Animal rescue is no laughing matter. Lives are at stake, the problems are many and no one is lauging. Except breeders on the way to the bank. That is for another blog.
I am currently more concerned with the emotional shut down and or avoidance that many shelter workers and rescuers seem to inevitably end up with. I want to avoid this end all be all and allow myself (20 years from now) to continue to FEEL.
I do not mean to say that these professionals, (who have found themselves numbed out by the overwhelming numbers of animals that they come into contact with), have chosen to be this way. Nor do I feel that they are bad or weak, as I have heard said. Their life choices and the state of things around them, which started out as good hearted motions to lighten the suffering in this world and ended up in emotional shut-down, can and must serve as a lesson for what to avoid.
I don't want to over simplify it. Things change and old ways just have to die sometimes, sure. It is more than that though, it is a conglomerate of personal, social and familial philosophies that must be reconciled. Unlearning what we were taught, for instance.
The one thing we as rescuers need to immediately un-learn is that "we know what needs to be done". We don't, we only know a little. We know enough to pull these sentient creatures out of the euthanasia shelters and off the street.
(Some rescuers I have spoken with even kidnap pups from abusive a neglectful homes.) Many of us also know to thoroughly interview the adoptive homes to make sure these placed animals will have a committed family that can grow with their pets needs. We know a lot about the process.
We know a lot about the root of the problem; puppymils, backyard breeders and angrily wealthy breeders who hire top lawyers and lobbyists to keep the laws in favor of their growing bank accounts. We even know educating the public and new pet owners is essential in our field. Finally, we know we don't want to have to see these atrocities; like fight dog rescues with 3rd degree burns and gunshot wounds or overbred
cross eyed poop eating purebreds whose sister is also grandma. The abuse and the behaviors that result from it are so repugnant that our lives are changed forever. We know that for every dog and cat, hamster and even fish we save and re-home there are 10 more out there in even worse shape. We know that unless something big, something unilateral and across the board of society begins to change, there will have to be as many rescues as Mcdonalds an 7-11's combined.
What we (and I include myself) don't know is how to process all this and how we can continue to save these animals without losing ourselves along the way.
How can we rescue the sheer numbers we do and not begin the breakdown that just about every shelter or rescue worker, founder and handler that I have met seems to have undergone many years into it.
I know that there are the many who attempt to "save" in order to atone for their human shortcomings and those who rescue to make up for all the bad being done in the world. There all all sorts of reasons, excuses and philosophies that allow us to keep going while our health, our social lives and even our basic needs fall to the wayside as the growing tide of lost little souls come crashing down.
How, can we rest when it is quite literally raining cats and dogs out there?
Do we simply stop and check for a heartbeat. Do we allow ourselves enough time to breathe and eat and rest. Should we stop trying to save the world that others with big corporate accounts and under-active imaginations mindlessly and recklessly warp and corrode?
I enjoy my work. I love the fact that I get to surround myself with furry critters and see how they do it. I love to learn what these animals have that we, as a society, tend to overlook. I fear that people can't change enough to see that if we continue to look at it the way we are now, these animals will be nibbling at our bones shortly after we collapse.
I mean to be graphic. I want to portray that animals react to danger in it's subtlest form. We are different. We walk right past the sign that says "KEEP OUT".
This is a complicated and tangled mess.
What is happening to these animals must change. The number of animals bred and sold as pets are too close to the number of animals euthanized every year. It has an effect on society. We bring them into existence, we profit off them, we lose them, forget about them and put them to death, then breed more. It has an effect on our lives, our world. We cannot emotionally afford the result of our actions. Too many breeders just do it for the money and too many rescuers end up footing the bill. The balance un-afforded by financial means is paid with blood, sweat and mostly tears. The well runs dry too often...and then it starts.
The gears grind from wear and tear. Phrases of defeat chime in...If ya can't beat'em, join'em or "no good deed goes unpunished". Then another batch of puppies appear at the doorstep, the bell rang but no one is there. Standing beside ourselves, sick and tired beyond recognition we nurture the sick ones and feel nothing.
I, imagine a different world.
I have seen the need for animal rescue rise and the number of rescues, both 501.3c and independently run, explode all over the states. I have also seen a surge of trainers, behaviorists and the like appear with personalized versions
of commonplace training methods that make all sorts of claims. (A good number of my clients come to me after experiencing the same behavior problems these trainers were meant to fix. But again...another blog, another time.) What I have not seen is a collaboration form that we are absolutely capable of: Taking our hopes and our profits to the root of rescue.
Where the seed drops from the hands of men and grows burden on the backs of many.
Now that I got that off my chest...
I am glad I can FEEL better now.
