the not so funny thing about rescue is considering how passionate we are about kindness and respect and dignity towards animals, how can we possibly be so petty and downright mean amongst ourselves. if rescuers ran the world..the world be a wasteland of destruction and dead bodies as we try to take out anyone and everyone who we do not like or disagrees with us.
for the past 10 years or so, I keep looking for that open forum specifically for rescue where we can check in, scroll around, see what's new, ask questions, get answers, toss out thoughts, share triumphs and failures with other people in rescue. and every single one eventually runs down the same mean and petty road..the infighting starts, the nastiness creeps in, people start getting fed up and leaving. it really doesn't matter if the pages are moderated or not..eventually every one of them all fall apart.
I don't understand this...if someone truly has the goodness inside them to really care about animals, where does that interior goodness go when they open their mouths or type a response to someone else? does it just disappear? is this all there is to us..are we a one trick goodness show? I Rescue Animals so I can do and say and be anything else that I want because I earned the right!
to be what??? to be a dickhead? an asshole? a cyberspace bully? the animals said you could be all of that?
we can be strong in what we believe in, we can be passionate about what we believe. we can share our thoughts and our feelings and even engage in debates and disagreements without sneering, without cloaking our words in contempt.
when we have something to say..we can just say it.
I do not believe in importing because....
I believe in rescue without borders because...
I believe in the benefits of pediatric spay and neuters...
I believe pediatric spays and neuters can cause harm...
for chrissakes..why can't we just say what we think, do what we believe, and discuss the issues calmly, politely, and rationally...why all of the high school drama?
we say we love animals and are there to help them..so why are we on rescue forums and facebook pages blowing each other up?
we think there are too many rescuers out there so we should knock some off?
while we are in the process of killing off our enemies, explain why that is necessary to the animals in their care.
and the answer to this is because our petty, ill mannered fighting is more important to us then the animals who need our help out there.
we need to quit wallowing around in the wrestling pits and try to be better at this.
the internet is filled with that "be a dick" temptation.
it gives people the opportunity to say things they'd never have the guts to say to friends, or (especially) complete strangers to their face.
i've been "online" for so many years, and even NOW, the vitriol still has the power to stun me.
not what they say, particularly.. but the way they feel they can SAY it, with complete anonymity. like dirty phone calls or sending nasty letters to police stations.
mostly it is about getting attention.
for some, ANY attention is better than none.