WE ARE SOMETIMES THE EPITOME OF HYPOCRISY!!!

WOW. The animal welfare community is a true conundrum to me.

I have been, and always shall be, a staunch supporter of having a positive attitude toward rescue in that those who rescue dogs not waste precious time and energy to judge, to hate, to expose or to publicly deride people who they feel have abandoned or neglected dogs. In other words I believe that publicly exposing the shortcomings of former owners of dogs does nothing to help the dog, help pay for the dog's medical care or housing or help the dog find a new home.

Today I was truly bowled over by someone who I've known for a while through social media who has always been a very active advocate for pit bulls, who rescues and fosters dogs but who has also shown to be judgemental of former owners and people who 'dump' dogs regardless of what reasons the former owners may have had for abandoning their dogs or surrendering them to a shelter. Now today this person posted on social media how a dog she's been fostering is 'just too much', has too much energy and that she will have to find another foster for this dog because the dog is just too much for her to handle. My reply to her was that she needs to find a good canine behaviorist, not a dog trainer but a behaviorist, with good experience to help her help this dog calm down and learn some manners. I suggested as well that the dog needs to get out for regular exercise which would help calm the dog by draining the dog's energy.

This person's response really knocked me for a loop and has prompted me to write this blog in yet another effort to help people see the sheer hypocrisy that runs rampant throughout the part of the animal welfare community that is always out on social media demeaning former dog owners, hating on former dog owners, blaming former dog owners and judging former dog owners as if the neglect, abandonment or surrendering of their dog was done intentionally by a cold-hearted monster. While I would never and am not making excuses for people who abandon, surrender to shelters or neglect their dogs and am not saying that what they did/do is perfectly okay I am here to say that this kind of defaming does no good for any dog at any time and that judging others is a form of suggesting that we ourselves are perfect.

Okay so the response to my suggestions that I got from this person was, "That costs a lot of money. I'm no where able to afford behaviorists let alone walkers, day care, etc."  and I must tell you I was so tempted to rip her a new one because these are the very same excuses that some people who have wanted to find another home for their dog or who have surrendered their dog to a shelter or who have abandoned their dog have used; nearly verbatim! People who have been vilified on social media, called monsters, said that they should not ever be allowed to have another dog, who have been put out on social media as horrible people who had no hearts and who weren't worthy of having a dog. I have seen so many rescuers remind everyone that if you can't afford all of the things your dog needs or may ever need that you shouldn't have a dog and that you should always have resources to help your dog available or again you should not have the dog in the first place. Yet here is someone well respected in the dog rescue world who is trusted and who constantly advertises the sacrifices they make to rescue dogs and holds themselves up as a great rescuer and dog owner and they are making the very same excuses that they themselves have vilified and demonized other people for using. What the actual hell? Is it simply that we don't see ourselves as fallible or are we so untrusting, hateful and judgemental toward others?

Here it is folks...we MUST STOP THIS BULLSHIT VILIFICATION OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER AND/OR DON'T PUT OUT AS MUCH EFFORT AS WE CLAIM THAT WE DO OR THAT WE WOULD!!!

That we seem to think that if we don't have all of the money to provide all the services and activities for the dogs in our care and that we either don't or can't expend the effort ourselves to get our dogs the exercise they need it's perfectly okay, that it's a good valid excuse and that we should never be judged for it or called into question about BUT seem to think that if someone outside of our animal welfare community has or uses any of these excuses they are heartless, cold, uncaring and undeserving dog owners we have a HUGE FREAKING PROBLEM!!! Our problem is that we are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites who want recognition for the sacrifices that we make or for what we try to do for the dogs but who can't recognize that people who aren't in animal welfare face the very same challenges and have the same limitations that we have.

Come on people, what the hell is wrong with us???

In the end if we don't begin to open our hearts to humans in addition to animals and if we aren't going to be willing to see that we aren't perfect and that we can also use the same excuses for what we don't do or what we do then we are doomed. The animals deserve better human beings and that begins with US who claim to be putting so much effort into helping the animals. EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED and we can't separate humans from animals. If we are going to save the animals we can't toss aside the human beings while we are doing it...it just won't work and maybe that's why up to now it hasn't been working very well at all and we still struggle every day with too many dogs that need homes and not enough homes for them...just think about it for a minute! Are you in this for recognition or for emotional reasons or are you in this for the dogs???

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way, shape or form criticizing the person I am writing about for saying what was said or for being in the situation they are in. What I'm trying to get across here is that things can happen to ANYONE and that when it happens to someone outside of the animal welfare community the vast majority of the time they are vilified and condemned on social media for it by people in the animal welfare community. All I'm saying is that we must STOP vilifying people for being human and for falling victim to life situations that can happen to anyone.