Some Thoughts

If animals could speak, might listen better. But they can't. Some people have tried to speak for them and we've included a few of their offerings on this page. 

I Found Your Dog Today
I found your dog today.  No he has not been adopted by anyone.  Most of us who live out here own as many dogs as we want,  those who do not own dogs do so because they choose not to. I know you hoped he would find a good home when you left him out here,  but he did not.  When I first saw him he was miles from the nearest house and he was alone, thirsty,  thin and limping from a cactus burr in his paw.

How I wish I could have been you as I stood before him.  To have seen his tail wag and his eyes brighten as he bounded into your arms,  knowing you would find him,  knowing you had not forgotten him.  To see the forgiveness in his eyes for the suffering and pain he had known in his never-ending quest to find you... But I was not you.  And despite all my persuasion, his eyes beheld a stranger.  He did not trust,  he would not come.

He turned and continued his journey;  one he was sure would soon bring him to you.  He does not understand you are not looking for him.  He only knows you are not there,  he only knows he must find you.  This is more important than food or water or the stranger who can give him these things.

Persuasion and pursuit seemed futile;  I did not even know his name.  I drove home,  filled a bucket with water and a bowl with food and returned to where we had met.  I could see no sign of him,  but I  left my offering under the tree where he had sought shelter from the sun and a chance to rest. You see, he is not of the desert.  When you domesticated him, you took away any instinct of survival out here. His purpose demands that he travel during the day.  He doesn't know that the sun and heat will claim his life.  He only knows he has to find you.

I waited hoping he would return to the tree; hoping my gift would build an element of trust so I might bring him home, remove the burr from his paw, give him a cool place to lie and help him understand that the part of his life with you is now over.  He did not return that morning and at dusk the water and food were still there untouched. And I worried.

You must understand that many people would not even attempt to help your dog.  Some would run him off,  others would call the county, or the city pound and the fate you thought you saved him from would have at least prevented his suffering from days without food and water.

I returned again before dark.  I did not see him.  I went again early the next morning only to find the food and water still untouched. If only you were here so you could call his name. Your voice is so familiar to him.  I began pursuit in the direction he had taken yesterday, doubt overshadowing my hope of finding him.  His search for you was desperate, it could take him many miles in 24 hours.

It is hours later and a good distance from where we first met,  but I have found your dog.  His thirst has been stopped,  it is no longer a torment to him. His hunger has disappeared,  he no longer aches. The burrs in his paws bother him no more. Your dog has been set free from his burdens. You see, your dog is dead. He has died,  lonely and alone. I knelt next to him and cursed you for not being here yesterday so I could have seen the glow,  if just for a moment, in those now vacant eyes. I pray that his journey has taken him to that place I think you hoped he would find.  If only you knew what he went through to reach it.... and I agonize,  for I know,  that if he were to awaken at this moment,  and (if) I were to be you,  his eyes would sparkle with recognition and his tail wag with forgiveness.
Melissa Ohlsson
 

I Want to Quit (This Is What Animal Rescue Is Like) 
By Joan C. Fremo 
I want to quit! 
My health is bad. There are days I feel so terrible that I can barely move. My phone bills are outrageous, and I could have replaced my van with the funds I have spent these last 3 years - on animals that were not my own. 
I want to quit! 
I spend hours and hours emailing about dogs. There may be 500 messages when I start---and at 4 AM, when I finally shut down the computer, there are still 500 emails to be read. 
I want to quit! 
Gosh, I haven't the time left to email my friends. I can't remember the last book I read, and I gave up my subscription to my local newspaper---I used to enjoy reading it, cover to cover, but now it often ends up in the bottom of the squirrel's cage - unread. 
I want to quit! 
I've spent days emailing what seems like everyone---trying to find a foster home, help for a dog languishing in a shelter - but his time has run out, and the shelter has had to euthanize to make room for the next sad soul. 
I want to quit! 
I swear, I walk away from my computer to stretch my legs - let the dogs out - and come back to find another dog in desperate need. There are times I really dread checking my email. How will I find the funds, the help, to save yet another dog? 
I want to quit! 
I save one dog, and two more take its place. Now an owner who doesn't want his dog - it won't stay in his unfenced yard. An intact male wanders... This bitch got pregnant by a stray... This 3-month-old pup killed baby chicks...The dog got too big... This person's moving and needs to give up his pet. I ask you, friends--what town, what city, what state doesn't allow you to own a pet? 
I want to quit! 
I just received another picture, another sad soul with tormented eyes that peer out of a malnourished body. I hear whimpering in my sleep, have nightmares for days... 
I want to quit! 
Many of the "Breed People" don't seem to want to hear about these dogs. Breeders either don't realize, or just don't care, how many dogs of their breed are dying in shelters. 
I want to quit! 
I just got off the phone. "Are you Pyr Rescue? We want to adopt a male to breed to our female." How many times do I have to explain? I have tried to explain about genetics, about health and pedigrees. I explain that rescue NEUTERS! I usually end up sobbing, as I explain about the vast numbers of animals dying in shelters across the country, as I describe the condition many of these animals are found in. I wonder if they really heard me... 
I want to quit! 
It is not like I don't have enough rescues of my own to worry about---but others have placed dogs improperly and aren't there to advise the new owners. 
I want to quit! 
There ARE some unscrupulous rescues out there---hoarders, collectors, and folks who will short change the care of the animals to make a dollar. They save them all, regardless of temperament, putting fellow rescuer's and adopters at risk by not being truthful. 
I want to quit! 
I have trusted the wrong people -- had faith and heart broken... 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
My dog, Magnus, lays his head in my lap, he comforts me with his gentle presence - and the thought of his cousins suffering stirs my heart. 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
One of those 500 emails is from an adopter. They are thanking me for the most wonderful dog on earth - they cannot imagine life with out their friend - their life is changed, and they are so grateful. 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
One of my adopted Rescues has visited a nursing home. A patient that has spent the last few years unable to communicate, not connecting - Lifts his hand to pat the huge head in his lap, softly speaks his first words in ages -  to this gentle fur child. 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
A Good Samaritan has found and vetted a lost baby, "I can't keep him, but I'll take care of him until you find his forever home." 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
"Jamie took his first steps holding on to our Pyr." "Joan, you should see this dog nursing this hurt kitten!" "I was so sick, Joan, and he never left my side..." 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
I get an email from a fellow rescuer, "Haven't heard from you in a while---you OK? You know I think of you..." 
I want to quit! 
And Then... 
A dozen rescuers step up to help, to transport, to pull, and to offer encouragement. I have friends I have never seen, but we share tears, joys, and everything in between. I am not alone. I am blest with family of the heart, my fellow Rescuers. Just days ago it was a friend who shared her wit and wisdom, whose late night email lifted my heart. Sometimes it is friends who only have time to forward you a smile. Often, it is my friends who forward me the notices of dogs in need. There are Rescuers who see a flailing transport and do everything they can do find folks to pull it together for you. Rescuers who'll overnight or foster your Dog while you seek transport. There are Rescuers not used to or comfortable with your breed, but who put aside their discomfort to help. There are Rescuers whose words play the music of our hearts. Foster homes that love your Rescue, and help to make them whole again---body and spirit. Foster homes that fit your baby in, though it may not be their breed. Rescuers whose talents and determination give us tools to help us. Rescuers we call on for help in a thousand ways, who answer us, who hear our pleas. Rescuers who are our family, our strength, our comrades in battle. I know I cannot save every Pyr in need. I know my efforts are a mere drop in a sea. I know that if I take on just one more---those I have will suffer. 
I want to quit! 
But I won't. When I feel overwhelmed, I'll stroke my Magnus's head while reading my fellow Rescuers emails. I'll cry with them, I'll laugh with them---and they will help me find the strength to go on. 
I want to quit! 
But not today. There's another email, another dog needing Rescue. 

This piece is dedicated, with love and gratitude, to all my fellow Rescuers. 
Joan 

Prayer of a Stray
Dear God please send me somebody who'll care!
I'm tired of running, sick with despair
My body is aching, it's so racked with pain
And dear God I pray as I run in the rain
That someone will love me and give me a home
A warm cozy bed and a big juicy bone
My last owner tied me all day in the yard
Sometimes with no water and God that was hard!
So I chewed my leash God; and I ran away
To rummage in garbage; to live like a stray
But now God I'm tired; and hungry and cold
And I'm oh so afraid; that I'll never grow old
They've chased me with sticks; hit me with stones
While I run the streets; just looking for bones
I'm not really bad God; please help if you can
For I have become just another "victim of man!"
I'm wormy dear God; and I'm riddled with fleas
And all I ever wanted; was an owner to please
If you find one for me God; I'll try to be good
I won't chew their shoes; and I'll do as I should
I'll love them; protect them; and try to obey
When they tell me to sit; to lie down or to stay!
I don't think I'll make it; too long on my own
Cause I'm getting so weak; and I'm oh so alone
Each night as I sleep in the bushes I cry
Cause I'm so afraid God; that I'm going to die
I've got so much love; and devotion to give
That I should be given; a new chance to live
So dear God please; oh please; answer my prayer
And send me to somebody; who will really care
That is dear God; if You're really there!

John Quealy  

May We Not Have Cruelty-Free Pet Food?

Do we need to conduct cruel experiments?

To report animal cruelty

Before you go to the pet shop to buy a dog,
go down to the pound, look in all those winsome, loving eyes,
 and choose the next one to die.   Alan L.

Tray's Poem
One by One, they pass by my cage, 
Too old, too worn, too broken, no way. 
Way past his time, he can't run and play. 
Then they shake their heads slowly and go on their way. 
A little old man, arthritic and sore, 
It seems I am not wanted anymore. 
I once had a home, I once had a bed, 
A place that was warm, and where I was fed. 
Now my muzzle is gray, and my eyes slowly fail. 
Who wants a dog so old and so frail? 
My family decided I didn't belong, 
I got in their way, my attitude was wrong. 
Whatever excuse they made in their head, 
Can't justify how they left me for dead. 
Now I sit in this cage, where day after day, 
The younger dogs get adopted away. 
When I had almost come to the end of my rope, 
You saw my face, and I finally had hope. 
You saw through the gray, and the legs bent with age, 
And felt I still had life beyond this cage. 
You took me home, gave me food and a bed, 
And shared your own pillow with my poor tired head. 
We snuggle and play, and you talk to me low, 
You love me so dearly, you want me to know. 
I may have lived most of my life with another, 
But you outshine them with a love so much stronger. 
And I promise to return all the love I can give, 
To you, my dear person, as long as I live. 
I may be with you for a week, or for years, 
We will share many smiles, you will no doubt shed tears. 
And when the time comes that God deems I must leave, 
I know you will cry and your heart, it will grieve. 
And when I arrive at the Bridge, all brand new, 
My thoughts and my heart will still be with you. 
And I will brag to all who will hear, 
Of the person who made my last days so dear. 

Leslie Whalen

Tis strange how women kneel in church & pray to God above.
Confess small sins and chant a praise, and sing that he is loved.
While coats of soft furred things upon their shoulders lie.
Of timid things, of tortured things, that took so long to die.

Chained Dog’s Plea
I wish someone would tell me
What it is that I’ve done wrong.
Why do I have to stay chained up
And left alone so long?
They seemed so glad to have me
When I came here as a pup.
There were so many things we’d do
While I was growing up.
But now the Master “hasn’t time”
The Mistress says I shed.
She doesn’t want me in the house,
Not even to be fed.
The Children never walk me.
They always say, “Not now.”
I wish that I could please them.
Won’t someone tell me how?
All I had, you see, was love.
I wish they would explain
Why they said they wanted mine,
and then left it on a chain.       

The Night Before Christmas
T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog filling their head.
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn't care about that.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free of his chain and into the trash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Claus - with eyes full of tears.
He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now painfully thin and sick..
More rapid than eagles he called the dogs name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;
"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONDER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!
Let's find this dog a home where he'll be loved by all."
I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Claus had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.
In our haste to think of the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don't give a gift, then put it on a chain.
And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight,
"You weren't given a gift! You were given a life!"

Author Unknown

Starfish
One child came upon another child on the beach one day. 
The second child was walking along, looking down, then every few feet would bend down, pick something up out of the sand, and toss it into the ocean. 
The first child asked what kind of game this was. 
The second child replied, "I'm saving starfish." 
The first child was incredulous. "Are you kidding? There are too many!
What are you going to do? Spend all day and all night out here, tossing starfish back into the ocean? 
You'll never save them all. And anyway, in the grand scheme of life, they're just starfish. It doesn't matter if they live or die." 
The second child scooped another starfish up from the sand, considered it briefly, then hurled it into the ocean. 

"It mattered to that one." 

Author Unknown

Saving one dog may not change the world but the world has surely changed for that one dog - author unknown

Bye Baby
No more lonely cold nights or hearing that I'm bad 
No more growling belly from the meals I never had. 
No more scorching sunshine with a water bowl that's dry. 
No more complaining neighbors about the noise when I cry. 
No more hearing "shut up", "get down" or "get out of here"! 
No more feeling disliked, only peace is in the air. 
Euthanasia is a blessing, though some still can't see 
why I was ever born If I weren't meant to be. 
My last day of living was the best I ever had. 
Someone held me very close, I could see she was very sad. 
I kissed the lady's face, and she hugged me as she cried. 
I wagged my tail to thank her, then I closed my eyes and died.

Written by an Animal shelter volunteer in Massena, NY  

I looked at all the caged animals in the shelter...the cast-offs of human society. I saw in their eyes love and hope, fear and dread, sadness and betrayal. And I was angry.

"God," I said, "this is terrible! Why don't you do something?" God was silent for a moment And Then He spoke softly. "I have done something," He replied. "I created you."
~Jim Willis

Sympathy sees and says "I'm Sorry"
Compassion sees and asks "How Can I Help?"

Hard Facts to Face
There are 45 cats and dogs for every person born
Only 1 out of every 10 dogs born ever find a permanent home.
Only 1 out of every 12 cats born ever find a permanent home.
800 dogs and cats are destroyed each HOUR in the U.S. because there are not enough homes for them!
Please spay and neuter your animals!

The Reason
I would have died that day if not for you
I would've given up on life if not for your kind eyes
I would've used my teeth if not for your gentle hands
I would have left this life believing that all humans don't care
Skin that isn't flea bitten
Good food and enough of it
Beds to sleep on
Someone to love me
To show me that I deserve love, because I exist

Your kind eyes, loving smile, gentle hands and big heart saved me
You saved me from the terror of the pound
Soothing away memories of my old life
You taught me what it means to be loved
I have seen you do the same for other dogs like me
I have heard you ask yourself in times of despair, why you do it
When there is no more money, no more room, no more homes
You open your heart a little bigger, stretch the money a little tighter
Make just a little more room - to save one more like me

I tell you with the gratitude and love that shines in my eyes
In the best way I know how
Reminding you why you go on trying
I am the reason
The dogs before me were the reason
As are the ones who come after
Our lives would have been wasted
Our love never given
We would die if not for you