Many people will read this blog entry and feel offended by it. Good! I'm not feeling particularly generous right now and too many of you out there definitely need to be offended.

Today marks 11 years since The Dachshund Rescue Web Page was transferred to my care. I never intended it to remain with me. The previous caretaker had said a few weeks earlier that she had to give it up and despite repeated pleas for someone competent to take over it's maintenance, no one ever stepped forward. She finally issued an ultimatum - either someone else took over responsibility for the site, or she would allow it to die. And so (being young and dumb and not really knowing any better), I offered to take over until a proper caretaker could be found for the site.

Eleven years later and I'm still caring for it.

I've learned a lot because of DRWP. The original site was hand coded, every day, with the listings for new dogs and deletions of those who no longer needed it's services. I was forced to learn HTML coding in order to perform the daily updates. I was forced to learn how to use FTP to upload those changes, so that the information displayed would always be current. I was forced to learn how to do rescue myself, since everyone assumed that I was some kind of expert, just based on the fact that I was maintaining the website.

Perhaps hardest of all was, I learned that no matter how much "lip service" people would give to myself and the rescue groups, when it came to monetary support for our efforts, less than one percent of one percent of my site visitors ever found enough value in my work to consider making a contribution to help. This is, unfortunately, not a unique situation to DRWP. Most, if not all, of the rescues that I know of have similar problems in getting help for their work.

This blog entry will be read by several thousand people over the course of the next few weeks. Fewer than 10 of you (if even that many) will decide that the value of this site is worth even a small contribution to help offset the server bandwidth. More than once over the course of the last year, I've looked over what I've pulled out of my own pocket in site expenses, expenses for the seniors currently in my care and wondered, "how much longer will I be able to continue"? Veterinary fees to bring the animals to (what I consider to be) an adoptable condition now exceed the adoption fees I request for the animals. No, I can't request a higher fee - people just won't consider it. They're already squawking about the small amounts I ask already. Trust me when I tell you, no rescue ever "makes money" on the animals they place. They are truly doing it for their love of the animals.

So, what got my panties in a wad, that I would use this blog to rant and rave at you, my beloved site visitors?

Many things. During the course of the last year, I've had many animals returned to me from the homes I had placed them in. These weren't animals that had been there for just a few weeks - two of them were returned after 7 and 8 years respectively, because "they just aren't working out". Another was returned after 2 (almost 3) years for equally inane reasons. These were homes that had been extensively vetted before placing the animals with them. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful that they at least honored the terms of the adoption agreement and returned them to me, but now I'm doubting my abilities to properly "vet" (no pun intended) an application to adopt. I've lost confidence in not only my fellow man, but my own self as well.

Then there are those people who feel that rescue is a dumping ground for those animals who suddenly have extreme needs. At least 3 to 4 times a week, I get an email from someone who wants to turn over their dog to rescue because "it needs (insert surgery type here) and I can't afford it". To which I politely say, "BULLSHIT!". What you mean is, you're not willing to make any sacrifices in your lifestyle in order to care for the life you accepted responsibility for. Why would you expect rescue to pay 3,000 dollars for surgery, just so they can find it a new home for an adoption fee of 200 dollars? Why can't you consider giving up this years vacation, in order to give your companion the medical care it needs? Or that smart phone you're so proud of? Maybe you can put off that new LCD plasma TV and get your dogs back fixed instead?

Do I sound unrealistic? Maybe it's because I've made the hard sacrifices for not only my own pets, but the senior rescues in my care. I haven't taken a vacation trip anywhere in the last 10 years, so that the money would be there if the animals needed it. I've switched to a pre-paid cellular phone so that if a sudden expense comes up, the money I would be paying on a cell contract is now available for the dogs. I keep a VISA credit card with a zero balance, so that if I need to make a payment for the dogs, I can do so, secure in the knowledge that I will be able to pay it back over time. When my old 13 inch television crapped out on me last week, I chose to replace it with the cheapest, smallest set I could find. I don't need a home theater type of television and the money I could have spent on one, is now available for the dogs.

During the last 11 years, I've seen the absolute worst in humanity when it comes to their "beloved pets". It gnaws at me, that so many people consider their pets to be part of their family, up until the point where it means they might have to give up some part of their lifestyle. Then, the pet becomes expendable. Maybe I don't understand this thinking, because I DO consider the animals in my care to be my family and I've always been willing to make the sacrifices necessary for family.

And do you know something? They're worth every penny of those sacrifices to me. Just as the other rescuers I know consider their pups to be worth every penny they put into them.

If my little rant has made you feel "offended", then perhaps you need to take a look at what it is in yourself that would cause you to feel that way? Did I strike a little too close to home, perhaps? I guarantee you, if you were "offended", it's not because of what I wrote, but because of how you feel about yourself after reading it.

At the beginning of this little diatribe, I said I wasn't feeling particularly generous right now. And towards humanity, I'm still not. But, towards the innocents in the care of myself and the other rescues, I ache for them. And so, even after treating you all so rudely, I'm going to ask (beg, plead, grovel) for you to click the link over there on the left that says "Dollars for Dachshunds". You'll find there a list of rescue groups that I feel are worthy of your support. Choose one and donate that Starbucks to them. Select one and give them the Dunkin Donuts you would have had. In other words, make a small sacrifice to help them. They, like myself, are doing their work for the love of the animals,

But love won't pay the vet bills.