WAKE UP CALL - Get Involved!

[SpeedsMum]

[[Crossposted from Animal Rescuers ]]

For those people who don't work within rescue day in and day out...
Patch was a 5yr old BC who was good with children and small animals, who could be wary around larger dogs after being attacked by a lab. Poor Patch was pts because his owners couldn't wait for a space to become available in rescue;

Welcome to Reality and the Real World of Rescue. Wake up and smell the coffee.

This is the kind of thing rescues deal with all the time.

Owners who can't be bothered to wait for help, who seem to think their dogs are a commodity and can be thrown aside at the mere hint of a problem.

The owners who expect it done NOW, the ignorant idiots who talk to you like a piece of sh*t - like you are just there specifically for their benefit, to help THEM with their 'problem' - it wouldn't occur to them that you are actually there for the DOGS benefit.

They seem to think they can look down on you and make demands, just because you love animals.
They seem to think you are some sort of second class citizen because you care.

These are the people who think their dogs are disposable.
These are the kind of people who are happy to pay £50+ to have their dog put to sleep, but wouldn't dream of donating it towards the dog's care if it came into rescue - not their responsibilty anymore!

We shouldn't just feel sorry for Patch, we should feel angry and furious that a 'dog lover' would have their dog put down because they have run out of patience.

If Patch had been abused, neglected and had to be pts because of his injuries, we'd all be outraged.

Why should it be any different when they are perfectly healthy?
Why would a vet willingly and knowingly put an animal down who was perfectly healthy?
Shouldn't a vet love animals and save lives? Perhaps this vet just did it for the money.
Why is this vets actions any different to a murderer like Dr Shipman?

To deny a dog a happy, safe and secure life is surely cruelty of the highest order.
If kids killed a cat with an air rifle, we'd be outraged - it would be animal cruelty, it would be illegal and we'd all condemn it.

Why is it any different with a vet and a healthy dog?
Are there no morals attached to animal welfare?
Perhaps this is an indication of our throw away convenience society.
Instead of talking about it, MORE PEOPLE should be out there getting involved and helping as many rescues and dogs like Patch as they can.

This is why rescues CRY OUT for foster homes.
All the best wishes in the world, posted on all the forums, WILL NOT help these dogs.
It isn't enough - Rescues need ACTUAL help, not virtual online help.

Instead of saying what you can't do, and "I wish I could help, but..." - think about what you CAN ACTUALLY do. It sounds hard, but rescues don't want or need to hear what you can't do - they NEED to hear what you CAN do!

Rescues NEED people who will make the effort to take just one more dog into their home.
If just ONE fosterer had come forward, we wouldn't need to be mourning Patch.

So instead of just crying out in indignation at what as happened to Patch - Let his loss be your inspiration and motivation to make a real difference to those other dogs like him that need homes and your PHYSICAL help.

This is a WAKE UP call to you all, and it reminds you that it isn't just 'pound dogs' who are in immediate danger - dogs in home environments are too.

If you really CAN NOT foster, ask your friends and family, ask your neighbours, ask at your local dog training club, put an appeal in your local paper on behalf of your local rescue or the rescue you support, help them raise money, become a transporter to help get dogs to places of safety - You can help to make a difference - and little bit of help can go a long way.

Don't let what happened to Patch be in vain - try to do something - ANYTHING! - in memory of Patch.

[feathers]

Why do you think I have four dogs.People have no respect for each other anymore,and until we realise that we are not the most important species on this planet(nor the most intelligent for that matter)and all the living creatures in the world were not put here for our amusement,things won't change.We treat each other like dirt,we abuse children,adults,the elderly.I have never really got on with people in general,and much prefer the company of animals.Whats needed is a sharp shock to let people know whats going on out there.The more graphic,the better.Unless we as a species are forced to take a long hard look at the kind of animal we have become,things will never change.In my household,if it has a heartbeat,then it will not be harmed.If I can help any living creature,no matter how long,how much money,or how much upheaval,then I will do it.It's oh so easy to look the other way and pretend you don't see it.But just because you look away,does'nt mean it's not there.I know.I have spent the last 30 days trying to make sure the swans that nest where I live hatched their clutch of 9 eggs out in safety.When I got there on monday morning,the local kids had smashed every egg in the nest.These eggs were 4-6 days away from hatching,so were fully formed cygnets.All I could do was stand and weep.I sometimes think as a species we are already doomed.

[fenwoman]

I just wanted to add to this post. Something I feel strongly about. I would class myself as an animals lover but one with compassion and not sentiment. I have been searching for another dog to join my home (I have another 6)I get rather cross with pleas for homes for dogs which are mad, bad or downright dangerous.While I feel compassion for these dogs, and understand that humans made them like they are, I am cross because for every one of these dogs taking up valuable kennel space for months and years, perfectly nice homeable dogs get put to sleep like patch because there is no space available.
You have to be sensible about it. I breed poultry which I show. It is my hobby. What do you suppose I do with all the surplus cockerels which hatch? I kill and eat them of course.
I have had silly people come to me with 6 cockerels asking if I can give them a good home or ask if I know of a cockerel rescue :shock:
Unless you personally were willing to give Patch a home, then don't slag off his iwner. Sure they were impatient, callous and all the rest but they may have been totally desperate and saw no other option. Unless people involved in rescue learn to be more compassionate and less sentimental about it all, it only gives fuel to the anti brigade and others who regard rescuers as dotty old biddies with no sense at all. Sure it was sad about the cygnets, but out of the 9, most would not have survived into adulthood. The toerags who smashed the nest needed slapping upside the lugs big time, but they also needed educating. Perhaps if they had been given the task of protecting the nest from thugs it would have made them feel important.Whatever, the swans will nest again next year. In the meantime, thousands of homeable dogs will die or be dumped because the rescue kennels are holding dogs who are virtually unrehomeable. The kennel space that such a dog ties up for months and years could have saved several dozen easily homeable dogs who could come in and go out quickly.
We humans do some terrible things to animals, but our caring and trying to make a difference has to be tempered with comon sense or else we will not be able to make a difference as Joe Public will not be able to respect what we do and class us all as bunny hugging bleeding hearts and that will not help one iota.

[Emmy]

Will you go round killing these dogs that you say shouldn't be there Fenwoman, or will you leave it to someone else to do because it is what you think. Every animal is entitled to a good life, even those that have been damaged by us humans.

I am often ashamed to be a human at times.

[Kerriebaby]

I work as a volunteer at a rescue centre, and some dogs that have serious health, behaviour and other problems that we feel cannot be worked on. Ie aggression to people, then we would look into PTS. But on the whole, most rescue dogs show problems in kennels, which are bought on purely by stress. Get the into a home, and they settle down and are fine. We have a stunning chocolate lab, he has been in three months now, we cant work out why, except that when there are lots of people about he gets all excited and barks his head off, and peeps dont like that! :roll:
Who would you have kill these dogs that actually dont have that much of a problem?