Email I sent back to irate soccer mom in search of yet another status symbol to make her life complete."I am not a rescue. I help rescue groups find foster homes. If interested in fostering...rescue groups are desperate for loving homes - please contact me. One of the major problems is that people...'sheeple' want the same little trendy puppy or status pedigree often for free or close to it and they are not willing to go to the Animal Control center.
Many potential adopters are passive aggressive, preferring to sit idle ( as though they are helpless) while others go out and do the hard and heartbreaking work for them. Absolutely NO ONE is stopping you or anyone from going to animal control and saving a life http://www.nycacc.org
Now let me give you an example of how everyone and their muddah wants the same dog. A waste of space in my neighborhood was severly abusing his beautiful innocent 9 mo. old Golden Retriever puppy he adopted for NYCACC. To make a long story short..he wound up at my place. I fostered/nurtured this puppy sans rescue for 2 1/2 months. It was not easy as he had many emotional issues...terrible separation anxiety etc, etc.
I posted him on petfinder and got over 80 applications...many applicants were rude and crude. I just wanted the best home with the most love as he had been through SO much. It was tough finding the best possible match. It was extremely time consuming reading through all the applications...talking on the phone as I have a life, a full time job... I was not being paid for the countless hours I spent cleaning...feeding...vetting...walking (at 3 am) ..training...not to mention altercations with the angry tenants below and above me. This I did for the love and welfare of this puppy. I found a lovely family with mature teenage kids, sweet dad and lovely down-to-earth mom with a large secure fenced yard and another doggy friend for him to play with. He is finally part of a family who will love him forever!
I would never have given him to the other family I visited. The family who told me their Golden ran into the street and was killed by a truck. The family who had a one foot gap in their rickety fence. The family who had a 5 year old terror who threw his hard plastic bucket at the Griffin's head. Common sense alone would dictate this was NOT the right home for him ( or any dog for that matter!).
Why not help animals yourself and see...instead of sitting on your caboose like a poor victim complaining! I wasn't being mean...I wasn't rude...yet some of the applicants got upset with me...in fact some demanded I give him to them...some cursed and even threatened me lol. Now why do potential adopters act like this? There was only ONE Golden puppy and over 80 applicants... it wasn't anything personal. You get attached and feel so responsible when you foster and re-home an animal as they are counting on you to protect them.
Until a person takes in a dog and cares for it...it is impossible to know what it is really like. You put your heart, soul, time effort, emotions, money ( you don't even have ) day in day out into a dog in need. Rescuers see a lot of darkness...their hearts are broken every single day! Help them. Foster a dog in need...save a life!
Why is it that when they try to re-home a Pitbull or slightly older Shep mix.. or beautiful black dog..rescues hardly get any responses? These same adopters will let these "mutts" die.. not the trendy little fru fru dogs or the pedigrees who they hold in such high regard... who is being the snob now? If you are open to a slightly older, larger, black dog, pit mix or other mixed breed...talk to me ...I can help steer you in the right direction!
A big Thank You to those who do actually care about dogs...and not Status. Remember they are living beings with feelings... not accessories!
In memory of Griffin--the Golden Retreiver we fostered in 2005.
