is a bit different than other folks and i have been thinking about a bunch of stuff lately while i was busy not blogging.
like gwen and al....we have had a few discussions about them since they arrived because gwen is only 7 yrs old, PB, gorgeous, and very human centered too. she is adoptable...al, geez what a freaking GREAT, HAPPY, HEALTHY, WONDERFUL, and fun dog...is 14 yrs old...he is toast in the world of adoptables...people think he is just too old.
al is the ball and chain, holding gwen back..... hardly anyone wants to adopt two big dogs together, esp, if one is an old-man plain jane pitty cross. yep...alastair is gwen's ball and chain.
but what makes us think that gwen wants a home, more than she wants to be with her old friend al? does a home of her own mean more to her than al does?...i betcha it doesn't.
here is my dream...someone comes here and falls head over heels in love with both of them. they don't think that al is a ball and chain, they think he is the most greatest gift they have ever found. gwen is the other greatest gift in the two-some combination and this family will thank their lucky stars, every single day that they found these two incredible dogs and were able to give them a fabulous home, together. that is my dream for them but only because i truly believe this is what these two dogs expect me to dream.
another thing i have been thinking about is more a reality check. as cocopuff and a few others have proven in the past...i hate to tell folks in rescue this...but our adoption and surrender forms are not worth the paper they are written on....none of them are and for one very good reason.
according to current laws, animals are not sentient beings whose best interests must always be considered...they are property, plain and simple, end of story...the simple and only current truth.
none of our adoption or surrender forms support the whole legal property concept and consequently none of them will ever hold up in court which means we are unable to legally protect them when we really need to be able too. we might win in a long drawn out court case if we have the thousands of dollars it takes to follow thru...but we might not win and i don't like the not winning part so i have been thinking alot about this.
also...everyone knows i call a spade a spade...even if said spade morally should be called a heart. it is another form of lying to pretend i can arbitrarily turn a black and white legal spade into a warm and fuzzy red heart just because i think the laws are stupid and wrong. i am not a liar, i am not a pretender and i am freaking tired of not being able to protect the ones i love because we have utterly stupid animal rights laws.
sooo...as soon as i get my courage up tp face all the flack this is going to cause, i am doing two things that i need to do and it will probably piss people off.
first i am going to burn all of our surrender and adoption forms which are utterly worthless anyway and i am going to do something different but cannot be contested in a court of law.
animals ARE legally property and i want ALL unquestionable legal rights to them....one day soon, all surrenders will come in here with a paid in full bill of sale and all adoptions/ fosters will go out as only a lease agreement according to my rules.
it sucks to write them as property because i think it is so very wrong...but that is EXACTLY what are laws say they are so until the laws get smarter and more enlightened, i am calling a spade a spade so no one can legally mess around with them or me anymore. and if folks don't like it cuz it is disrespectful and morally wrong?...change the freaking laws then so we can legally and without future risk, call a heart a heart.
While I was at the Dr.s in June waiting (like usual) I had the chance to read an issue of the Globe and Mail. They were talking about the laws surrounding animals. The laws are slowly changing as people demand different legislation. I think alot of this has come from people splitting up and both wanting the pet(s). Unfortunetly, the animals, being property are divided as such but I think the laws are slowly changing and will eventualy consider animals not as property but as "beings". The article is worth a read.