Rescue Journal

wow...really?

Carol  ·  Nov. 13, 2011

no headache...no sore back? they will probably sneak up on me later.

it was pissing down rain at barn bedtime last night..or should i now say late yesterday afternoon?
it was looking pretty damn dreary and dark by 3pm so i decided to get ready and put them to bed early and was out there by 3:30...good thing too. an hour and a bit later when i was done..twilight was setting in and by the time i settled frodo and the mp building at 530 it was fully dark outside...black as midnight..it felt freaking weird.

the dogs and i were all sound asleep again just after 9pm. minnie pearl cuz she is crazy, needs less sleep then the rest of us so she was up doing her weird, high pitched yelling at 5;30 this morning. minnie pearl was ready to start her new day and wanted some human company to start it with....that would be me.
once i am up, have cleaned up and made my tea...she sits at the computer chair with her head on my knee and with one hand petting her and pulling her ears, it means i only have one typing finger free.

blogging is a big morning load for only one working finger.

anyway..this one finger wanted to write a bit more about the on-going, long term sustainability of private rescues. the case of best friends is quite unique as they had an influx of large scale cash from a couple of sources and they had a group of individuals who basically gave up their individual lives to commit to the group endeavor.

locally if i look at previously private rescue groups who have made their way into a sustainable future without giving up their full lives and without those huge influxes of cash...they have all done it the exact same way...they bid for and were awarded the municipal animal control contracts...langley animal protection society, richmond animal protection society, delta humane society and coquitlam animal control..(sorry i can't remember what group that was before, i think it was maybe a combination of animal welfare folks?) even the spca still has a few animal control pockets in the province, altho they are trying to eventually move out of that arena now.

and by absolute necessity once awarded those contracts, certain things have to change. they are now responsible to the cities who contract them to provide sevices for animal control, they have a budget that they have to maintain. and if there is a conflict between animal control mandates which focus on public welfare vs animal welfare ...animal control always wins. euthanization rates quite often increase once animal control is in the mix..animals who are adoptable and animals who are not adoptable usually have different outcomes. not that anyone freely advertises this..they can't because it goes against their original intention of going after the contracts in the beginning which was bringing animal welfare to the forefront of animal control.

don't get me wrong here...these groups do an outstanding and difficult job while being stuck in the middle between a rock and a hard place. but obtaining future sustainability for saints can't be found that way because our animals simply are not adoptable. a few do pose a risk to public safety, all of them are far too expensive to even help initially on an animal control medical budget, and they are far too long term as an ongoing committment of care since most of them will never find homes.

on a daily basis, day after day..year after year...we have far more animals in our care each single day then any of the animal control/welfare groups (our count is usually 120-140 animals per day in our care.) now they do take in far more animals annually then we do because they are animal control and they either find homes for them or they euthanize or pass on to rescue, the ones that they can't. their actual yearly intake far exceeds ours because they are animal control with animals coming in and out constantly but on a daily basis our actual animal count is more.

so why am i telling you all of this?...just to let you know that i have looked inside and outside and all around at the options available to us..and there just are not that many. we can't enter the animal control arena when it is in direct conflict with our senior and special needs mandate. the chances of me winning the lottery or a rich person swooping in on us are exactly the same...nil. we can continue day by day to struggle with blood, sweat and tears while i worry myself to death and maybe we will actually get there....we have gotten this far, who is to say, we can't go even farther?

miracles might not happen too often but just plain dedicated hard work without the bells and whistles of outside intervention can sometimes build mountains.

my issue recently is i have to decide..is it forward, backwards or to the right or left? i am starting to feel the clock ticking...the freaking thing is thundering away in my head.

ok..my one finger needs a break!

Comments

Donna

Delta Humane Society did not succeed... they did not even exist prior to getting the municipal contract. The municipality decided that due to complaints and increasing demands of the DHS board that they would take over the shelter themselves. DHS no longer exists.

Lisa

I`ve looked into the Visa option in the past. They basically ashut out smaller agencies....they only issue cards to groups with huge supporter bases ie the SPCA.
Doesn`t seem fair - all the big agencies who have alot of money & supporters get more support while the smaller groups can`t get support - very frustrating!

Janice ter Borg

How about researching some Foundations and other granting organizations and apply for some grants. In Calgary we have the Calgary Foundation (a community foundation), United Way, and other funders. And as Suzanne said above, develop partnerships with food supply companies, pet stores, drug companies, media outlets (ie. radio stations that can help fundraise for you), companies that have employee donation matching programs, small to medium size companies. Ask your current donors and volunteers if the companies they work for would be interested. I'll talk to my sister, Debra ter Borg, and see if she could help with some research.

Caroline

with all the reality shows that are out there now, I think life at SAINTS would make a great reality show! And it can educate people at the same time!
Folks will learn things they never knew before, they will fall in love with the stars, they will look forward to each and every week and then (just like with Big Brother) there can be web cams that you can subscribe to in order to get a life feed and an after hours look to your favorite place in the world.
I think it could work. Just pitch it to TLC, CBC, or W network.

suzanne

PS
I also saw they partner with VISA and have their own Best Friends Visa Card where they get a % of the purchases made with said card.
I envision a SAINTS VISA with Jenn's very bestiest EVER photo... the one of Larry's face full on with that absolutely GREAT smile and all his happiness shining through in his eyes.

suzanne

I just went to best friends website and what caught my eye was the "in kind partners" section. At least 8 major dog food brands donate food to them (we're not talking about Ol'Roy here)... good food, too... Blue, Natural Balance, Wellness etc. According to this blurb, their cats alone eat over 100,000 pounds of DONATED food per year...the mind reels. If you could get on any/all of these corporate food donations lists it would free up a tremendous amount of cash for all your other needs.
Hugs to my Zig-let and Silver.
Still praying for you.