[PyrNet-L] Failure of Rescue

[Jack Mowery <jack.mowery@asc.mhmr.state.tx.us>]

		Much of what Kelly has to say is hard, cold, and most of all
completely true.  

		Don't get me wrong, I believe in rescue (with a little r)
but maybe not so much Rescue (with the big r).  I have loved rescued dogs
with all my heart and my 48-year old soul cried its eyes out all the time it
dug the last (rather largish) hole a couple years ago.  But no matter how
hard the people work and how much money they spend, Rescue can never re-home
dogs as fast as the puppy mills, and back-yard breeders can produce them,
and the upright anal orifices can abandon them.  It is like pumping almost
enough food into a famine area.  The only result is that the people starve
to death slowly.  The same as you can't cure famine by pumping in food, you
have to work at the opposite end of the life cycle by cutting baby
production . . . we cannot cure the abandon dog problem by finding homes for
unwanted dogs.  Rescue is good for the dog, but maybe, not so good for dogs
as a whole.

		She speaks of making the owner re-home or euthanize their
own dog instead of having shelters and rescue organizations available.
Plainly, it ain't gonna happen.  This, I feel, will result in more dogs
dumped on country roads.  "Don't worry, Suzy/Jimmy.  She will find a good
home here in the country, with lots of room to run.  Farms always need good
dogs."  Yeah, sure they do.  The dogs they get rid of for temperament or
behavior problems are just what a farm needs running the livestock.  

		She speaks of making the breeders take life-long
responsibility for the pups they produce.  Here, moreso even than education,
may be our solution.  If every pet shop and backyard breeder knew they could
be required to take back (or even buy back - now here is a real hit in the
purse) every pup they ever produced, no questions asked (behaving like
reputable breeders) there would probably be fewer pups to abandon, and
owners would be screened for more than credit history.




From:	<Kshoffman@aol.com <mailto:Kshoffman@aol.com> 
To:	<pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org <mailto:pyrnet-l@pyrnet.org> 
Sent:	Saturday, March 11, 2000 9:46 PM
Subject:	Re: [PyrNet-L] Re: [Pyr-Net]:breeding question/showing


	In a message dated 03/11/2000 8:33:29 PM Eastern Standard Time,
	 <mailto:kdbooth@mindspring.com> kdbooth@mindspring.com writes:

		What if everyone thought this way?  Rescuing or not rescuing
abandoned
		 animals won't change the ways of irresponsible owners or
breeders.

First off, I want to make it perfectly clear that I paid my dues by working
INTENSIVELY in rescue for about 3 years- snip Rescue of Great Pyrs was
intricately woven into my day to day life.

So I know exactly how the system works and what types of people discard
dogs, and what types of breeders more or less don't give a hoot about what
happens to the puppies they produce once they shove that money from the sale
of pups into their pockets and send the ignorant new owners on their merry
way.   . . .snip . . .  We'd just keep bailing them out, they'd just keep
churning them out.  Didn't change a thing, and I came to realize my time and
effort and money could be much better spent in ways that might make *more*
of a difference to the betterment and long-term welfare of the breed, snip

nsip

During my time working rescue, I got so sick and tired of having to put
maladjusted, improperly raised, and/or poorly bred and wholly unplaceable
dogs down that I just could not take it anymore.  Especially so being a
breeder of some really nice, lovely, healthy, mentally and physically sound
dogs who have just the most wonderful characters and dispositions and are
the cherished and prized companions and members of some really wonderful
families -- as couch potatoes, as working dogs, as show dogs, as therapy
dogs.

Rescue just stopped making sense to me when I took a long hard look at what
I was doing in trying to save all these rescue dogs, and then looking at the
differences between them and my own dogs I was producing.  It was like "What
is wrong with this picture?"  I had to begin to question why on earth I
should recommend that anyone should get a rescue dog over a conscientiously
bred dog from a dedicated and responsible breeder.
You're exactly right.  The way the system works now, it doesn't change a
darned thing with regard to how people view commitment to animals and how
they treat them. Perhaps if irresponsible breeders and owners had to be held
accountable for their actions, had to suffer some consequences for their
mistakes and/or lack of commitment, it would.  Perhaps if these types of
breeders and owners didn't have the option to turn their no longer wanted or
inconvenient animals over to shelters and rescue organizations in the first
place, but instead had to bear the burden of either: a) going to the time,
trouble, and expense of rehoming the dog themselves; or b) taking the dog to
their vet and having it euthanized if they can't find a good suitable home
for it, then they will think a bit harder and longer about getting a dog or
breeding a litter the next time around.

The type of people that dump their so-called pets (or unwanted puppies out
of a not so well planned litter) on shelters and rescue organizations (for
whatever reason) in my experience find euthanasia a horrible and distasteful
fate for their dog, which they should, because it IS a horrible and
distasteful thing. As far as I can see, this is generally the whole reason
such owners or breeders discard these animals, shove the responsibility off
on others, instead of assuming what *should be* THEIR final responsibility
to a dog they no longer want-they can't even stomach the thought of
euthanizing the dog-out of sight, out of mind seems to prevail. Perhaps they
need to experience that horror.  Perhaps it needs to hit a little closer to
home for them to realize they should never have acquired a dog or bred a
litter in the first place.  Perhaps they need to suffer the consequences of
their actions or misdeeds to learn a lesson.

snipped because while I agree I don't want this to enter into the
discussion.

Kelley