Where have all the homes gone?

This is a repost from my personal blog this past January, but with recent intakes at Animal Control, I felt it very appropriate to once again reflect upon the subject.

Each week, I take two to three trips to our local animal control. I'm appalled at the number of pets with collars but no id, no microchip. I spend time with them, determine where I can fit them into our rescue. I know they had homes, they had to. Several of them have looked recently groomed; others are well-mannered and starving for attention. They came from somewhere, but no one has been to look for them. They have five days, five days in which I make phone calls and send emails to see if we can give them a second chance at life, something they deserve. Sometimes, people say yes. I go back to get that one out, holding my head as high as I can to try and distance myself from the sad eyes of the others I had to say "not today." I fill out the paperwork, dog tugging at my arm, eager to smell freedom and feel love. I open the backdoor, and 90% of the time, the dog is in before the door is all the way up. The panting and tail wagging ensue, and we venture to my home and a new life: a good bath, a clean place to sleep, fresh food and water, and a new hope. Then we wait. We wait in hopes that someone else will have compassion and open their hearts to a pet in need, give them a chance to know the love of a family and a permanent home. It doesn't doesn't happen fast and for some pets, it just never happens.

For every pet that remains in our foster care, another is turned away. We don't even have enough foster homes for all the emails and phone calls we get each day, let alone all the pets at animal control. Just this week, I received an email from a person who was under great "hardship" because she didn't have her two dogs spayed and neutered and didn't like having to pay to care for them plus their seven puppies. They had to be gone immediately; it was too much for her to handle. She wanted to bring them to us. I replied that we didn't have the room but that since she needed an immediate solution, she could take them to the humane society. What was the reply I got? "Thank you so much for your lack of interest and help. The humane society would only be used as a last resort." A last resort to what? The "hardship" could have been prevented at a much reduced cost than what she is paying now. Do I think she will regret giving her pets up? Probably not; so few of them ever do. I've heard it all: had a new baby, can't have pets; moved to a place that won't allow them; new love interest is allergic; 12 year old child is suddenly allergic to a cat they've had for 15 years, etc.

This is not a job that gives great recognitions or pay; we don't get paid for the rescue work we do, yet so many people assume so. We don't get a lot of pats on the back for what we do; we get hateful emails accusing us of not doing enough. So what do we get? Lots of kisses from the animals we help and thankful hugs from new families that adopted. But mostly pride in knowing that we gave something of ourselves for a greater good. Sure, I don't get a full 8 hours of sleep each night, and I would like to have a bedding set that still had all its filling and no patches from being ripped apart, or maybe even blinds without teeth marks. However, these are trivial when compared to saving the life of another animal.