Oh, so you are one of those rescuers

On Sunday I took my doggies to a local park. It's a lovely but fairly busy place - near a main street with lots of traffic, has multiple sports fields, always lots of people with young children, in a lively residential area. And, of course, a place where a lot of dogs get walked (hopefully all on leash since there is no off-leash, secure area in the park). We were there early in the morning, before all this activity had really picked up.

And all of a sudden I see a sweet Golden Retriever strolling through. No leash, no human. And then a second one. The dogs are clearly buddies and they are just roaming through a field. Obviously, this caught my attention and I went on alert. What's going through my mind? Well, obviously these dogs are not simply homeless - they are clean, well fed, and appear calm from a distance. But given the area, it would be so, so easy for the pups to have managed to sneak out through the door of a house or a car and wandered into the park without their owner's knowledge. And all it would take is one strong smell that takes them toward the main street and they could be hit by a car!

Alright, action time! I'm right next to the solid chain link fence of a ball field so I tie the leashes of my two dogs securely through the fence. Yes, I am thankful I have them on plain leads instead of retractable leashes because this would be impossible to do with retractables. I ask them to stay (ok, they only kind of listen) and I start strolling toward the two Goldens, slow enough that I don't scare them in case they are shy.

I was within a few feet of the animals when a man approached us. I asked if those were his dogs and it turned out he was the owner indeed. I expressed relief that they were not lost and explained that I had been heading their way to make sure all was ok. He looked a bit perplexed at first (obviously not grasping that he was not being responsible in this case). Then he looked at the AAI cap I was wearing and said: "Oh, you are one of those rescuers, huh?". I proudly replied "Yes, I am!", wished him a good day, and went back to my pups.

You may say it to me with a dismissive attitude. You may ridicule me for it. You may consider me too emotional or think I am wasting my time. But I will ALWAYS be proud to be called a rescuer and will ALWAYS do what I can for those whose life and safety may depend on me speaking up.

The call I hate getting

This morning started like any other. An extra cup of coffee, since I went to bed late last night. Walking and playing with the puppies, play and purring time with the kitties. And, of course, getting to work on time. Because I have bills to pay and my work with Animal Aid International is non-paid.

Ten minutes ago, my grandma (who lives in Bulgaria) called me. Usually this means she is just saying hi and doesn't want to wait until the next Skype 'date' we have to hear from me. But today the call was about animals in need. (As you may have guessed, my grandma is the grass-roots rescuers from whom I inherited my love for animals and rescue work. So we are of the same mind when it comes to helping those in need).

Next to the building where she lives (and where I grew up), there are about 20 homeless cats. Some of them are female. Some of the females are impossible to catch and therefore are unspayed. And they continue having homeless babies. Yesterday, something horrible happened to a litter of those babies. A crew had come through mowing the grass between the buildings. In the midst of all the noise and commotion during mowing, the person didn't realize he had run the mower partially over the hiding spot where a mama cat had nestled away her 4 babies!...

Later that day, my grandma happened to notice the mama cat trying to protect something from a couple of crows - the birds were swooping down trying to feed on something and the mama cat was attempting to fight them off. What turned out is that the crows were pecking at the open wounds covering the bodies of kittens mangled by a mower. 2 babies had significant open wounds, 2 kitties were in better shape. And they are only 1.5 months old!

My grandma scooped up the babies, rushed to the vet, and (thanks to knowing about their existence) contacted the rescuers. AAI will be raising the funds for these poor souls once we get photos and treatment details. In the meantime, this serves to yet again underscore the importance of preventing litters of kittens from being born homeless. No soul deserves to be mowed to death!

As if

Guest written by the awesome Abby, we couldn't agree more with this post! 

AS IF.....

AS IF it’s not hard enough being an animal rescue advocate, now Facebook is hiding our posts.  We have worked so hard and tirelessly to attract, tempt and befriend our over 10,280 followers over the last 2+ years, and now we have to fight just to be seen.  We have posted a lot.  We have posted a little.  We have posted funny photos.  We have posted heart wrenching stories.  We have posted videos.  We have posted contests.  We have posted questions.  We have posted links.  We have posted our blog.  We have posted our cases of animals in need.  We have posted happy updates from animals saved.  Lately, all we hear are crickets and the voice in our heads screaming, “WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND HERE? WHERE IS EVERYONE?  WHAT HAPPENED?  MY GOD, WHAT CAN WE DO?  WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS!  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE LET THIS POST HAVE A GOOD REACH……..”

AS IF we, as volunteers, don’t have a million other things that need to be done during our very short days.  We have spent countless hours brainstorming ways to get noticed and to have people remember and see us, to stand out from the non-profit crowd and beg for donations for our little souls that need a chance at life.  We have researched, talked, cried, screamed, begged, pleaded, researched some more, had tantrums, pulled our hair out, gotten angry, cheered back up, gotten frustrated, came back around.  And for what?  To just wake up tomorrow and start all over again.

AS IF this will stop us.  We will not be broken by the unfair algorithm that is Facebook.  We won’t ever give up.  We will keep our eye on the prize.  We will always remember each and every precious life that we have saved.  We will wipe away our tears, brush ourselves off, and hold our heads up high.  And tomorrow, come sunrise, we will wake up and do it all over again.

AS IF we would have it any other way.