we say good things about ourselves and bad things about others, for one reason only....to feel better about ourselves.
Carol · Jan. 30, 2008
it is interesting to watch the message boards and watch which people get jumped on and by whom and in what way. it is pretty much always the same people jumping and the same people getting landed on time and time again. some do it veiled in politeness and reason, some do it with a knife in the back, others just bury their victims underneath a mountain of hate. it all means the same thing tho...someone doesn't like you, and i wonder sometimes if deep down they even really like themselves?
there are alot of double standards in rescue...quite a few BC rescues brought up animals from Katrina...it was ok for these animals to take BC homes...why? well because the humans who brought them here were hero's who went to Katrina and lived all that horror. hero's are allowed to do anything, but regular people are not.
it is not ok to pull and ship a dog stateside to BC and far away from the impending gas chamber...that just requires a cheque book and a car to get to the airport to pick up the dog...nothing about human heroics in that. we like people to think that hero's are special. and people who rescue animals will tell you of a long list of very sad stories and how they made those stories happy again. people in rescue have savior-syndrome...we always do such great and wonderous things...heck even bathing and grooming a stinky dog with matts or de-worming an animal becomes an act of heroism in the extreme. it really is not such a great big deal.
some people believe that BC dogs sometimes don't get homes and sometimes they die in the shelters because american dogs steal their homes.... which might be true, except no one in rescue admits that these dogs die in BC shelters because we mostly don't want those particular dogs for whatever reason anyway and no one had any intention of taking them home.....if even the BC rescues won't pull and don't want these dogs...do we really think that joe public does instead? not likely...american dogs or no american dogs...no one wants some of the dogs up here, not even rescue.
some people say that the rescues that bring dogs up from the states, make alot of money. the adoption fees are quite high, $400-$500...but bringing them here costs quite alot too. my cat hook was adopted from a high kill shelter in saskatchewan...one little ancient one-eyed cat cost $400 in transport fees just to get here...i would think dogs who need heartworm tests and rabies vaccines/vet health certificates plus shipping and transport from the states could cost significantly more...but maybe i am wrong on this, maybe these things all get done for free.
many of the opponents to bringing american dogs into canada have in one way or another, been involved in attempts to bring dogs across the border in the past. maybe it was ok then, but now it is not, altho i am not sure what has changed in the past few years.
the issues are only issues depending on who is involved...if you are part of the "in group" (or trying to get "in") you can pretty much do whatever you want...of course the question becomes what are you getting "in" to....and do you really want to be "in" that at all?
i always wonder if people ever consider what the rest of us think when it starts again with the same old, same old thing...same behaviors, different victim, different accusations and gossip. but the same tone of negative judgement...someone is doing something that someone else doesn't like.
i also wonder if people consider that animals are not put here as trophies or awards for us to wave around to make ourselves look good to someone else. i have been accused of blowing my own horn...but whenever have you heard me brag about giving a dog a bath, or making a wrecked dog perfect, or "saving" a dog from horrible abuse?..when have i laid hands on anyone and created some kind of miracle of rescue? hah, not likely...insert a picture of me gagging here ...i am not likely to do that because i am pretty truthful...i get someone else to bath and groom the dogs (bending over the tub hurts my back) and i get someone else to shave them too (because the last time i tried it i made cole bleed)...i never save a dog from anything, someone else did cuz they are the ones who sent them here....i just give them a nice place to live...and i certainly don't do rescue miracles, any of those are performed by the animals themselves. clyde is healing himself, i just take care of him while he does this. all i do is live with a bunch of not so perfect animals that i happen to love alot.....i think hero's do great things, bathing dogs, mopping up pee, being nice to the not so nice until they do become nice again, would not be one of those great things to me....but saving 30 or 40 dogs from a gas chamber across the border?, now i think that might be a pretty great thing to those 30-40 dogs.
sigh, long rambling tirade...all about what? nothing much, just about some more not very nice hot air.
Hey Carol, not sure if these guys will be from Pahrump or kitties from BF to make room for Pahrump kitties - but either way we love the kitties that come from the desert - they have a greater sense of peace after having spent time at BF. I think it is a bit of a shock for them to encounter flatland city life though!
I think they look around and say "hey, what happened to my gorgeous view of the red rock canyons, where's the mountains?"