My Opinion

All week long I have tormented myself inside.  I kept reading over and over again the story about the Campbell County Animal Shelter.  I am so bothered inside myself about this situation.  And because I am bothered I keep trying to make sense of the whole horrific ordeal.  I can’t.  I am a rescuer and I work every day of my life in some way or another saving the lives of the animals that need me.  And to think that walking among those like me would be a woman who will forever now be dubbed “Bloody Betty”.

When working the shelter floors for those who are employees, and the rescuers who walk among those floors, beside them, though on somewhat different levels, we are all there because some place inside us there is a love for God’s innocent creatures.  There are those who are paid to walk those floors providing dignity and compassion to those animals, who many of are living their last days.  The rescuers are there trying with all of their strength to save those who are there because someone thought they couldn’t be saved.  The differing sides have different emotions on different subjects….but the bottom line is that those who are paid to walk those floors have a job in which can in no way be easy on their hearts.  As a rescuer it is a luxury to not have to live our days watching them die, but sending them home when they are ready.

Doing rescue for the largest portion of my life at this time I have seen many things come and go.  I started rescue on the shelter floor.  I looked each day at the eyes until I could take no more.  It is a rare occasion you will find me standing among the rows, as my heart no longer lets me look.  I am now a rescuer who has the luxury of not looking and being able to help what I know I can help or what I will die trying to help. I can focus on my small number and live in the satisfaction that yes today I changed a life.

Well this Betty………I expected that she had a responsibility too.  It was expected by me that she would allow the animals no one loved enough the common decency to die with a human telling them she loved them.  How hard would that have been? My God she was getting a paycheck while I at times have to do this shit for free!  How hard could it have been to pet them?  And when she knew she had become numb to it……..she needed to leave.  How do you sleep at night?  And the workers?  Her partners in crime?  How in God’s name did woman become so cruel?  Who are you women?  My God you turn my stomach. 

Rescue at the throat of Rescue.  That too is a change in which I have seen come over the years.  It was once every rescue had a common goal.  We all have thoughts opinions and are many times the strongest of personalities.  However our common goal was once to save lives.  I ask you all…..how many lives are we saving when we don’t work together?  How many lives are we losing over our petty bickering arguments and our self righteous needs to be the one who is right?  Get over ourselves how about it?  It is about the animals!  We have forgotten that.  And it makes me ashamed that we all aren’t seeing that.

I am sick and tired of hearing about overloaded rescuers.  Dogs going without shots?  Adoptions of too many unaltered dogs?  Back yard breeding rescues?  People really need to face it……when you see that ‘some life’ is not sometimes better than ‘no life’ there is something wrong. I know some of you will argue this……but if you can I ask that you provide yourself with ‘some life’ and see if it is really right. Please chain yourself to a tree or to the side of a house…..  If you are sending a dog from a chain to a chain…..that isn’t quality.  When you are sending a dog who has never been to a vet to a home who has no vet reference is it better.  Are you sending them some place you could see your dog?  If not what made your dog better? Why did you stop wanting more for your dogs?

Rarely will you hear me say bad things about another rescue.  Believe me though if you hear me say it and you hear me say another rescue is not good, it is because I believe it.  There are some things you don’t and never do.  You NEVER breed a rescued dog.  You never abuse a rescue dog.  You never put down more rescue dogs than you adopt out.  You never put a dog to sleep because you cannot find a foster home.  If you took that dog…that dog is your responsibility.  And that’s as long as it takes or you have done all in which you can do.  Period.  Those are simple rules.  Those among the most golden rules of rescue.  They are unwritten…unspoken ……but words to live in this rescue world by. 

It is long past time for us to come forth as educators.  It is long past time that our backbones stiffen and we pay a little more attention to our shelters, our shelter floors, and serve as support in the areas we can to make a terrible job some days maybe a bit easier.  It is time for us to quit trying to be politicians and thinking we are good at it…..while someone like Betty gets by with literal murder.  Why didn’t we know that?  Someone did.  And someone kept it quiet because they were afraid they would never get to pull another animal on the shelter floor.  Shut up! It is up to every one of us…..shelter worker or rescuer……to make a difference.  We are sucking wind.

If we spent a little less time worrying about the differences in each other, spend the time to teach one another to make infallible structures for our missions, talk to our older rescues, our younger ones, serve as backup systems, support systems, leaving the personal issues out of it, I think of the lives we could save together.  It is time for us to remember it is about the dogs and get back to work.  When there is a Betty among us we have failed all of the way around.  And the dogs lost lives because of it.  Think about that.  And think about why in some way you might have been a part of it.  And fix it.  Fix it before it is too late for more of the lives you say you care about.  Prove it.

It is about the dogs.  That’s all I want to do…..save dogs.  I don’t have to be the best or the greatest.  I don’t have to do much at all except be as responsible as I can be to what I agreed to take on.  And some days quite frankly it is a lot to take on.  There are mistakes made, things forgotten, people forgotten, missed phone calls, missed emails, people who are turned down, differences of opinions, sick dogs, well dogs, dogs who come back sometimes, heartbreaks, tears, joy, and an overwhelming need to give more than just a piece of yourself. 

Rescue never sleeps.  There is never a holiday.  There is never a shortage of help needed.  There is never a lack of love or hate.  There is simply a fine balance of doing what you know you can and that is all any of us can do.  Rescuers are not perfect, not angels, not Godly, not politicians, not heroes, not stars, but simply people who have a piece of themselves that can see the eyes and know the life is precious.  It in no way made us perfect…..yet made us exactly who we are inside.  It is your heart which does the saving……and your head just tries to keep up.  And just like the worker walking that shelter floor our jobs hurt too…..but that is no reason to allow your heart to become hard.

Agree with me or not?  It simply is my opinion.  I do stand by my opinion though.  I will not tolerate another Betty…..be that a Betty who could be working the shelter floor or a Betty rescuer walking that floor…..those of us who really came for the dogs will start today trying to make some kind of difference.  We better get to work and make sure these like Betty don’t hurt our dogs anymore.  We need to do the damage control and know who is around us.  We need to make sure those who are living wrong by these dogs don’t do it anymore.  That means even if it is a shelter worker, rescuer, grandfather, sister, child, policeman, doctor……it doesn’t matter…..report them.  Stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves.  Do what you came here for.  Fix these situations and quit playing politics….they just aren’t worth playing if death is involved.

So that’s simply my opinion.