Rescue Journal

hard times ahead for seniors i think..

Carol  ·  Nov. 17, 2009

the phone call came today..i knew it eventually would. "so..." says the protector of our saints overfull gates..."how's it going? i won't tell you about anyone specific but the other shelters are calling and it's getting close to christmas when you thought you might have some more room?"
oh god.... says my leaden heart......old, wrecked animals out there are dying...and ours aren't. 14 on my list of soon to goes who have not decided yet to go anywhere..less the 4 i just took in...and the 10 too many...still won't leave many openings here.

why is it such an ugly and hopeless world out there for the seniors? trina tried for weeks to get help for the ones that we took.

i am almost thinking we need 2 parts to our rescue...a kennel somewhere to stack the poor buggers in until we can fit them in here. but what a terrible waiting ground for them to have to wait in..or do we just accept the alternative that now in their moments of greatest fear and unhappiness their life just suddenly ends?

maybe i need to get colder about this...bring them in, give them time limited happiness...knock them off when they feel good so the next poor bastard can have some kindness and velcro bedtime before their life has to end too.

years ago..i gave someone that advice you know. she moved to the praries where they were euth'ing cats by the hundreds. she asked me what to do, she couldn't stand it...i said take them home for a week or two, let them get happy, take them back on their euth day and load up some more.

she actually did it...for a year or so anyway...can you imagine how heartbreaking that must have been? but she did it...she gave them some dignity and happiness for a couple of weeks til they had to die.

what kind of world do we live in when rescuers born to help and nuture have to start thinking in terms of providing compassionate, respectful deaths to the abandoned and terrified?

like i could bring spot here, fall in love with him and he with me just so he could feel safe and valued on his death day next week?

there has to be a way to help more seniors...there has to be a way to get them out of cages they do not belong in, that hurts them both physically and emotionally...there has to be a way to get them to safe harbours where they can peacefully and surrounded by love, live out their natural lives.

why are there so many? why the fuck can't people take care of their animals kindly and gently and then help them to pass away in peace?
why do old dogs and cats end up in shelters and sanctuaries when they should be home, warm and comfortable in their own beds?
i just do not get this fucking world that can't find some kind of compassion for these animals whose lives are almost at the end.

Comments

Yvette~Turtle Gardens

You start by taking one or two or three then in 4 months you have removed 45 - Moricetown or 22 from the Kispiox Shoots or 12 from Hazelton. One dog saved at a time and then educate, spay/neuter. And make a difference on First Nation Communities. It starts with one.

caroline

what is needed is a huge chunk of land to start a SAINTS TOO so that more animals in need can be helped.
Now I will admit that I don't know anything about running a sanctuary but there has to be a way that those big sanctuaries in the States can be duplicated here.
There certainly is a huge need for it.

Marisa

Reminds me of a quote from Steven Simmons, AIDS and animal rights activist:

"What we're promoting is an ethic of compassion for all living beings. It's time to end this hierarchy of who has the right to live, who deserves not to suffer, who should be respected, that there's a limit in the amount of compassion that we can have for our fellow creatures."

erin

people are so fucken selfish it makes me sick. why is their no mandatory free (or really cheap) spay/neuter program? why cant the govt pay the vet? carol i hope you are proud of the ones you did save, and can take a bit of comfort in that, rather than aching over the ones you cant. (i say this while im crying thinking of them). the schools could incorporate a compassion class, and sadly itd be the first time most of them thought of something other than themselves. hmm, not a bad idea!

Lory

The truth? SAINTS has brought light into the world for many, both human and animal. Don't let the darkness defeat you.

Linda

I believe that compassion for animals should be taught at home but this is not happening, for some reason. My son was raised with dogs and now as an adult, he considers them his siblings. He always phones and asks how I am but then he asks how the dogs are in the same sentence. We are family, humans and dogs. Maybe the school system should be involved in teaching compassion. Couldn't they forget a french class or a PE class and take the kids to a shelter or to SAINTS and even if they changed the way even a few kids viewed animals, it would be worth it. It would be a trickle down affect where these kids would then teach their kids to value animals.

Charlotte

I really wish more people could read this blog. I've said it before, but my own aging animals' lives are so much the better for me reading it. Not that I could ever conceive of dumping them, and I've always gotten greif for the amount of time/care/money I spend on them. But knowing what to expect, and knowing that I'm not stupid for doing so much for 'just an animal' has made it so much easier to care for them as things start to fail.
Other hand, I guess the kind of people that can shove a blind dog out of a car aren't the type that can learn compassion anyway. Hateful to say, but I can only hope they get treated the same way some day.
I truly don't know how your heart can stand making the decisions you have to make, but I know you Have to make them - if you take more in than you can reasonably handle, the whole thing will crash & burn. And so many more animals would suffer if there were no SAINTS.

Emma

I will continue to adopt senior/special needs cats only. Makes me feel ill to think of how many animals won't continue to receive the love they deserve in their old age. Its sadder to think that the animals themselves have no idea it will end that way, they don't see it coming. People not even trying to follow through with care of senior pets is pathetic and a big disappointment.

SteveO

Its a sad world indeed....And I know you were being sarcastic...in some of your comments......but being a buseness man as well as an animal lover.....there is some logic in what you say.....you cannot save the world....and I have personally seen you spend way too much money on one animal....when several could have benifited.....I guess its a good thing that you run Saints.....instead of someone like me.....just remember....money to run your place...is hard to come by....N sometimes the hard decisions have to be made.....Maybe you need someone with more of a buseness aproach...with less emotion involved...to see how you can help the most...with the limited resorces your forced to deal with.....either that....or we need some smokin rich backer to help us out.... :) ;0 ;)

Barbara DeMott

Lots of these seniors belonged/belong to seniors who get treated about the same in our society.