Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Cynthia Henley - Defender of those who cannot speak for themselves

One of my passions is helping take care of animals - specifically Boston Terriers - who are abandoned or recovered from a breeding pit. It just amazes me how absolutely cruel people can be. For example . . .

Today there was a call from a girl who was allegedly moving to an apartment & couldn't keep her dog of 11 years! 11 years!!!!! She was threatening to take it to a kill shelter (in an effort to make those who volunteer feel compelled to jump & figure out what to do. We are above capacity - we have a shelter, we have our own kennel & many, many of us foster while the baby waits for their forever home.)

How could someone who has had a dog since it was a puppy just move to an apartment that doesn't take pet - 11 years later - & decide the apartment was more important that the pet. This loyal animal who depended on her - who welcomed her home every day with loving licks & yips of excitement. This BT who thought that his owner was the best of all - because she loved him.

I cannot write more on this because frankly, it makes me so sad I cannot deal. It makes me want to punish (which is weird for me) the offender - to take this girl down to the kill shelter & lock her in the cage & say, "Is she next?" [Actually - that sounds familiarly like what we do to people, especially in Texas.]

I have nothing for this girl - nothing. I don't know her but I'm trying not to hate her, not to wish bad things on her, not to send her bad vibes & kharma. She is not like those who lost their homes & have nothing (which I STILL do not understand abandoning a pet to starve to death which is happening a lot in foreclosures.)

I have a few names I'd like to call her & a couple of things I'd like to do, but instead I'll share with you -

PLEASE - spay, neuter, don't take a pet that you don't intend to keep to the very end. (You don't want to be thrown out when you get old, do you?) Adopt, don't buy. And, take care of your pets - this is heartworm country here in Texas. If you don't want to spend money on them - DON'T GET ONE.

Kripes, I'm pissed.

3 comments:

  1. Rescue Answering Machine...

    RESCUE GROUP ANSWERING MACHINE:

    Press 1 if you think we are veterinarians and want free medical advice

    Press 2 if you know we are a rescue organization but want to save money and have us give you free, untrained medical advice anyway

    Press 3 if you make $200,000 a year but still want us to pay to spay the
    "stray" in your yard

    Press 4 if you have a 10 year old dog and your 15 year old son has
    suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away

    Press 5 if you have 3 dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of your dogs
    because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs at the same time

    Press 6 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money for
    your vacation

    Press 7 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having
    problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away

    Press 8 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and
    cute and you want to trade him for a new model

    Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not
    active and is going to outlive you

    Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their
    elderly pet because it doesn't fit your lifestyle

    Press 11 if you are moving today and need to place your 150lb eight year old dog

    Press 12 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home today and pick up the dog you no longer want

    Press 13 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last
    3 years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog

    Press 14 if you are calling at 6am to make sure you wake us up before we go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way to work

    Press 15 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take
    the dog you have had for 15 years because it is not our responsibility

    Press 16 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog to
    be euthanized because we won't take it

    Press 17 if you are going to get angry because the volunteers had the
    audacity to go on vacation and leave the phone work to a trusted
    volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet

    Press 18 if you want one of the perfectly trained housebroken, kid
    friendly purebred tiny dogs that we have in abundance

    Press 19 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression
    problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's
    cats.

    Press 20 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board
    your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge, of course.

    Press 21 if you are lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad
    and take your personal pet off your hands

    Press 22 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house
    but you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered

    Press 23 if you previously had an outdoor dog and are calling because
    she is pregnant

    Press 24 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel

    Press 25 if you left your work only phone number and are angry because our volunteers who also work were unable to call you back

    Press 26 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because today
    is your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born

    Press 27 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too stupid
    to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway) instead of the dog

    Press 28 if you went thru all these "presses" and didn't hear enough.
    This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of
    our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog, dying of grief because he misses his family.

    SO SAD YET SO ACCURATE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My next door neighbor did that with her dog and frankly I'd grown very attached to the animal (appropriately named "Outcast") over the years just from petting it and giving it the occasional treat over the fence. I've already got three dogs (all adoptees) but I'd have taken that one in a heartbeat if I'd known what she intended to do. I haven't spoken to the neighbor since and may never speak to her again. Jerk.

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Gritsforbreakfast - good for you! What a jerk to do something like that. And, good for you for adopting. My last foster apparently had such a bad life - he was very difficult to get close to. He had all kinds of fears, and he reacted meanly rather than run away (which makes it more difficult to place him.) If in one week every person wanting a pet would adopt rather than buy, I'll bet we'd make a huge dent in the population. (And if everyone would spay or neuter - there'd be many less unwanted strays that run rural neighborhoods.)

    ReplyDelete

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