The Truth Is...

THE TRUTH IS…

We take in unwanted animals. @RhondaK covers the animal problem we have in Tazewell County extensively. Her experiences take the cake. My intention in writing about our animals is to validate her and share other stories from a different perspective. We foster, bottle feed, pick up animals that are stray, work to sterilize feral cat colonies, and occasionally adopt elders from the shelter. We are grateful for the help of Tazewell ARC and PAWS, another local rescue for helping place our younger animals in rescue and hope we can repay them by fostering and helping to spread the word about animal welfare. I'm not posting this for sympathy, or a pat on the back. I wrote this to release some of the resentment and frustration I carry because I should have been brave enough to say all of this out loud. I have written this post to share our experiences and the excuses we have gotten when an animal is placed in our care.

The truth is, you just didn’t want to spend your money on the animals anymore.

“I just can’t afford to take care of these animals anymore.”

I have two beautiful horses. I am thankful to have friends who allow them to live on their property. They are well fed, maintained, and happy being pastured with their two sisters. I’ve never had horses before. I never intended to have the two that I have. I had a former friend approach me at my car window one day and ask if I could help find new homes for her horses. She simply couldn’t afford to care for them anymore. I told her I’d come look at them, get pictures, and see what I could do.

Later that afternoon, we met and she drove me to see the horses. One appeared to be in decent shape while the other was obviously severely underweight by hundreds of pounds. I knew then that I needed to act fast. I made the decision to find pasture land for them and go ahead and take them into my custody as I was told they hadn’t been tended to for over five months. Dylan was just a “hard keeper," she said. It took two years to get him to a reasonable weight. He is still the low man on the totem pole and has to be monitored when he eats grain because the others take it from him. Is it time consuming? Yes. Is it necessary for his health? Yes.

In the last five months, Dylan and Cash’s former owner has been to Florida and frequents the lake. The visits she begged for when she let me take them never came to fruition; too busy at the lake, I suppose.

The truth is the animal is worthless to you now.

“We just can’t keep her.”

Your beautiful yorkie is doing just fine. I wish you had told us about her horrible skin allergies before you brought her to us. Those first few months of struggling to find the right food to keep her comfortable were hard. She loves our son. She greets us at the door every day. I bet she greeted you too. She has her own personality and she is incredibly loving. She was getting older and couldn’t have puppies, so you asked us to take her. I guess she was your way to easy money. I hope we are giving her the life that she deserves.

The truth is, it’s easier.

“This cat just showed up and she keeps having kittens. Can you come and get her?”

I have offered you a trap to catch her. I have told you where to take her to get her spayed for $20.00. You don’t want that though. You’ll just let it keep happening because it’s easy. You know how to fix the problem and you want the problem to go away, but you don’t want to take care of it yourself. You want me to take care of it for you.

The truth is, your pride was too big to ask for help sooner.

“Gertie is on my back porch. She is pooping all over my house. Come get her.”

No actually, Gertie is a 22 pound, full grown boxer, and near death because you have neglected this issue for so long. Her rectum is prolapsed. She can barely lift her head.

Your sister went and sat in the cage at the vet’s office and spoon fed her because she wouldn’t eat otherwise until she was well enough to come home. She is ok now. She has the occasional flare up but with medication and special food is managing fine.

The truth is, you didn’t think it through.

“I bought this puppy but I can’t take care of it. Do you want it?”

Oh boy! Another puppy? This is my favorite one. "Do you want it? " Yes, please. I am so honored to be taking in yet another dog. The correct wording would be, will you take this dog because I failed to prepare myself for the reality of dog ownership and only thought about snuggling a cute puppy.

The truth is, you aren't fooling anyone. Rescuers see through the lies. We recognize the laziness and apathy. At the end of the day, there are those who do, and those who don't. Those who don't ask for help from those who do, and then criticize them later.

I can rest easy at night. Can you?