Making sense of it all

Greetings, all,

It occurs to me that I haven't posted on here since February, which is most definitely past my due date. It's been a hectic year, to say the least. I have been working like a dog on the house, which has created more issues than I ever imagined. For those of you who have purchased foreclosed homes, you know what I mean. In April, I took a new position at work and am now doing proposal and grant writing. And of course, i've been fostering the dogs. And this is why I write this evening.

For those of you who don't know, I volunteer with the Virginia German Shepherd Rescue (www.shepherdrescue.org). The rescue brings in unwanted, or abused, or neglected shepherds, fosters them, and helps each one to find what we call a "forever home". I am one of them, and I wear this title proudly. There has been only one instance in the past 9 months of a dog I wasn't able to handle, and she immediately went to a new foster home and was angelic. The people I work with are passionate, loyal, loving, and work very much as a tight-knit family (for example, the foster who took the aforementioned dog from me, which allowed me to take in another). There is not one volunteer in this organization who wouldn't give their left arm to see that every unwanted dog was placed with a loving, caring family, one that would cherish this animal until its final day. And it is with that spirit that I write this post.

An intake volunteer sent a message to us tonight, and part of the post read: "[Animal Control] found her owners (who) no longer wanted (her) and planned on setting her loose somewhere." They planned on setting her loose somewhere. Two weeks ago it was the woman who abandoned her home with her own two dogs, but left the ex-husband's ex-wife's shepherd tied to a tree. Before that it was something else, and something else, and, oh yes, something else.

I can't begin to express my utter disgust with the human race at this moment. I mean, on what planet does someone assume that deserting a dog (tying it to a tree, setting it free, etc) is acceptable behavior? You domesticate an animal, feed it, give it love and a warm place to sleep, and then you abandon it and expect it to take care of itself? This kind of behavior, which is all too common and stretches way beyond the confines of German shepherds, sickens me, and anyone, ANYone who partakes of this behavior should be punished. Period. We imprison people for abuse of other humans, I think the time has come to dole out the same exact punishment for those who abuse their pets.

I've met many people in the past year or so who have been forced to give up their pets for one reason or another, and show extreme remorse. In fact, i've shed many tears with these individuals because I can absolutely feel their pain. I understand that there are certain circumstances that are beyond ones control, but these that I am speaking of tried everything in their power to hold onto their beloved 'kids', and couldn't. They are not the ones I am referring to. This is directed to the shallow, callous individuals who think pet ownership (or as I call it, parenthood) is a right, not a priviledge, and if the dog has to be put to sleep because hard times come and they can't have a dog anymore and they're just too lazy to follow the proper channels to get it into a new home, it's no big deal, it's just a dog, right? Wrong. You are the absolute worst of the worst to me, and don't deserve the unconditional love that a pet provides.

The worst part about it is that if any one of these abandoned dogs (or other animals) were reunited somehow with the former owner, they'd forgive and forget; our four-legged friends are just that way. I, on the other hand, don't forget, and will do everything in my power to make sure that those who don't deserve the loyal companionship of a pet don't get it.