Couldnt have said it any better. Response taken from Carolina Loving Hound Rescue page: Suicide by one of us. Not only did she take her life but that of 30 animals in her care. All of them were not adoptable animals. Why? How can this happen? Where was her board of directors? Her family? Her friends? So many questions, so many variable answers. It is always easy to point and judge from the outside looking in. In rescue we deal with the never ending pleas of dogs dying, the sorrow of not being able to help this one that one. The barrage of incoming e-mails, messages, phone calls, even from people that know we are overwhelmed. Have I been overwhelmed? Yes, many times. We are fearful of not being perfect, we clean our homes more often because we are afraid of that ACO call. We keep our yards free of poop because we are afraid of that codes call. Many run a rescue without any business background, no one helps with accounting, taxes, book keeping they think it is only about pulling. The stress of doing things right in my opinion is more stressful than just winging it. Many do not apply for 501c3 because they do not want the stress of dealing with the paper work and the upkeep of records. That alone should tell you something! Most of our family members think we are crazy and slowly fade away, we hardly return calls and they stop calling. Friends not in rescue fade away since they simply do not understand why we have so many dogs in our home. They stop calling, we stop calling them out of sheer frustration. Gets old explaining over and over why we do what we do. Personal relationships fade; it takes a special person to love a Director of a rescue, no matter what they are always second. They will never hold the importance of the animals no matter how much we try to say otherwise. It is very easy to become isolated in rescue! The dogs come first; the humans that help you help the dogs are second…if you are lucky you find time for self. You have to, even if only 30 minutes, you have to. Face book has added a whole new level of stress. It has helped in ways unimaginable. However it has also brought out the criminally insane, the misinformed and the abusive. It is so easy to tear down a person on face book without any effort. Anyone that can type can either prop you up or tear you down. People that have a propensity and pre disposition to drama thrive on face book. It is their new home away from home. Crack for the judgmental, for the mean and the arm chair staff! I try to steer clear of any controversial issues on our rescue wall other than what relates directly to our animals. No one wants to read the he said she said. Rescue should be the journey we take from the moment we see a dog and pull them. Celebrate the journey of that dog is what we love to see and love to post. But what about what goes into pulling, rescuing, healing? I try to focus on the journey after, which does not mean I do not cry for where they came from and what they have endured. Internalizing is not a good thing. What if I did not have a good support system? What if no one cared that I stuff my house beyond capacity with dogs I cannot afford to vet or feed? Would anyone notice? Would the people that call me a hero notice I have not left my house in 5 days? Would they know that I am depressed? Would they care? Or would I pretend I am OK? I cannot answer these questions but those are the questions I asked when I saw that Sandra is dead! It is never easy to lose one of ours. Even worse when you saw her reaching out for help and she still ended up dead! Who is ultimately responsible for the failure of a Rescue? Do we not all take a part? So the lesson I am trying to take with me is that “There by the grace of God go I”…many of us might only be one dog, once vet bill, one failed relationship away from being in dire need of help. Most of us will never let you know nor will we ask for help…remember we are the ones that help others So pay attention if you are volunteering for a rescue, respect the fact they say no to pulling, respect that they are full, respect that they too need to have their phone off on occasion, respect human boundaries of those of us that live this life day in and day out…even though you might think we are heroes or the answer to all animals…we are far from it. We are human beings with 24 hours in a day. Same as you! If you do encounter someone that feeds into their own hype, now that is a whole different issue for a different post Today I am grateful as I am every day for being surrounded by people that get me, that help me that love me….but that can all change in the blink of an eye. Not today! Thank you for enduring my rant on this lovely Sunday afternoon! FYI-it states the dogs were puppies, this has been refuted by the rescue, the animals that died were not adoptable and she feared they would be killed if left behind!
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 19:25:36 +0000
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