Rescue Journal

a spade is a spade, unless it sounds better to call it a heart.

Carol · Feb. 8, 2008

i am about to post another probably not too popular opinion.

at any given time there are alot of PB dogs hanging around here and there have been from the very beginning. at least half of our current population is almost always "rescued " by someone else and yet someone else doesn't want them. and with the exception of rotti's, (which do not have any established, breed specific rescues in current operation in bc,) most of them here are senior. and most of them have some kind of issue, physical or behavioral but they have them. here they are and their breed rescues are not cuz either they are not interested in helping or they actually referred them to here to begin with.

now i don't mind if breed rescue can't help them because all of their foster homes are full, but i get kind of ticked if suddenly there is a space for a young and highly adoptable and the difficult to place get routinely turned away or sent over here.

i don't think there is anything wrong with being a breed (or small dog) re-homing service. and if someone is simply re-homing a highly adoptable dog from one home to the next, well good for them...it probably is an enjoyable and fulfilling way to occupy some time.

but why not just call it a re-homing service and not a rescue? cuz there is a difference between the two.

so.... i am being a bag cuz i feel like a being a bag and i am protesting the unfairness of re-homing agencies pretending to do what i do. (let's be honest too....i am mostly protesting cuz they compete for the same donation dollars that we need to operate here)
if a dog is being turned away or pretended not to exist because of lack of space and it also happens to be a hard to adopt one, the ok.....but is that non existent space, non existent to a highly adoptable one too?...cuz if a spot suddenly appears with a bit of stretching or juggling or begging for help for an easy to re-home dog...then maybe "re-homing" is a more accurate description then "rescue."

ok, i got that off my chest and am going to work now before i get started on something else.

Comments

Beverly

Ah the peeing-marking has not slowed but the spinning certainly has :)

Tell Carmen to leave goodies in the doorways lol! Food will get them every time!

I wish I had been able to see the environment because it would have been helpful in Coho's progress. I wondered why he would chew a spot in the nicely painted dog house here for no reason at all...now I know lol! Bad habit from boredom no doubt...he stopped doing this now thank goodness!

Carol

i am glad he is doing well bev...has he quit peeing on everything and circling yet? carmen said inka still has huge issues with going thru open doorways. she is wondering if this will ever get better? i told her i don;t know...mals are pretty stubborn once they get an idea into their heads!

and if those guys had been puppies, i would have run for the hills! can you imagine a herd of malamute babies...holy smoke, not a wall or piece of furniture left intact in the house...busy little beavers (i saw what the adults did to their sleeping boxes...don't they get splinters in their gums?!

Beverly

Hehehe...I know why I came here while drinking Yukon Jack & hot chocolate on a Friday night :) I need a smile and always enjoy how you keep it real.

The old blind boy here thanks you Carol for all the help you and your friends have given to his previous owner and his Malamute pals. Now if they had been a bunch of puppies you'da been on your own LMAO!

From one broken old dog lover to another...have a great weekend!!!!

lburrell

Ha ha!! I love it!!

Keep pressing the button. It's SO good.

Carol

another comment deleted for being aggressive.

Deb

I've never understood breed specific rescues who make all kinds of rules and regs as to the age, mental and/or physical condition, breed standard, yada, yada, of the dogs they will or will not accept. A rescue is supposed to give refuge, and it's not the perfectly healthy, well trained, emotionally stable dog who needs help, it's the battered, broken, scared, scarred, imperfect dog who needs the resources and the care. I know of at least two rescues that will not take on dogs that are elderly.(+ 10 yrs.) Not sick and elderly, or coming with issues and elderly, just elderly. There are rescues that will only take breed ambassadors, the best of the best. How hard is it to rehome a dog that is already "perfect"?

Most (not all) of the dogs who make it to SAINTS have been passed over or passed on by rescues, shelters, do-gooders and fed-up "family". These are dogs who need sanctuary, dogs who would have died, period, full stop, had they not found SAINTS. There is a huge difference between SAINTS and breed specific rescues. The sad thing is that there have been purebred dogs shunted to SAINTS because they were not "good enough".

Carol

three comments deleted..not because of varying opinions but because of how they were stated. feel free to re-post with editting and a some good manners.

to clarify so people do not take this post personally...and no one was personally targetted or implicated by breed or association.if you are not a perfect dog only re-homer, there would be no reason to take offence.

A. if rescue's rescue animals who are not always easy to place, then they would be rescues and not re-homing agencies. no one is asking anyone to take in more than they can handle but if some breed rescues will ONLY take easily adoptables, who exactly is supposed to help the rest of their breed? and this does happen despite what we want others to believe.

B. saints status as an animal rescue group...we shelter, re-home and provide sanctuary care as needed according to each individual animals needs and the opportunities that present themselves as far as potential adoptive homes is concerned.
while i haven't counted lately, there are in fact quite a few animals on each years adopted pages which would remove us from straight sanctuary care status.

i will remind certain people that while you are free to discuss issues, and certainly welcome to offer and promote a different point of view...i will not tolerate rudeness or unkindness or nastiness during discussions nor will i allow pointed comments alluding to personal dislike of me or anyone else for that matter.

my blog, my opinion, my life experiences from my point of view. this is my house, my home, and i can expect respectful behavior here when others visit whether you think i deserve it or not.

carol's blunt statement? don't like it? no need to visit again.

this would be another instance in rescue when "i" and "me" means me.

Marisa

And what makes this ironic is that wouldn't a lot of the "issues" of a particular dog be as a result of his or her specific breed...thereby being the perfect candidate for fostering by a group who are very well-versed in said breed?