Rescue Journal

too sick to do anything except to think.

Carol  ·  Oct. 20, 2013

when one of the palliative animals passes away, mixed in with whatever sadness or regret...there is a sense of relief. its over, one way or another, they were not alone when they reached the end of their road. they took that final step past where we are able to go... past any input, responsibility or control. our job with them is done as we turn around to meet the next one.

anne keeps spread sheets on all the animals in and out. she told me last week that up til now, we have been about 50-50. each year 50% adoption or into permanent foster care and 50% ending their lives here. this year however she was shocked to see..far less going out to homes and far more dying here.

this does not surprise me..year after year we have been filling up with more and more aging complex and difficult animals. sometimes...many times, most times....they live here year after year, for years at a time. eventually we just fill up with animals with no where to go...not even with a miracle.

no one wanted tina or jerry at 14..now at almost 18, their adoptability is even less. odie..puff daddy..still fairly young but so many issues. they may well live another 10 years here, cheerfully taking up space.

I am thinking we are pretty much limited to taking in animals like chewie now..ones that we know will die fairly soon.
of course we never really know this until they get here and we see what is going on with them. I am thinking of dogs like the mastiffs..we thought they were pretty much on deaths door but with a good med regime, looks like they too may be here for a while yet...taking up space but not getting adopted.

and really..in the end do I really care. if they had a good life here, if we were able to give them a home where they felt content, is that so bad.
but then I think of lance and mini me, and the inherent risks in rescuing and I know that each and every one of these animals should be living and dying surrounded by the hearts and arms of their beloved families.

death is not the monster...not being wanted is the most monsterous of it all.

love you guys...we want so much for you....wish we could do it all.

Comments

Carol

hi ryan..yes I will be here, taking a sick day tomorrow and will be around the house somewhere.

Carol

folks keep putting the wrong bowls in the rabbit pens...they are supposed to have the non tippable stainless steel dog bowls..not the plain flat bottomed ones that tip over. I keep putting the right ones in and they keep getting taken out again...drives me nutz. it is literally impossible to tip the proper bowls so if there is a problem with water spilling in there again, it is from people using the wrong bowls.

plus..sweeping the shavings away from the bowls keeps the shavings out of them but currently the bowls are getting plopped down in the middle of the shavings. better to sweep out a clean corner to put the bowls down in then no shavings can get in the bowls.

no hanging food and water containers...experience has shown that they get forgotten and are refilled over and over without a proper cleaning... the water and food get stale and gross.à

using the proper bowls and sweeping out a shavings free food and water area should fix the problems in there.

Helga

I'm wondering if there is someway we could get food and water stations that fasten on to the wire of the pens just above the ground. As it is the dishes are often full of shavings and dirt. If there is too much crud in with the pellets I usually throw them out and replace with fresh which is wasteful.

Ryan

Hi, Carol will you be around tomorrow morning i could come volunteer and have a chat with you, i lost my phone...

Penny

I think Hope & Faith are tipping their water bowl. All their bedding was soaking wet today and I had to clean the entire run and replace with dry bedding. Helga said their run was wet the other day as well. Do we have any weighted or heavier bowls that they can't tip?

shelagh f

no Teddy again, we are going to try Wednesday morning.
Lets all keep our fingers crossed all the stars align
that day