Rest In Peace Friend.............

I have often said that in Great Dane Rescue you don’t have to worry so much about the dogs as generally you can make things happen, but your worries come from those who consider you their competitor.  Sometimes the world of Dane rescue can become the most cut throat business around.  There seems to be a constant gaggle of this way is my way and if it isn’t your way it is wrong.  If you don’t agree with my way then automatically I don’t like you and am unwilling to see yours.  It is often said by many other rescue groups they are glad they don’t do Dane rescue for this very reason.  

We should face facts that not everyone will be alike.  There was no manual for rescue.  There were no guidelines with exception to those in which your board put forth.  There are no laws that make rescues stay in one certain line of operation.  At the end of the day it is a group of people who came together because they fell in love with a breed.  The very love that drives us to do this hard work is the same love that turns humans against one another.

We help our younger groups get started in Dane Rescue and we sing their praises as they grow and become a group in which makes us proud.  We stay with them and watch them as they grow, not because we don’t trust them, but because we want to see them soar.  We offer a hand to the rescues in need and yes frankly we stay away from some who are less than reputable--with reasons in which we each develop in our own minds.  Each person’s idea of reputable is different and no one opinion is the right one.  

Although I watch as the people turn against one another in rescue I as well watch amazing things come from their love for the breed.  The Great Dane Rescue Community has lost one of our own, Mr. John Sasser, may he rest in peace.  John was responsible for saving the lives of many Danes over the years and our community will have an empty spot missing that love without him in it.  John took on those dogs that no one else would.  He loved them back to life and found them forever homes in which agreed to keep them until their last breaths.  And though he will be sorely missed, the Rainbow Bridge was rocking as he walked that path.  There were many who waited to see him again.  And many who never knew a kind hand but his own.  I pray their journey was one of joyous peace in which all wagging tails joined John for that walk we all wait upon.

I watched those who had a love for Danes, not just John Sasser come together last night and make the plans for those animals in which needed them.  Last night was not about overblown egos, who was right, who wasn’t, who did it this way or that, no one cared what group they were from…..I watched Dane people come together to honor a man who was loved by many, in his death, for the dogs.  It is exactly as John would have wanted to see things happen i believe.  It was exactly as it should have been.  And it made me proud to be a Dane person as it seems those of us who are in it for the dogs came to the table with our feelings in our pockets and willingness to end the drama in which normally surrounds us all.

When Amy Mumpower and I started Dames for Danes we were $50 in the negative and had a very aggressive biting Fawn Female Dane.  We had no supporters, we had no money, and we had nothing.  We made calls to several rescues for help and were continually turned down.  One last call to John Sasser and he said YES.  He said yes I will help you.  I will never forget his kindness and nor will I forget the success he made out of that nasty biting Fawn Female.  Through his love she perfected.  And today she laid snuggly on the couch turning old and gray in her end, with people who love her completely.  

Rescues are a dying breed.  If you look around you see that rescues come and go on a daily basis.  The work is hard and the bad moments are heartless.   It is a 24/7 job in which never sleeps.  The backyard breeders who could care less, out number rescues 10-1.  It would only make sense for us to take a look deep inside and say to one another…can I help you?  Can I offer my thoughts even if you choose not to use them?  Can I share your application?  Can I send adopters your way?  How can we reach out to one another?  How can we end the madness in which envelopes us at times? 

In honor of the memory of John Sasser, we at Dames will reach out a little farther.  We will hold back a little less in being critical within our thinking.  We will honor the memory of a man who did what most other rescues can’t and won’t do……he took those in which no one else would take.  Who could argue that one?  I ask that since the Olive Branch has been extended and we come together for the sake of the dogs in one night despite all in which is different…..could we try to do this every day?  Could we view this as a joint effort rather than a competition?  It isn’t a competition in this rescue world……..it is about life and watching that life benefit from love of the heart.

My Love to every one of you who do Dane Rescue.  You are my brothers and sisters in this fight.  I realize that means sometimes brothers and sisters argue, they disagree, but overall they come together in unity because like it or not folks…we are a family.  One big family, with one big love for our breed.  We should honor that love.

Again……..Rest in Peace John Sasser.  Please give kisses to those who wait for me. 

I will see you all again one day……just not quite yet.