when people ask me about how to start up their very own rescue....

i try to give them a dose of reality...i talk a bit about the good and the bad but mostly i focus on the things they will need.
i usually talk in general terms about funding, resources, legalities, finding good vets and having enough volunteer help.

but i usually don't have much time for details and there is one specific i never really talk about.

and that is the kind of people you want to surround yourself with.

this is the deal maker or breaker..this is the absolute key...it is the kind of people who work along side of you who will determine what you together are able to give.

there are some things to think about...what kind of person are you really...what do you not only say that you believe, but what will others see you practice.... in every day living.

i have some far out thoughts about animals and the rights that they intrinsically have...but i am also deep down a moderate who tries to balance the ideal against the reality that they currently live.

anyway...this is what i look for in my compatriots...

i look for a kind and generous heart. i look for an ingrained both internal and external honesty and i look for people who have the ability to consider possibilities and can make themselves grow.
i avoid negative thinkers and those who live in fantasy lands...i want down to earth common sense thinkers who can process realistically both the good and the bad.

i don't look for folks who agree with every word or thought that i have but i do look for those who will listen to me and try to understand. i like people who are not afraid to give an opinion or speak a thought that is different than mine and can do so without getting personal and can focus on the issue at hand.

i truly avoid the ones who are forever trying to stick on halo and wings and shove me up on a rickety pedestle destined to fall. i equally avoid the ones who like to throw stones...at anyone...you can never really trust when they might decide to throw your way next.

i like people on that middle road who comfortably walk along side of me having honest and caring and open discussions or just sharing their own philosophies and beliefs....they aren't trying climb over top of others to win the rescuer race or to drag anyone forward or hold anyone back or jump out from behind a tree to knife someone in the back....they come for the walk to get everyone safely and happily along while holding out a helpful hand...there is a deep beauty in this honest act.

saints is what it is because of the people that have walked this journey with me. they are good people...honest people...caring people..people who actually bestir themselves to work hard and well as part of our team.

and everyone of them will tell you...they don't do it for me and they don't do it for themselves either..they do it for gideon and chewie and percy...they do it for floyd, jerome and the brown betty bunnies...they do it for molly, for bibi, for harold, for barney and stripe...pick any of the more than 400 animals we have loved and cared for here...that is why they are here.

so...specifically.....look for folks who talk it...who walk it...who will actually roll up their sleeves and work it... on the nice sunny days but also in the proverbial rain....look for people who are not lone ranger hero's but the ones who know that many hands can together, accomplish some wonderful things.

the saints animals are truly very lucky, they have the very best as their caregiving team....we may not quite be many yet but one day soon.... we will be.