffer through the unbearable ones. You must walk into animal control facilities and know that any animal that doesn't leave with you will die, alone and scared. You most certainly will have to take an animal you love on his last trip to the vet so that you are there to comfort him as he passes on, because he is just too sick or because neglectful or abusive beginnings damaged him too much. You will have to witness animals lingering too long in their foster or shelter placements and face the resulting conflict of your heart and mind, wondering if he is, indeed, glad to have been saved or sad to still be waiting for a home. You must deal with the reality that not all endings are happy; that sometimes, what you were certain was the right home, was the wrong home, as you add that animal to the list of those you will worry about forever.

Once you begin this job, you become the person your extended circle of acquaintances call upon when an animal needs help. Daily, you listen to the voice mails and read the emails (and picture text messages - damn, you, iphone!) that plea for help for dogs and cats, each with a story that breaks your heart, knowing you cannot help them all and saying "no" more often than "yes", feeling guilty about it even though your house is full, you are exhausted and there is no longer enough of you to go around.

Sadly, those relinquishment stories aren't very varied. It is actually a rare occurrence to hear a reason for giving up an animal that compels you to sympathize with the people involved. And that is when it gets frustrating and you begin to wonder if it will ever change; if you are really making any kind of difference at all. While there isn't an answer to those questions, sometimes it helps to rant and rave a bit and then get back to what you are doing, which is the intent of this post. So on with the rant . . .

-No, your dog did not need to "just experience birth one time before getting spayed." The ten black puppies you "can no longer deal with" will not be easy to find homes for because they will grow to become big, black dogs, the most frequently euthanized dogs in shelters all across the country. Dogs have an innate desire to be part of your family, to be cared for and loved. Giving birth is not on their list of must-haves.


-You can both move and keep your pets. They are not furniture you can simply replace once you get settled, they are part of your family. It isn't easy to move with children, but you aren't "getting rid" of them because it is difficult, or because you can "just get another one later."

-You say, because you've had a baby, you can no longer give your pet "the attention it deserves, so have to find it a new home." Is it really that difficult to find time to pet the dog or cat every day? To pour a bowl of food? To let your pet sit next to you on the couch as you feed the baby or watch Sesame Street? They ask for so very little and it does not take much at all to make them happy. If you are that stressed out, you should probably make an appointment with a therapist.

-Speaking of your new little munchkin, did it not dawn on you that you would eventually have children when you committed to take home a pet that can live almost 20 years?

-Did you ask your dog if he wants to go "live on a farm where he has room to run?" Maybe he would rather stay with the people he loves and go for a walk once in a while. If you needed exercise, your family would probably not leave you at the gym and never return.

-The guy who answered the "Free to a Good Home" ad you posted online may not be providing a good home. Your dog might be sold to a lab to experiment on, be used as a breeder dog to make "bait puppies" for illegal dog fighting, might become a bait dog itself, or could be "flipped" for a profit to someone else with ill intentions.

-Same thing for the person willing to take the whole litter of "free kittens" off your hands. You should ask if they also have a large snake. Some people have no problem using kittens as snake food. Yes, really.

-By the way, this is off subject, but affectionate cats do not "suck the breath from newborns."

-Because your child/husband/great-aunt/canary sneezed, does not mean s/he "suddenly developed allergies" to your pet. And did you know you can buy allergy meds over the counter, breathe easy and keep your pet?

-Just for the record, do you really think the future is bright for the dog or cat you tossed from your car on the rural road? That fantasy you have of someone scooping him or her up and loving your pet forever is just that. A fantasy.

-When your lease says "no pets" it actually means "no pets." It does not mean "buy a $600 designer dog from the mall pet shop on a whim", then call it a bad dog when it barks, as dogs are want to do, and your landlord busts you.

-Your kitten can make babies as early as five months old. Six weeks later, she can make them again. No, the shelter does not have room for the population explosion in your house that you seem so perplexed about.

-Ditto for your puppy.

-By the way, spay or neuter your kitten or puppy before it's sixteenth week.

-Dogs and cat are animals. Animals are covered in fur. Fur covered things shed. Why does this surprise you?

-Yes, your pet probably does miss you while you are away from home because your work schedule changed. Do you really think she'll miss you less while living in a cage at a shelter, wondering why you disappeared and if you are ever returning?

-Different breeds have different needs. Why are you surprised it is difficult to accommodate a Mastiff in your studio apartment or that your Yorkie isn't happy being a "farm dog."?

-Don't fool yourself. Your senior cat or dog is not "highly adoptable." There is no waiting list for older animals with pending medical expenses. It doesn't matter how sweet or cute your critter is. Relinquished senior pets do very poorly in shelters and those very special people willing to adopt them come along infrequently.

-Puppies and kittens grow and you cannot always predict their adult size. A pet getting "bigger than we expected" does not justify "getting rid" of them.

Pets are not commodities one can throw out or recycle when one tires of them. You are the center of your pet's world; your presence is what she breathes for. He would lay down his life for you. They will stay by your side until your last breath, no matter what life has thrown your way. They deserve no less than the same in return. Please. If you don't have 18 years to give, the resources to care for, the tolerance to tough it out when times are hard and the flexibility to accommodate the unexpected, do not add a pet to your life. And, if you do have those things to give, please find your next pet at your local shelter or through a rescue group, because the world is full of animals whose human's have failed them . . . and they need you.

End rant.