having a rescue is ones neighborhood, can be frustrating at times. even living next door to a busy foster home can have its challenges and these are things all of us involved in rescue should keep in mind.
in 10 years we have had 2 complaints..one was about 8 years ago about phoebe in particular who stood in the yard barking her fool head off. our neighbor from up the hill came and told us the relentless pitch of her voice drove him insane. it was a valid complaint and it got me thinking about how we impacted our neighbors and I put some minimizing barking dog rules in place.
we haven't had a noise complaint since.
a few months ago one of our neighbors driving past was totally frustrated because someone at saints had parked their big truck with its ass end sticking way out in the road. this was really inconsiderate of us to be interfering with traffic and since then I have really been paying attention to how and where folks at saints park their vehicles.
I am well aware of the fact that just because we do rescue... we do not actually own the whole and entire world.
rescues, fosters, folks with pet animals..really need to not only use common sense...but be respectful of the other people who live in their neighborhoods. if issues are allowed to fester and get out of control...problems will escalate and no one..not neighbors, not rescues, will feel good about the other. who wants to live with that kind of stress?
angst in the neighborhood is such a shame, such a waste of energy, and a real valid risk for those of us devoted to dogs..i will bend over backwards not to upset our neighbors..i do not want them to wish that we were not here. I know we can be a pain in the ass at times and I so appreciate their ongoing patience and kindness to us.
getting into ongoing fights or arguments with ones neighbors, puts our animals at risk. my job is NOT to do this. my job is to keep our animals safe.
I know folks think I get picky about enforcing our hours of operation when volunteers and visitors are allowed to be on site but it is not only important for my and the animals peace of mind to have some predictable periods of low key, peace and quiet...it is also really important to the sanity of our neighbors as well.
anyone in battles with their neighbors, needs to take a really deep breath, look hard at what is upsetting them and with good grace, seek fair solutions...we are not hillbillies...we are not the Mc Coys...we are all better than that. we are rational, responsible people who do understand that having multiple animals in any neighborhood does have an impact.
it is up to us to decide if we want that impact to be positive or negative.
to me it's a no-brainer....I do not need an even more difficult life.
How did Dixi's sleepover go?