Rescue Journal

the reality of surrendering

Carol  ·  Aug. 7, 2012

i think bru goes home later today so that will make him really happy.

new dog coming in this weekend..a bit of an odd story and it demonstratates how hard and uncompromisng i can sometimes be..and maybe, you might see...why.

this is a little much loved king charles spaniel who a year ago fell off the family deck. he is now like chance...totally parapalegic and incontinent but he also needs his bladder expressed. the family is moving to mexico for work for a year and they cannot take this little broken dog with them so they called here looking to board him for the year.
and i never do boarding because we are not a boarding facility..we are a rescue that takes in animals who are either neglcted or abused or about to be unfairly nuked.i will watch for short periods, the pets of family and friends and of course any saints animal is always welcome back here...i have a personal relationship with them.
but boarding to the public ain't never going to happen because i am not turning away soon to be dead spot or rover so some family pet can have cheap and long term rent.

anyway..i told the family no and why they would have to make other arrangements. but..if it came to having to nuke him to let me know and i would see. i guess it came to that cuz they couldn't find anyone to take him on and apparently taking him with them to mexico with the other pets is not an option. there were a bunch of reasons which i quite frankly, didn't bother to listen very well to cuz i didn't want to..i hate long and involved phone calls and in any case this would not be my job to problem solve.

so i told them the only option was to surrender him here and he then becomes permanently our dog..not theirs. i said when they come back IF his still here,they can apply to adopt him BUT that doesn't mean i will let them. i told them....surrendering him in the first place is a HUGE strike against them and i pretty much NEVER return pets to homes that couldn't or wouldn't keep them. and just because they love him does not mean i think they are a good home...good homes mean and must demonstate a helluvalot more than just some airy fairy, warm and fuzzy invisible loving feelings.

anyway..they are caught between a rock and a hard place on this...nuke him or surrender him and i am glad they chose to let him live. but i am not making any promises as to the future, if i can find him a great home, i will and if i don't and they come back and want him...they will have to start from scratch and i will decide if it is in his very best interests.

i do not know this family from adam and i don't need to know them any more than i need to know any other surrendering family..not my job to judge or get to know the famlies of the animals who come here..my job is to cut the ties and the strings attached to them, get to know the animals and their needs so to make the best decisions for them that i can.

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