Rescue Journal

the blog

Carol · May 23, 2014

i don't know if folks are as bored by reading the blog as i have been lately in writing it..but i do notice the daily unique hits have dropped from almost 400 per day to a mere 150 today.

during the last political upheaval, it was the blog that was used as the main and really only bone of contention..no one had too much to say about how we cared for the animals but a lot to say about how i wrote about life on this blog. it was felt it was too negative, it turned people off, so i have tried to be nicer in what i write...doesn't look like that is working too well tho.

i hate being stuck in a preconceived box of other people's expectations..i think folks should have expectations for themselves and leave me alone.

whatever...bottom line..i am the one living this life and everyone else has their own life to live.
and if folks want a rescue rose garden blog...they are going to have to step up, set up, live it and write their own.

i think the biggest obstacle to respectful, responsible, compassionate animal care is our tendency to wallow in bullshit. we want everything to sound nice, we want everyone to think we are great (and nice.) well you know what...sometimes we ain't. the truth of the matter is that rescue is full of people..good people, honest people, smart people, nice people, even a few sane people. and it is also full of bad people, dishonest people, stupid people, mean people, and bat-shit crazy people. and by this..i don't just mean rescuers..i mean volunteers, potential adopters and people who engage in surrendering their animals too.

and how is anyone ever going to know who is who and what is what if everyone bullshits about what they are really doing? if you are saying something mean about someone else..you are saying something mean. if you are dumping your old dog or cat for peeing, then you are dumping them for peeing. if you say you are a perfect home but you absolutely HAD to de-claw your cats..don't be too surprised if most people in rescue refuse to adopt to you because we think de-clawing is barbaric....it doesn't matter how good the story is..most of us won't buy it.

we cannot put a good or angelic or righteous spin on causing harm to someone else. so we bullshit..we fabricate some kind of story that will somehow excuse what we have done. we shift the blame from our own plate to the plate of someone else. hey, it works and it works because we let it.

we don't want to speak the truth..or even know the truth..it is easier to live in a web of half truths or out and out lies.

well..as far as the blog goes..here is the truth as i see it.

some people are going to enjoy reading the blog and some people are not. and some people are going to take what is written on this blog and turn it into a weapon. so what? ammo gathering in rescue is nothing new.

but here is the thing for me...if i am going to speak honestly here..then i need to be free to speak honestly. any negative fallout...falls right back on me. but if i am to be censored, if i am to write to meet the expectations others have of me..then quite frankly, i am not interested in writing anything. the readers of this blog can learn as much from reading about what i do right as they can from reading about what i am doing wrong.

i grew up in rescue surrounded by the old time rescuers who hate people. i saw their hate, i felt their hate and i said to myself..i will not hate people (somedays this is kind of hard!) i grew up in rescue where the personal bashing of other rescuers was almost a national sport and i said..i will not personally bash others (even tho sometimes i really want too!)

i grew up in the world of down and dirty rescue where i sometimes saw animals suffering in rescues care and i said...i will not allow animals to suffer in my care.

and i am still immersed in a world of rescue bullshit where we go out of our way to put things out there with a positive spin...well sometimes the positive is really just a smoke screen to hide something from being seen.

if i am a bitch on monday, then chances are i am bitching on monday's blog. if i had a good head shake and dragged my head out of my ass on tuesday..maybe i will write a wiser and more tempered blog. if i am feeling sorry for myself on wednesday, maybe that blog is a pity party but maybe by thursday something happens to restore my faith in humanity. if all of my angst and bitterness and hope and dreams got written somehow during the week..maybe on the weekend, i write about a special animal or two that i learned something new about.

interesting and easily digestible posts are not in me..airy fairy/warm and fuzzy deserted me a long time ago. i either write exactly what i am thinking or feeling on any given day (right/wrong/good/bad..but at least real from my perspective) or i write easy to spew out truthful but sparse updates day after day.

i am trying to figure out which way to go.

Comments

Maryse

I really love animals. I have cat need a lot of care. I enjoy every minute of it. I think that you're doing amazing work. Keep up the good work. I am considering adopting one of your pets.

another Doreen

Just wondering if you can still check the number of unique daily hits on the old website blog?
Although you can deduct one - it's probably me using it as a shortcut to this new blog.

Catherine

I really like how you express yourself. I think you give a realistic take on the work you do. The blog informs us about what is going on at Saints and I am glad you let it fly about the day to day crap your up against. You let off steam and have a lot of humor in what you write. I read this blog everyday and will continue to do so. I would miss your writing if you stopped. And by the way Mya is doing fine. She has many friends in the neighborhood, has a good walk everyday and seems content. All the best, Catherine

Willie C

I can only speak about my experience with the new SAINTS website. I have never registered for the blog, I have always went to the website every day or two and read the blog entries and comments. It has taken me a few tries to even find the 'Archive' link to get to the full list of the recent blog entries. I have also found the site slower on my personal laptop and my work laptop (they are both high capacity/powerful laptops).

There is usually a drop in hits on any newly redesigned website. Most will eventually try to figure it out and come back. There is a lot of nicer/bigger/better on the new website - I'm sure your site designer is still working on things, websites are always a work in progress!

Please keep your Blog real - it's not fair to anyone if the truth isn't told. . .
Thank you

colin

Still read it almost every day. Don't change a thing!

Fiona

I love your honesty on the blog, please don't change!

suzanne

I, too, have been reading your blog at least twice daily for years and if I didn't think it was wonderful I wouldn't still be reading it. I find your insights and vast knowledge to be both informative and helpful. Basically, your knowledge saved one of my cats, for which I thank you (he thanks you too!). Life simply isn't all rainbows and unicorns. I wish there were some sort of spam-filter that would prevent nasty vegans and other unpleasant sorts from getting into your email etc. with all that goes on there on a daily basis you certainly do not need the extra stress. I found you years ago through Three Woofs and a Woo when the Food Lady had taken a trip to SAINTS to photo your gang and she posted a bunch of them on her blog.
The one thing I really miss, maybe because I'm so very far away, is the little blurbs you used to have for each SAINT along with their photos... the one where you could click on "dogs" page and see a photo of each one along with a little story about him/her. I really liked that and I think that format drew a lot of people in... starting with myself... for example the story about Scrappy and Lotus or Emily's Table Tale made me cry and also made them so real for someone far away. And the In Memory page where many of us learned how SAINTS came to be (the story of Bug)... I think that when you post the list at the end of the year of all your friends who have gone on their photos should be there... a list seems so dry to me, but then again I am an insanely mushy sort.
Kudos to you and all there and a hug for Ziggy from Auntie Suzanne

Donna Brearley

Carol, I've been reading your blog for a long time, and I appreciate the fact that you don't sugar coat things. There is a mix of good heartwarming stories, some sad, some where frustrations from the animals and especially some people happen, but it's a good cross-section of what is going on. Keep writing the blog the way you do, as I too check in the morning and late at night to see what is happening.

Sharon

I still love your blog. It's a bit confusing getting used to the new blog so that may be part of it. I'm getting used to it tho. So if you sign up do the updates go to your email? I prefer not to get emails.

Carol A

Well put Carol. Keep up the good work. Speak up about what matters to you and to the furred babies you care for.
Sending you lots of hugs, C.

Liz

I second Cam...

Cricket

Carol, I think it's important for people to know and understand the realities. If everyone only reads the happy endings, the happy thoughts, I think they start to lose sight of just how hard life with 100+ animals can be; how frustrating, how heartwrenching, and how rewarding. I'm one of your die-hard, check-SAINTS-blog-thrice-daily readers, and I definitely appreciate the honesty that you bring to the blog. I'm glad to know you're human, that you have ups and downs like the rest of us. I'm grateful to be able to follow along and support in some small way the work that you do, even and especially on the hard days. Thank you, Carol, for all that you do. And please, just keep tellin' it like it is. We (and the animals) appreciate it.

Cam

I enjoy the blog non sugar coated please :)

shelagh f

maybe people are putting off signing up for the blog, think its a big deal, but
of course, it isn't. I like the overall look and feel of the new blog and website,
though I was happy with the old one. I also just want to say, anyone who
used to donate thru 1000 saints, maybe you just haven't gotten around to
it, but anyone who hasn't, lets do it. Saints animals need the support.

another Doreen

I suspect that the reduction in unique hits may have something to do with the fact that the blog web address just changed last week and people may be having more trouble finding it again. I made it my new home page, but I was crashing my phone internet every time I tried to scroll down my favourites to fine my new SAINTS favourite link.
And we've had a bit of better weather this week so people may have been enjoying that more and on the Internet less.
Please keep blogging. I look forward to the daily updates and what you are thinking. And it's a great record of the history of SAINTS.
And if you ever wanted to write a book.... you've already got lots of your thoughts wtitten down!

pip van nispen

Thanks Carol for your insights , your perceptions and your love of all animals~I really appreciate your honesty and enjoy your fearlessness~keep on writing~PLEASE~thanks~pip

Brigid

Totally as it should be, Carol - Stan at TG says his "Hands on Fur" writing is about telling it like it is. Rescue is not always comfortable - sometimes because of the animals, sometimes because of the people involved, sometimes because the rest of life just gets to you. If you have to express frustration, anger, sadness, the rest of that stuff - the least we can do is be there to listen/read.
I like hearing other voices on the blog occasionally - different perspectives, new stories - but your dedication to the animals is at the heart of SAINTS and your voice and theirs is at the core of what we need to hear.
Bless you for all that you do - even when occasionally you don't feel like doing it!