I’d like to start out and “re-emphasise” that I started BOUND ANGELS as a media awareness organization, not a hands on rescue. I have been flung into rescuing a few dogs here and there. I receive much praise, and some criticism. Today I received an email response to my last blog entry that asked me to “temper my anger” because of my comment “NO one else would step up” referring to Smiling Dog Farms taking the 4 dogs scheduled to die in Carson CA. I will not temper my anger, I am mad as well, millions of dogs are dying every year. This is not a time to be quiet, it is a time to act. We need to point the finger at the problem and fix it. That problem, which people try to avoid is many facetted and all require equal attention. At the top of the list is the legislation that does NOT address the needless deaths of these innocent animals. We blame overcrowding for the “Need to Kill”. This is absolute BS.
Our prison systems are overcrowded, yet we do not start killing the people on death row faster. Instead we release prisoners or build more prisons. Yet the animals do NOT receive this respect. Dogs and cats have less than a 50% chance of making it out of the shelter alive. The system employs more people to scoop up and fine the owners, and less to facilitate placing animals or working the actual shelter. The availability of low cost spay and neuter, trap -neuter- and release or feral cats, wider adoptions outside of the shelters would all bring the overcrowding in shelters down drastically and would lead toward a no kill revolution.
The irony strikes me here. I was chastised for placing 4 dogs in a sanctuary in Texas that was reported to have 400 dogs and 6 full time employees. I don’t know where this arbitrary 6 employee number came from, however, lets assume it is correct. For anyone to criticise placing a dog anywhere where it has a chance to live, and not offering a viable option for local or other placement is ludicrous. Take a walk through the shelters here in LA – I do it ALL the time. At a very recent visit to one local shelter I can tell you there were at least 300 or more dogs there and I could NOT find ONE employee. In the office I found 2 people sitting behind the desk. Are these dogs being ignored? Are their lives better than those living outside in yards where they see other dogs and nature? These shelter animals have NO CHANCE of making it out alive. I see sick dogs at deaths door laying on cement floors soiled with feces and urine. I hear loud crashing noises as workers are hammering on the roofs right above the kennels- driving dogs (whose hearing is many times more sensitive than ours) absolutly insane.
I SEE A BROKEN SYSTEM, yet the people who try are criticised. How messed up is that? I am not a hands on rescuer, yet when asked, I step up and do what I can. Anyone who has ever asked me for help has gotten it. I’ve done flyers, raised money, evaluated and rehabbed aggressive dogs due to die, transported dogs and so much more. I don’t want kudos for this, but what I do want, and am fighting for is a system that works. If rescue workers want to see this happen, we gotta pull together. BOUND ANGELS is a network of people who want to work together. I will link to ANYONE in rescue who asks. All I ask is that your goal meets ours – to save lives at ALL costs.
These animals can not fight for themselves, that is up to us. How can we see ourselves as a compassionate society when we are slaughtering 5 MILLION shelter animals a year and heaving their lifeless bodies into landfills with little regard of how to change the system?
So yes, I AM MAD AS HELL. How about we pull together and find a way to make the system better? Vote for politicians who advocate NO KILL, and work to remove those who make promises and break them. Hold the authorites responsible for falsified accounts of how many animals are killed, how many animals are forced to live in attrociaous conditions and suffer needlessly. And , while we are at it, how about we support people like Jay at Smiling Dog Farm for giving hope to animals that others can’t help. Hear what I’m saying here… He’s helping animals others CAN’T help. I know we are all stressed trying to save them, but with more sanctuaries, and more support from the rescue community these havens can take the dogs that others can’t. Lets stop emailing each other the same dogs every day over and over… lets spread our wings and reach beyond the circle of rescue and spread the word and work toward animal lovers everywhere. Support the work of all of our colleagues — ALL of them. Lets not be the ones to criticise how others are doing it, instead lend a helping hand. Offer compassion for those who are trying and having a hard time.
Someone asked me my goal to life today, and I answered “To see America as a NO KILL society.” I pray that I live to see the day this happens. I pray and I vow to work to make this happen. That is the goal… time to get busy.