Rescue

This week I would like to discuss a topic dear to my heart, rescue operations. There are rescues out there for just about every breed of every creature imaginable. I, personally, operate rescue operations for Lhasa Apsos and horses. I keep in contact with many other rescue operations and feel that those of us who give our time and financial support to this endeavor genuinely make a difference.

One of the couples that I placed a Lhasa with a couple of years ago has gotten into rescue. I would like to extend a warm welcome to Mark and Donna in Texas and let them know that their efforts are both needed and appreciated.

Mark and Donna adopted a badly abused puppy mill Lhasa, Bailey, from us when she desperately needed a home. At the time we had 17 Lhasas from that puppy mill to adopt. The puppies, of course, went first. By the time Mark and Donna contacted me, I had only adult dogs left. They were malnourished, horribly neglected and terrified. We spent endless hours grooming, feeding and reassuring these fur kids. Bailey, who was dubbed "Mamma Dog" as a call name when she came to us, was one of the worst. She was 3 years old and had already had numerous litters of puppies. She had been carrying or nursing puppies since she was just a puppy herself. She was drained, barely alive and without hope. She responded to our care and friendship with astonishing eagerness. She had never been groomed to petted a day in her life. She wanted so much to love and be loved, but she was so afraid of people in general, and men in particular. It has taken all of this time for Bailey to come to trust Mark. He has had endless patience with her, as has Donna, and it has finally paid off. People like Mark and Donna are rare and precious. They could have given up on Bailey but they didn't. It is a great trial to live with a fur kid like Bailey, afraid to trust and always expecting the worst. It can be discouraging and disheartening to say the least, but the rewards for persistence and love are incomparable.

Since they took Bailey, they have adopted two other rescues and are now involved with rescue themselves. We need people like them...the fur kids need people like them.

Rescue is a difficult thing to do. Not only is it expensive, since much of the financial support comes from the rescuer themselves, but it takes a tremendous toll emotionally. Since most rescue animals have been abused, they require an unlimited capacity for love and patience. They do not know how to behave around people or other fur kids. Many have not been housebroken or socialized at all. I have had rescues that took many months of constant attention before they were ready to go to a new home. It is hard not to get attached to fur kids you live with and love for that long; it is hard to see them go when the time comes. Sometimes a rescuer has to make very hard decisions. When we took in puppy mill dogs that the ASPCA has seized, we had to evaluate each one and decide if it would be placeable. There have been instances where their physical conditions, due to neglect, disease or injury, were so sever that they could never achieve any kind of quality of life. I had to make the decision to end their suffering. I cried for each and every one. Thankfully, for me there have not been many in this category, but in rescue, it does happen and you have to be strong enough to do what is best for the animal.

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