Ruth has a post up about trying to deal with rescue organizations that is interesting. She mentions a comment thread over at Atomic Nerds that I missed, but which expresses a number of things I agree with whole-heartedly.
We have 2 rescue dogs ATM. My wife had one that she was fostering when we got together whom we would up keeping,.
I had several prior to that (one a GF had that had been overbred and then dumped at a county shelter when she couldn’t breed anymore, another that we took from a barn breeder because, to quote GF, “we weren’t leaving him there”, and a pit bull that had been used as a bait dog then tossed in an empty lot when he was too weak to fight back that I got at the local SPCA who climbed into my lap and informed me I would be taking him home).
When I was growing up it was either my dad’s beagles (he raised and trained them to hunt for a long time) or show dogs that had been retired and put into homes.
I am a firm believer in going with a rescue dog if at all possible. Sure there are issues (our rottie came to us with a host of problems – we learned a lot) but it’s well worth it in the end.
We also have 2 rescue cats right now, had another when we moved out here who succumbed to a fast-spreading cancer a few years ago, and last summer we spent a great deal of time and money placing an FL+ unneutered male who found us into a shelter that has a special area for FL/FIV+ animals.
We also spent an interesting couple of months helping out with a beagle rescue here in town that brought in 28 f them from a puppy mill all at once. We donate quite a lot to the local no-kill shelter.
So, clearly this rescue thing is something we are firmly behind.
That being said – certain people involved in these rescues, especially some of the ones who run them, are a pain in the ass. Special special snowflakes who are convinced they know best, don’t want to hear what you think, looooovvvvveeeee the sound of their own voices. Who ask questions that may not be relevant to the specific situation but place a huge amount of importance in the answers anyway. They can be incredibly annoying, difficult to work with (both as adopter and volunteer), and generally the person I wouldn’t waste my time interacting with. If it weren’t for the dogs, that is.
Now, not most of them. Not even a majority of them, I would imagine. But enough of them that I couldn’t help but notice it repeatedly over the years. And regardless of how much they may irk, annoy, bother, irritate and incense me – I thank and admire them for what they do. It needs doing.
I’ve wondered if perhaps it takes a certain type of personality to deal with all of it, something like being in the veterinary field. I couldn’t do any vet work, I’d either become way too hardened to it or not be able to cope (which considering I treat livestock like livestock makes me an overly sensitive modern girly man who has the luxury of being soft when it comes to companion animals, but I’m OK with that *g*). So kudos to them for doing a good thing *but they can still be reeaalllyyyy annoying).
