I Am A Rescuer

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I am a Rescuer

I am a volunteer.
My food receipts for a family of 3 and my dog food bills match. My water bill has doubled.
My electric has tripled.

It is I, a Rescuer, who when my AC quits, places every fan available in front of the dogs to keep them cool. My feet find the way to the backyard before I have even gotten dressed
The backyard is my last stop before bed.

While my friends are on a cruise to the Bahamas I cruise the internet looking for lost dogs
When my family meets for Christmas I am home potty training 2 year old dogs.
I haven't had a real vacation in years, but maybe soon. All plans are made around home inspections, rescue transports and shelter deadlines.

I shower and I dry off with a clean towel already covered in dog hair
There is more dog hair than lint in my dryer lint trap
My clothes are all bleached white from chlorine used to kill whatever it is that grows at the shelter
I have to remember to take off my shoe covers before leaving the house

Most of my friends rescue dogs
Who else can you call at 3 am for support?
Who else has the experience I sometimes need, the med I sometimes need, or just an uplifting word I sometimes need ? Who else would understand how it feels to have invested hours and hours and hours in
an emaciated dog to lose it? Or the joy in investing hours in an abused dog that loves again?

I have slept on the floor beside a dog undergoing heartworm treatment.
For 6 weeks I have carried a dog too weak to walk outside to go potty.
I clean my yard three times a day so my neighbors won't complain
I have learned to be proficient at micro chipping, sub-q fluids,
wound care and parasite treatment.

My vet knows me by first name
My shelter knows my first name
Animal control knows my first and last name
My vet knows it is I for whom he tries to cut a break
I am a Rescuer.

It is I who that knows it only takes 5 days for a shelter to take a life.
It is I who has to walk by the faces in a shelter deciding who is saved and who can't be,
Happiness and Sadness always intermingled.
Even though it increases my work load, I look forward to the first day of a new foster, the grateful eyes, the careful steps, the tail tucked tight. I look forward to the chance to feed and tender a dog's trust where there once was none

I don't think conscientious breeders are uneducated, unemployable or illiterate.
I am a lover of animals and I have found my niche. I am a Rescuer

There is no shame in Rescue
Some people say it is easier to qualify for a house than to qualify for one of my rescues. I say, so it should be.
My dogs have been starved, my dogs have been beaten.
My dogs have been left in the cold until their ears freeze off.
My dogs have been covered in parasites and have struggled with disease.
My dogs have been left to die.

At night when I go to bed I pray for many things.
I pray for new adoptive homes.
I pray for less dogs that have been abandoned,
and I pray for Conscientious Breeders.

There is no shame in breeding dogs responsibly.
No one should take your dogs for mild infractions.
You shouldn't have to hide like a criminal.
Politicians shouldn't police our kennels.

Breeders and Rescue need to work together hand in hand,
to make sure there is a home for every dog.
That the home is safe and stable
That dogs not suitable for breeding are altered ,
and that dogs left behind are picked up and safe,
I am an animal lover, a nurse, a heavy laborer, customer service
representative, and a marketer.

AND I am a Rescuer.