Eleven years and some intemperate thoughts about rescue
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.
Thank you, Hollie. I always
Thank you, Hollie.
I always feel bad when someone who's adopted a dog ends up with a vet bill like the one you describe. It could just as easily happen to an animal that came from a good breeder or a pet store, but I always take it personally when it's one of my dogs that it happens to. Despite the best efforts of my foster homes and volunteers to try and convince me that it's not my fault, I just can't shake the nagging suspicion that there was something in the pre-adoption medical treatments that I missed and that if I had only found it, I could have prevented the problem.
Intellectually, I know that's untrue, of course. But emotionally, I just have so much invested in these little ones that I can't help but feel like it's somehow my fault.
Happy Birthday, by the way. And thank you for donating your Birthday gift to rescue.
Benny
Many of us as dachshund
Many of us as dachshund rescuers have had unexpected hospital/vet bills for our precious companions and like you, Benny, we have sacrificed and forgone vacations and products and lifestyles. However incredulous as it appears to us people's behaviors wil never change as reflective of the philosophy of disposalble pets. Please know there are many of those like us who would first accompany our doxies and curl up in a crate with them through any illness prior to thinking about ever saying goodbye. I am still paying off a $10,000 vet bill -my dox almost died from the product FRONTLINE -the main ingredient is fipronil, a pesticide. He required 4 blood transfusions. I urge people not to use commercial flea control products. My other rescue had to have sudden back surgery, you guessed it another $5,000. There was never a question...I would just be in debt for a while. That's the way it is.
In any event I would like to contribute a small amount to your fund.
You're a special person. Is your address still 6130 Lannie Road Jacksonville?
Very best,
Jan
Philadelphia, PA.
Well Jan, as I'm sure you
Well Jan, as I'm sure you noticed, my frustrations are not with those who's circumstances are caused by things completely out of their control. I recognize there are always going to be those situations that arise that a person has no choice but to accept. My frustrations are with those who have decided that their lifestyle is more important than the life in their care.
You are right - too many people in our society think of pets as "disposable". It's always been there, I think, to one extent or another. But, it seems that it's become even more prevalent recently. "I've been saving too long for this (insert desired object here) and if I pay for (insert procedure here), then I'll have to wait even longer!" Then, to assuage their guilt, they want to dump the animal in rescue, so that they can tell themselves that they did the "right thing" by not euthanizing their "beloved pet". "Beloved pet", my eye!
Like me, I know that you have also gone without, so that the innocent lives in your care wouldn't have to. And many others who will read this have also done so. Unfortunately (for the animals), we are in the minority. Probably always will be, too. At least when it comes time for me to leave for the Bridge myself, I'll know that I did my best for those I accepted responsibility for.
I can be content with that knowledge.
P.S. yes, I'm still here at that address. This is the home I intend to be my final one.
Benny, while I appreciate
Benny, while I appreciate where you're coming from I think you may be a bit jaded by the individuals you deal with. No, I haven't donated financially but I have three dachshunds - which for my lifestyle that is all that I can care for properly and afford. One of my dachshunds has had two back surgeries....about $6,000 total and he gets accupuncture regularly - $80 a pop. We work hard to do the best for the dogs we can support - to keep them healthy and happy and well trained. That is my families commitment to dogs, dachshunds in particular - we will adopt as many as we can take care of and take the best care of them possible. Yes, when they have medical needs we go without. My family doesn't have fancy cell phones or take vacations.
I ask that you please remember that just because we may not give financially to your organization some of us are still doing our part to take care of dachshunds in need. I appreciate all that you do and hope that you can see that there are many ways of helping in dachshund rescue - one of those ways is taking in dogs and doing all you can for them. (FYI - we have worked together several times when I was interested in a dachshund on your site - unfortuantely, neither situation worked out...maybe in the future...)
Annie
Annie, if you've given up
Annie, if you've given up that much for the sake of the animals in your care, then you're not one of the ones my remarks above were addressed towards.
If you had said that you had put your dog to sleep, rather than pay for his back surgery, or tried to palm him off on rescue so that they would pay for his surgery, while you gave up nothing in order to keep him, then I would say I was speaking to you.
"Yes, when they have medical needs we go without. My family doesn't have fancy cell phones or take vacations."
From this one statement, I can tell you do care about the life in your care. You know that it's not easy, but you choose to take the rough road anyway. People who do this are more worthy of respect than those who choose a $20 injection so that they can show off their new 60 inch plasma TV. Those are the people I'm ranting against.
Keep doing your part by caring for your animal to your best ability. Every animal who has a loving home, one that is willing to go without when necessary, is one less animal that will end up in rescue. Remember, the need for rescue exists only because there are people who won't do their part.
Hello Benny. I hope you
Hello Benny. I hope you recognize me as one of the people who tried to help you get financing for your retirement home for senior wieners. My boss in the mortgage industry lost her battle with cancer three days ago...as I sat in the viewing area during her funeral I was so impressed by her strength that I actually saw her face not as a gruesome mask but as a smile of encouragement...I suppose you don't realize that the reason I tried to help you in your financing was purely from a love of my sweet babies, my rescue dogs from a horrific puppy mill. I hear such anguish in your writings....please don't loose faith. These are difficult financial times for all of us.....how else can we help you?
Hi Benny, Bravo! Bravo!
Hi Benny,
Bravo! Bravo! Well put. We face the same thing here at DRBC. I am not sure if it is people or the economy or both, but thankfully you are there for the reason we all got involved in rescue: the doxies. Take a deep breathe, this too, will remain the same ;)
Over the years you have remained in my thoughts and prayers. You are one of the best.
Take Care
Cindie Kura
Dachshund Rescue of Bucks County & NJ
www.doxierescue.com
Benny- We adopted Bella
Benny-
We adopted Bella (Coco) July 2003 and within a year had to drop $3500 on neck surgery. I've also spent $5000+ on my now senior (14 year old) Ridgeback. Lee and I appreciate what you do and I think your comments above are 100% accurate. Today is my B-Day and I don't know what brought me out to the site tonight but your honest rant inspired me to donate. The economy is hurting many and most don't count on the real costs of pet care. I know it's a drop in the bucket but hope it will help.
Hollie & Lee McKitrick
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL