"I couldn't do what you do" - Those 6 words (or 7 words) are something I hear on a regular basis. My friends, family, and others in rescue have all said this at some point... -Heck I've said it. I Love doing transport, but I couldn't be a foster (yet); partly because of my living situation and partly because I get attached too easily.
In the beginning, as a transporter, I got VERY attached to each little transportee. I loved Buddy, barely let go of Popcorn, and Mosey... Oh Mosey I could have kidnapped her, Precious! An Joey? Heck he had nothing when he came on transport so I bought him the blue collar and leash you see in his pictures.
I got into transporting because I couldn't have a dog. I stuck with it after getting a dog because I loved it too much to let it go.
Too often I hear people who are hesitant to help with rescue because it can be painful, and they're right. For all the happy stories we have, there are just as many stories where we were too late, or couldn't get transport, or got the pup and then couldn't save them due to health issues. Even just being a transporter I got attached. On a transport I assisted with I ran in to Charlotte and Katie. Charlotte had 5 babies and Katie was secretly smuggling 9 more.
 |
| #7 of 9 - had a tiny white heart mark right on her butt. |
The first dog we ever lost (of the ones I helped with) was one of Katie's nine babies... little number 7. She was only about a week old and had a little heart mark on her back. It was like God knew she'd need a little extra help. She had a cleft palate that didn't allow her to eat effectively and surgery at such a young age could be life threatening. We let her go at only a week old so she wouldn't suffer. I cried like a baby. She only had 7 days of life, how is that fair!? I was mad, not at rescue and not at the decision, but mad that things like this happen.
Then there was Charlotte's baby girl, Brie. She was being spayed so she could go to her forever home (who were so excited about having her home). I had helped carry her to her transport car and took pictures and videos of her. Precious! ...Brie never woke up from the anesthesia... Everything went fine in surgery, the anesthesia just never wore off... she reacted badly and passed quietly in her sleep. She had survived a shelter, a long transport, a second shorter one, and surgery ... she had a home and a sweet family waiting for her... and she just slipped away... Losing Brie was almost harder than losing #7 because I'd held her when she was just a wiggly grunting baby. Again, the hurt and the anger- how do things like this happen!?Well, it took a while for me to come to terms with this, but here is the fact of the matter. For the week 7 lived she was loved like none other and we fought for her as long as she had the will to live, and when she didn't, we let her go so she didn't have to suffer and slowly starve to death (the fate she would have faced without help). And Brie? She was loved by many and her loss was out of anyone's hands. There was no "choice" to let her go, she just went. It is a fact of life that anyone who owns or cares for any living being faces every day. Without our help Katie and Charlotte and those pups would likely be dead. So we lost 2 but saved 15. It doesn't make the loss of the 2 hurt less, but the joy of the 15 (now all in loving homes and doing well) helps heal the wound.
I knew his Parvo test would probably be positive, and that meant that this sweet little collie puppy could die, possible before dawn, but I still talked sweetly to him and carried him close to my heart as we ran in to the vet because I knew as scared as I was and as sad as I was, HE was the one fighting for his life, and I was gonna do everything in my power to fight with him, and encourage him to keep on fighting. I won't lie, I still cried when I heard the test was positive, and slept poorly until I heard he'd made it through the night, but all of that is part of rescue.Bart Lived. He kicked Parvo's butt and Pneumonia too! He is now huge and stunning! His success story makes the losses and yes, sometimes the returns, easier to deal with.
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
He lay down in the dirt, clinging to the earth, and refused to move. It was as if he just said, "That's it, life sucks and I am resigned to just stay here and die." Heck I carried him to the car too and he kicked me in the face as if he were kicking and screaming "No! Put me back down! Just let me die already!"
Well we're not called "rescue" because we're in the business of quitting and thank God for that, Courage is now Captain Courage and enjoys boating on the weekend!
So am I saying "Heck yes, anyone can do what I do, and MORE!" Well, No. Transporting isn't for everyone. You see a lot of dogs and do a small service for each. Maybe you need a more involved step, like foster, or a less involved step, like event planning or just volunteering as a weekend walker or even a cross poster who posts shelter dogs pages to rescue pages which might be interested. Maybe you simply have some supplies that a rescue might be able to use (dog supplies, office supplies, or cleaning supplies for example). There are plenty of jobs that rescues need help with.
Here are two links that give examples of how you can help:
So maybe your right and couldn't do what I do. That doesn't mean you can't work in rescue. And yes, it can be heart breaking, but the joy of the happy endings is SO worth it. For example, although I have told you 2 stories which ended in losing a dog, I have transported 53 dogs (not counting the assists) and all are in happy forever homes. It is worth it, THEY are worth it, and without rescues and adopters, all of them wouldn't be here today.
So next time, before you say "I couldn't do what you do" consider this,
If you can't do what that person does, what can you do?
