rescue is not the warm and fuzzy, we are so wonderful, shiny happy internet picture that the public believes.
and we are not the ethical, intelligent, do everything right in rescue angels either.
last time i looked there were 50 rescue importers bringing more dogs into canada...if they each only bring in 20 per year thats a thousand new dogs every year. don't get me wrong..if i want to go across the line and rescue a US, indian, chinese or turkish dog.. i am going to do it because i rescue tons of nobody wants them BC dogs.
my issue is with fulfilling a public demand...i really do not give a shit if mr and mrs john smith cannot find their idea of their perfect puppy to adopt here...oh well...maybe they should re-think their wish list because if you truly love dogs...you can and will love any kind of dog. it is not the breed, the look, the size that matters..it is the heart and soul inside. the outside of dogs is just the book cover, its the inside that matches and melds with our hearts.
i think once we start caving to public demand and rescuing those that selfish and uneducated people say actually have value, we cease to be rescue and just become brokers..providing a product that someone says they need.
wanna know how mad it makes me to reduce our beloved saints to a product status. i sp[end years living with some of them, getting to know every nuance, every quirk, every heroic and shameful thing. they re not products..they are furry and feathered people to me.
if someone suggested that we bring over indonesia girls to marry our sons because canadian girls are not interesting enough..i would be sick. i would be more than happy to help an indonesdian girl escape poverty, abuse and have a chance for a better life. but to bring her here because someone wants to own her? screw that.
i have said before that i don't care what we do in rescue as long as our motives are pure. pure motives will not profit from others, pure motives will not allow another to suffer... no matter what. pure motives will MAKE us find a way to do things right.
and this is not easy or pretty or even all that popular at times but rescue is like an onion...stinky, eye watering, filled with peeling layer after layer of trying to get it right.
no rescue should be telling you how wonderful they are..we are too dirty, angry, frustrated, wounded, lost and afraid to be wonderful. but we are strong, and we do know right from wrong and we committ to living it every single day.
is there wonder in rescue?
yes there is...but it is in the we don't give a shit what kind of animal you are...you are utterly precious in every way.
when joe public gets that..our animals will not need to be "saved."
actually what i really want to say is this...a few years ago, a nice lady showed up here and wanted to adopt brown buddy, she said she really wanted to give a senior a great home for their last few years. buddy is a permanent sanctuary dog..not because of health or behavioral issues but because that dog is so deeply attached to me, it would break his heart if i sent him away. so i told her he wasn't for adoption, but since she was a really good home, i introduced her another super great dog..same age, same size..but with an even calmer and sweeter personality...but she wasn't a chocolate lab so the lady wouldn't even look twice at her and said after one quick look..."she really doesn't do anything for me...." and i knew at that moment she was shopping for a dog by external looks and not for the real dog living inside. we don't have any of those kind of dogs here.