Rescue Journal

ok..this is just ridiculous

Carol · Aug. 19, 2009

i have just finished saying no for the 9TH time this week...4 dogs and 5 cats...and it is only wednsday for goodness sake.

and why do folks read the "we are full" on the website, or hear "we are full" on our message and then leave a message or write an email that says..."i see you are full...BUT..."????

but what?

your pet is special? your pet deserves more than some other poor slob? your story is sadder? more real? more interesting?..or is it..but if i could just communicate with you directly, i could make you feel so bad, you would help my pet.

ok... i admit it...i already do feel bad and yes if i talk to you, i will in fact feel even worse. but only one of three things were going to happen anyway....

1. i would really feel sorry for YOU because all of what is happening is totally not your fault...and this happens like once in every hundred calls if even that. this is pretty much reserved for seniors reluctantly entering facility care, or with dogs like caspar who bite their frail and senior hands with insulin injections or you are actively dying and desperate to find responsible care for your sick or elderly furry loved one. there are a few other extraordinary circumstances...but honestly, not as many as folks might think....(AND MOVING TOMORROW TO A PET UNFRIENDLY PLACE IS NOT ONE OF THEM!)

in any of these really desperate, not your fault, cases i would try really hard to find some way to help you and your pet.

2. if after getting cornered and hearing the entire sordid, soap opera, not your fault story...i might have taken the animal anyway because i think he or she is at real risk for suffering harm because you are not capable of finding a reasonable and respectful solution to meet the needs of your pet...so i would actually try to save them from you...so yes i would probably almost kill myself to take your pet, but you would not like my reasons why if i told you.

3. i would have determined that you actually do care and have some decent problem solving skills and have the ability to seek out responsible solutions...and sorry, you will have to deal with this on your own cuz i am too overwhelmed to help you.

sadly, we have reached the point now where there are no more buts, winners or losers...we are full...and i don't want to have to say this 9 times every 3 days....so my answer is now...i don't answer the phone..the staff check the messages and give me a condensed version of why you ignored our we are full message...then i say to call you back and say no, we are full.

the emails i leave til they are old enough (4-7 days) and til i have forgotten whatever i felt when i read them the first time..then i don't read them a second time to feel bad again before i say no, we are full.

do you have any idea that we can't FIND them homes either..you don't want them and mostly, neither does anyone else. we can't make more room with lot's of adoptions...we have to compassionately care for them til they end their natural life. do you know how long a senior animal can live well for...with proper concern and medical care?...a really, really long time. so here they are hanging around and not giving over their comfortable bed to your guy. it is not like we can knock them off early so someone else can get in.

god i sound bitter.

please "get" this...we are full because people like you got here first and took up all of the room. do you have any idea how many people, with how many reasons, are dumping their senior pets?

think about it, maybe you can decide not to do the same.

sorry to the innocent folks...bad mood moving in again. i freaking hate this part of rescue.

Comments

Tracey

I have to deal with the majority of surrenders calls at our shelter, and it is the suckiest part of my volunteer responsibilities. Carrying the burden of guilt and responsibility for those animals to whom we have to say "No" can be crippling. My head tells me it is not "my" guilt and responsibility to bear, but my heart and soul dont seem to be able to listen.

*sigh*

One of my favs from this week was someone who BOUGHT a new home that doesnt allow pets. How does one do this?

Marisa

It is totally unfair how many people giving up their animals use emotional blackmail...consciously or not.

People like Carol who run rescues should not have to listen to sob story after sob story as it is a form of psychological torture. I think forwarding e-mails and phonecalls to other volunteers is very smart, Carol. You do not need the extra stress and guilt. When you are full, you are full.

I do front line work for my rescue so that the primary caretaker doesn't have to expose herself to all the awful stories. There is nothing she can do for those animals and so there is no reason why she has to have the burden of guilt which only belongs to the people who choose to give up their animals in the first place (understanding that sometimes a person is in genuine distress and needs assistance).

Chris T

Plus we are full at the Inn because SAINTS come here and they don't ever want to leave! Perhaps you should amend your message to indicate that you are full, all of your foster homes are full, all of your adoptive homes are maxed out and unless they come with a steep donation for you to hire more staff and get a bigger place they are not coming to SAINTS.

Deb

I cannot imagine any scenario in my life, or Christine's, or ours together, that would include giving up one of our companion animals. How in the name of God could I explain to Kirby or Madison or MacKenzie or Piper or Kiefer or Molly or Gemma or Tucker or Clio or Bella or Booker or Archie or Edith that I loved them yesterday, and they have brought me incalculable joy and sometimes a reason to live, and that I know they trust me to do what's right for them, and that I promised them when they joined our family that it was forever, but that was then and this is now. Oops, so sorry about that.

There is no shelter, no rescue, no sanctuary that could live up to my expectations for the level of care of my best friends. SAINTS is an amazing place, but would I want my guys to live there? No. How can anyone who claims to truly love her/his pet(s)allow a shelter, even one as good as SAINTS to be that pet's final home?

My pets have given me all their love, loyalty, understanding, acceptance and trust. It sickens me to think that some other person's pet(s), who, like mine, gave everything to humans, could be treated like paper plates when things got the least bit uncomfortable.

Sometimes human beings just suck!