This is not a rant, and I am not judging the choices people make, I am only asking people to consider my thoughts and I apologize as I have touched on this subject before. I was talking to a person while I was out walking my dog Lucas, she was asking all kinds of questions about him and at one point I commented that he is a rescue, so my knowledge of his past is limited to what I’ by happen stance’, found out. I was outside a Starbucks with Lucas one afternoon, he was still our foster at the time, and this woman called out “Blue” to the dog. Lucas began wagging his tail, she said “Blue” again and he became more animated. After chatting for a while we came to the realization that my foster was in deed at one point, her brother’s dog. The story was, Lucas and his sister were bred from two dogs the family had. Two of the pups were kept by a husband and wife, but when they split each took a dog. Lucas ended up living with the husband and his new partner, who had a few pets of her own, things weren’t working out, and they gave him away to another couple. This is where the story could have had a very different ending, the people didn’t keep Lucas, without approaching the owner, they surrendered him to the pound saying they had found him running around on the street. I mentioned in an earlier blog, if it wasn’t for the efforts of New Hope Dog Rescue, Lucas would have been euthanized. Back to the conversation I was having with the woman in the park! She commented on how lovely my boy was and how sad it would have been had he been put down. Things turned out well for Lucas, but I urge people, if you have to find a new living circumstance for your pet, make sure to check back in from time to time to ensure your former family member is still in a good living situation and emphasize that if things aren’t working out that they contact you, so you can work as a team to find the animal a new living arrangement that will work! It is sad to think that Lucas’ first family bred him, then life happened and things got messy and he ended up a Shelter dog that didn’t show so well! People who you find on those social networking sites, they see a picture, they say all the right things and off your pet goes to it’s new home. It just saddens me that your pet can then get tossed into a situation that isn’t so rosy. I am all about the Happy Ending. Thankfully my boy is safe and sound, and I appreciate that their are many rescue organizations out there doing good work to make sure that displaced pets find good living situations. I strongly advocate that if you know someone who is having to give their pet up for adoption, that you urge them to find an agency that will help them place their pet in their community. I recognize that life isn’t perfect, and that from adversity, Lucas has ended up in a home with people who really truly love him and respect his quirks. It would be lovely to think that this could be the case for all the other lovely fur coated, feathered and finned creatures out there!
No Time To Paws 