Tag Archives: adopt

Tails: What Shelter Animals Want You to Know

Yesterday was National Rescue Dog Day and the day before, we put down our rescued cat. We had 7 animals. Now, we have four dogs and just two cats. Some might have thought that when you have that many, losing one isn’t that big of a deal, but it is. My heart broke and continues to break each time I go to reach for Sampson and he isn’t there.

As tears were streaming down my face and I was posting about Sampson’s rescue, I started to think about how easy it would have been for the county shelter to euthanize Sampson at the time (13 years ago). His eye was a real problem and the shelter vet didn’t give a crap about him. There were literally hundreds of other cats going in and out of the shelter – he was just a number – just another cage to clean and mouth to feed. And in an open access, municipal shelter, cage space matters more than most else.

Sampson lived because I took him out of there. He became an important member of a family – loved for over 13 years – simply because he had the chance.

I am certain that many other cats were euthanized then due to no fault of their own. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t take them all home. I am also certain that all of those cats could have become loved family members. I am certain that instead of being killed in a county shelter and stuffed in a freezer, years later they would have been euthanized in a private vet office, being held by “their person who had tears coming down her face” and surrounded by love.

At the garage sale last weekend, so many people commented on our 4 dogs. They would say, “Oh my gosh they are all just adorable,” or “Oh my gosh they are so sweet,” or “Oh my gosh they are such good dogs.”

Immediately, one of us would say, “They are all rescued.”

I say those words every chance I get because they matter. Often people think dogs like ours are bought. They think you can’t rescue little, fluffy dogs. More often, people are in awe at how much our dogs love us. Their eyes widen when they see me walk out of a room with all 4 dogs following me everywhere I go.

They can’t believe the bond we share or the love we have for one another.

I always say, “When you save a dog’s life, he knows.”

Overall, I think more people are catching on to rescue and adoption. But, with a million animals still being killed for space each year, we need even more people to adopt.

Each of our animals came to us as rescues and each came with issues. Some of them took a lot of time and patience, but so would a purebred puppy.

On Sunday, at the ER vet, I cried for Sampson. He was a BIG tiger cat with the biggest heart. For over 13 years he was a part of our family. He was lucky to have the bad eye in the shelter and for me to whisk him away to a real vet. I was lucky to get him.

Any single animal sitting in a shelter or rescue right now could be your Sampson. They are all so deserving. They each just want a chance outside of the shelter environment to show you who they are.

Sure, as a whole, the shelter seems full of rejects and misfits, but when you take each one out and get to know her, you will see so much more. Their individual hearts and souls… the way they snuggle up to you, the way they find sticks, the way they wag their tail when you call them, the way they kiss you when you have a bad day, the way they watch football on the couch every Sunday, they way they love french fries but not carrots.

We have 6 animals now and each one of them could have easily died without ever having a chance to be a pet. No one who loved animals would have ever even known they existed. Each one of them has made someone smile, made someone feel better, made me feel loved.

There are MILLIONS of dogs and cats waiting for their chance to love, to cuddle, to play, to live right now in shelters and rescues across America.

I don’t take the easy ones and yet, everyone who comes to my house thinks I have the cutest, kindest animals in the world. All it takes is rescuing the one who speaks to your heart and unconditional love.

Take a chance today and find your rescue. And then share him or her with the world to show that adoption is the truest form of love.

Tails: Buying at Dog Auctions – It Isn’t Just About Numbers

Last month was the 10-year anniversary of my first puppy mill auction.  In many ways it seems a lifetime ago, but often, when I have vivid flashbacks of the cruelty I witnessed, the emotional pain and anger are still so raw that I feel like the auctions were just yesterday.

As I type this blog my four dogs sit at my feet.  Three of which were bought at dog auctions. Two of which I bought and RESCUED personally.

Penelope, I bought her at my 3rd dog auction. She was listed as, “A good mama – will make you money.” She enjoys freedom today.

There is a lot of controversy over buying dogs at puppy mill auctions “these days.”  The truth is there was controversy a decade ago when I did it.  The protestors were outside and the “rescues” were inside and, often, when we met words were exchanged.  Until, one day, a great man, Chuck Wegner, led the auction day with a quick speech.  In it, he gently suggested something to the effect of, “While we might have different approaches, we are all really on the same side.  Let’s not forget that.”

Or, I remember a passionate protestor coming into the auction barn to warm up.  It was far below zero out and they protested the entire auction.  She walked over by me and said, “My head is out there, but my heart is in here.”

Yes, to those who disapprove of buying dogs at auction, it is definitely putting money in the pockets of those whom we despise the most.  From a purely economic equation, it is wrong.  You are all absolutely right.

But, and there is always a but, no one gets into animal welfare for the economics of it.  Ever.

Honestly, I never intended to buy at my first auction.  I was there as a reporter.  I just went in to understand the story I was writing.  The next thing I knew I was wiping the tears rolling down my face, getting a bidding a number and buying the oldest, saddest dog there for $65.

It is easy to say no one should buy these dogs at auctions based on the black and white principle of supply and demand, but until you go to one, until you look into the eyes of these broken souls, you simply cannot understand the grey area.  The emotional piece.  The very core of any animal welfare advocate’s heart.

The day I bought my first dog the President of the No WI Puppy Mills group, the group who was there protesting the auction, told me, “While we do not encourage anyone to buy a dog, if you do, please share their story.  Tell everyone about them.”

I have done that for 10 years with all 3 of my auction dogs.  Not only did I publish a book describing every detail, but on a daily basis my dogs are billboards for the reality of puppy mills.  I might have spent a few hundred dollars buying them, but, in 10 years, they have educated thousands of people.  From an economic standpoint, I would say that was pretty cheap PR.

Thorp the day of the auction.

I am not trying to underscore the concept of “not buying” at auctions.  I truly do understand it.  I think about it all of the time.  I try hard to tell myself buying is wrong, but then I remember how I felt looking at all of the hundreds of helpless dogs, desperate for a new life.  Yes, my head understands completely, but my heart not so much.

I do not believe that the buying of dogs at auctions is what is keeping puppy mills alive in this country.  Between the pet stores, back yard breeders, and on-line sales of puppies, mass breeding is alive and well and will be until legislation is passed across all 50 states to change it.

I have legislated for change and it does work.  We don’t have auctions in WI anymore.  I whole-heartedly believe that legislation is the key.  I also know that many of the rescues buying at auctions ARE legislating at the same time.  They understand its importance.

No, buying at auctions is not ideal.  It certainly is not “saving them all.”  However, just like the infamous “Starfish Story,” it does make a difference to the one who was saved.

I have three dogs who never deserved to spend their lives as prisoners of greed.  They came to me sick and scared.  They were helpless and I helped them.  I will never regret that.  And, while buying dogs for hundreds of thousands of dollars at auctions makes me cringe, I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t say, “I understand the emotional component.”

There are numerous things about rescue that do not follow black and white economics or statistical analysis.  Let me point out a few:

  • While over a million dogs are needlessly killed each year, we still have rescues denying people dogs and/or making them fill out lengthy adoption forms and jump thru hoops to adopt them.
  • There are places in the South BREEDING dogs so that the north can bring them up for adoption.
  • There are overcrowded shelters charging expensive re-claim fees for families to get their dogs back.  Since many families can’t afford the fees, their dog just gets added to the overcrowded shelter instead of simply being sent home.
  • There are overcrowded areas of the South charging rescues ridiculous fees to PULL the dogs from their care and save them!  (When we pulled dogs from Chicago AC to take across state lines, we paid $15 for a rabies shot and health certificate)
  • We bring in thousands of dogs, each year, from foreign countries while 1 million of our own dogs are killed.  Or, in the North we kill dogs everyday in crowded shelters as van loads of dogs are brought up from the South.

All I am pointing out is that there are many things in the rescue world that do not speak to black and white numbers.  Animal advocates are motivated by their heart.  They continue to try and save regardless of the “numbers.”

I am not saying it all makes sense.  Not much of it does.  But, I can understand the heart behind it.

I have not been to an auction in 9 years.  But, I  have often donated money to rescues specifically to buy dogs at auctions.  My third dog was bought at an auction by a rescue and I foster failed her.

Alice at the vet right after auction.

In an ideal world, all dog auctions would be illegal.  Until then, rescues will continue to buy dogs at auction in an effort to save them and give them a 2nd chance.  No, it is NOT helping the cause, but it is helping the ones who are freed. And each of the ones freed are a true story to share with the world.  They are all opportunities to educate others.  Far more people understand and know about puppy mills and pet stores today than they did 10 years ago because so many of us are sharing these dogs’ stories.

As I come to the end of my blog, perhaps I should acknowledge what could be perceived as naivety.  I write this from my perspective.  That perspective is one that believes rescuers buy dogs at auctions only to provide them with a 2nd chance at a loving home.  The rescues I work with and the dogs I have personally bought and re-homed were all given proper medical treatment, they were all spayed and neutered and, for the most part, no matter the adoption fee, almost all of them cost me or the rescues far more to rehabilitate and/or medically treat than we ever got back.  We never did this as “brokers,” we did this as rescuers.  

My comment to those who just “broker” the auction dogs, buying and selling them without medical care or being spayed and neutered, only counting on profit and calling it “rescue” is, “Shame on you.  You are not a rescue. You are not an animal advocate. You are greedy and evil and should be held in the lowest form like any other puppy miller.”

Alice living the life she should have always had.

 

 

 

 

 

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