but its not.
there are so many layers to rescue. we think rescue is about the obvious..take in a homeless animal..fix whatever problems and find an appropriate home...poof... rescue tidy and neat in a nutshell.
well..rescue would be this easy if people were not people and animals were not animals and life was not life and if any living beings life was actually...simple.
I have so little patience for rescue reguritators who spew forth the memorized rescue bible by rote without understanding what it actually means.
do I understand it any more than others? are you kidding? I haven't a clue.
really when you think of it...what are the ethics of rescue?
I have a hard time with the word ethics..because I don't care what anyone says..given certain circumstances, given being pushed up against a rock and a hard place with only one of two not great ways out..ethics can become fluid. sometimes you just have to pick the lesser of two evils..you cannot stand stagnant forever between a rock and a wall.
I think the bible of rescue has to be written by each of us individually..it has to be things that we not only really believe in but we have to believe so deeply that we do what we say we believe.
so for me the 10 commandments in rescue that I believe, that I follow, that I stake everything I have on are these...
1. once I become involved with an animal...I am responsible for that animal for the rest of it's life. no turning a blind eye, no pretending I am not, no shrugging of my shoulders, no passing on helping if the animal finds more trouble on its road in life.
2. the animals do not have to sign a contract with iron clad terms to bind them to deserve my continued commitment to them..they don't have to be perfect, in fact they are allowed to be broken just like every single imperfect human person out there. I do not expect them to be better than you or me.
3. animals are not toys or objects, they are not just the accepted, interchangeable sum of their species..they are each individual identities with unique needs and personalities.
4. my job is not to make their lives perfect (altho this is truly my goal) but life itself is never perfect. my job is to ensure that they live well and comfortable, in clean, warm and dry environments where they find some security, happiness, companionship, respect and dignity in their predictable daily lives.
5. my job is to protect them from becoming failures in the unreal expectations held firm in human fickle minds. my job is to shape and bend their environment so they can feel successful in their lives.
6. if problems are too big, too insurmountable and the life safety or basic quality of life of the animal or others comes into question, I will love them and hold them in my arms and weep at my failure to help them as I give them a peaceful and respectful end.
7. I will rescue with honest transparency..every door and window will be wide open to anyone's view.
8. I will accept that I do make mistakes and I will commit to examining them in detail so that I can learn and improve.
9. I will determine how I want to rescue and I will respect the rights, choices and efforts of others who choose to rescue differently then I choose to rescue.
10. I will not be held hostage to black and white thinking inside of a box..i will at all times strive to think deeper, to look harder, to expand the boundries of preconceived beliefs and ideas and stretch myself to try to reach the core of the animals souls themselves.
this is my bible of rescue..not so simple, not so easy, maybe unattainable, but so worth the journey.