It’s never a surprise to read a story of a rescue stepping up for a high needs dog and then getting the shaft. In fact, it’s often the case because of the flow of human emotions. Rescue, for the most part, is dictated by emotions and because of that the follow through often lags. When a dog’s photo is in front of you and you see he needs help, rescue, surgery or whatever, and you know this dog will be put down any minute, you’ll do just about anything to help. However, once that dog has been rescued and is off of the “stage“, the focus then shifts to the next “dog of the moment.”
The problem with this is that the rescue that stepped up for this dog is often times left holding the bag. This can be in a variety of ways including: not getting the funds that were promised to properly care for the dog, losing the foster or adopters or just getting plagued with more and more cases to help. Saving a dog is an endeavor that takes a lot of work, and for those that do the hard work of rescue, they deserve the support that has been promised them.
As I’ve said on numerous occasions, there are good rescues and there are bad ones. The ones that run into the shelter and grab the cute, pure-bred puppy that is at risk of nothing more than adoption; the world can do without these rescues. For those that are always stepping up for the dogs with severe medical or behavioral issues, for the old guys and the ones too young to make it on their own – these rescues deserve our help and our support.
I ask you to think twice before voicing your support for any rescue. Are you able to follow through on your promise or are you just thinking with your heart? If you can’t follow through, please don’t give the rescue the hope that they will have the much needed funds that they require to save the dog. Putting these people at risk is also putting other dogs at risk. Most of these small rescue don’t have the funding of the huge Mega-“rescues” that do nothing else besides appear on talk shows talking about stuff. The small hard working people of rescue deserve our help and they deserve our continued support. Some organizations need to board pets for months at a time until a good home can be found. There are expenses including medical, training, boarding and more that add up very quickly.
So, if you’ve made a donation in the past to a rescue that saved a dog that you were so connected with a while back, it may be a good idea to contact them and see how that dog made out, and possibly give them another donation to help them continue their great work. Yes, it feels good to help someone new, but the dog you helped save, may still need saving.
Think twice before giving to those big national organizations that appear on TV commercials and talk shows, show your support for the local rescues in your community and give them the help that they need. Chances are dollar for dollar these organizations save more lives that the big boys!