Rescue Inspiration

Sometimes, I can let the seemingly BOTTOMLESS need in for rescue of all kinds of animals get me down - there are just so many animals that need help - mostly because some human has screwed them over.  And yet there are only so many rescuers, so many homes available, so few resources.  It can really make a person despair.

But I think it's all a matter of perspective.  There is, and will be for some time to come, great need, and I think that anyone in animal rescue needs to keep that in mind lest we slip into apathy.  But there are also such inspiring stories out there, of people who have really made a difference.

Like this one:  http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/a-cat-s-best-friend/article_f4c97d75-3d09-511a-bca6-da84ee0a381b.html.  This lady seems to know absolutely no fear when it comes to rescuing cats, whether it's out of crackhouses or facing down deadbeat owners.

And there's plenty of other people out there that go to such lengths to care for the animals that cross their paths.  I can think of several that I've met in person or discovered online.

The board and volunteers of Steel City Greyhounds, of Pittsburgh, has made the difference in the lives of hundreds of ex-racing greyhounds, ensuring that they wind up in homes, with people who love them.  I will be forever grateful to them for rescuing my boy, Argos.

The writer of the Castaway Cats blog fosters adult cats and kittens for the Western Pennsylvania Animal Rescue League (the shelter from which we adopted all of our cats) and writes descriptions of several of the kitties up for adoption through the organization.  There is a certain selflessness involved with the willingness to be a temporary foster parent for an animal, and I greatly admire her for doing it.  I know that many of you do it as well, and I salute all of you.

I can never think of fostering cats without thinking of House of the Discarded, a blog written by a wonderful woman who runs a cat rescue.  This blog keeps it very real, and I never know what to expect from it each day - is it going to give me the warm fuzzies, make me angry at dead-beat owners, or is it going to make me sob?  She tells it like it is, and I think it's so important to remember the realities and the need for rescue.

Yet another, Daily Dose of Dogs (aka Cats with Your Coffee) is a private rescuer, who takes in the animals that cross her path - whether it's a litter of puppies trying to survive in the woods after being dumped, or a mama cat with kittens that has taken up residence in someone's garage.  She takes them in, cleans them up and gets food into their bellies, and gives them a safe, stable environment in which to live while she tries to find them permanent homes.  She does this with her own money and resources.

The folks at Rembier Farms, to which I gave a shout-out a few posts ago, take in animals that are possibly even more frequently overlooked than dogs and cats (though they have plenty of those too.)  Pot-bellied pigs that grew up and ceased to be cutesy, alpacas that were a lot more work than former owners thought, horses, goats, sheep, cows, you name it, they take it in and treat them with kindness, dignity, and of course feed them and take good care of them for as long as it takes until they are adopted, even if that is for life

There are tons more of you, and not enough time or space to write it all in.  Do know that so many of you provide hope and inspiration to me.  And many others have helped out with animal rescue by doing the absolute most important thing - you opened your hearts and your homes to one, two, six, eight, etc. homeless animals.  I love reading and sharing the stories of our pets, and seeing  how so many animals have been given a chance at life and are flourishing:  some rescued, some from other circumstances, but the most important thing is that these animals have been given happy homes.  I can't even begin to list them all, but I so look forward to reading the tales of Bugs, Reilly, Winnie, Bunny, Blueberry, Lilac, & Morgan, Brut & Silver & pups, the kitty horde over at Kat's Kats, Penelope, and so, so many more.  Which I could list all night.

But I think instead,  it is time for some much-needed sleep at the end of a busy workweek.

Charlotte couldn't agree more.  It's not easy being the queen, after all.