Why I hate the holidays rescue rant!

[BabyReba]

So it seems that every year I do rescue, it's the same old story around the holidays. Here are a selection of goodies found in my email inbox over the past two weeks:

"We just don't have time for him anymore, we need to give him up to rescue. We really don't want to bring him to a shelter, so we need a rescue to take him."

"We are going to be away so much during the holiday season, having a dog is just holding us back. Plus, we want to have kids someday, so we'd really like for them to find a new home before then." [THIS FROM SOMEONE TRYING TO PLACE BOTH THEIR PIT BULL AND THEIR AMERICAN BULLDOG BY THE HOLIDAYS]

"I'm changing jobs after the new year, and I just won't be around as much and things are just going to be so hectic, it's not fair to the dog. So we would like to return her to you." [THIS ONE AFTER ADOPTING THE PUP FROM US OVER A YEAR AGO!]

"I think she needs room to run and would realy like to live with other dogs, plus I never took her to obedience school, so she's gotten really hard to handle. We just can't have her here when the family comes for the holidays."

"She's a great dog, but after being in the crate for 10 hours per day, she's just too crazy for us when we come home from work, so we really can't keep her anymore. It was a big mistake for us to get her."

Where do people think these dogs are going to go? Especially during the holiday season when we are ALL busy and entertaining family and traveling? People disappoint me so much. While I see the holidays as a time to splurge on my dogs and buy them gifts and feed them extra treats and take goofy pictures of them, apparently much of the rest of the world sees it as a time to dump the dog or "donate" the dog to rescue. So sad.

[violet]

People do seem to think the holidays are a good time to unload their dogs. So much for Holiday Spirit eh?

[kendall]

Guys, that is awful!! I always assumed the holidays would be a big time for adoption, not giving a dog up!
What do you tell these people? I would have a generic "this is why you suck" email ready to send right back to them. Course, I guess then they aren't so apt to work WITH you, are they?

*sigh* For everyone in rescue, I am SOOOO sorry that your holidays are made up of this poop.

[Maryellen]

Hello: You have reached 123-4567, Tender Hearts Rescue. Due to the high volume of calls we have been receiving, please listen closely to the following options and choose the one that best describes you or your situation:

Press 1 if you think we are veterinarians and want free medical advice.

Press 2 if you know we are a rescue organization but want to save money

and have us give you free, untrained medical advice anyway.

Press 3 if you make $200,000 a year but still want us to pay to spay the

"stray" in your yard (house).

Press 4 if you have a 10-year-old dog and your 15-year-old son has

suddenly become allergic and you need to find the dog a new home right away.

Press 5 if you have three dogs, had a baby and want to get rid of your

dogs because you are the only person in the world to have a baby and dogs at

the same time.

Press 6 if your dog is sick and needs a vet but you need the money for

your vacation.

Press 7 if you just got a brand new puppy and your old dog is having problems adjusting so you want to get rid of the old one right away.

Press 8 if your little puppy has grown up and is no longer small and cute

and you want to trade it in for a new model.

Press 9 if you are elderly and want to adopt a cute puppy who is not active and is going to outlive you.



Press 10 if your relative has died and you don't want to care for their elderly dog because it doesn't fit your lifestyle.



Press 11 if you are moving today and need to immediately place your 150 pound, 8-year-old dog.



Press 12 if you want an unpaid volunteer to come to your home today and

pick up the dog you no longer want.



Press 13 if you have been feeding and caring for a "stray" for the last three years, are moving and suddenly determine it's not your dog.



Press 14 if you are calling at 6 a.m. to make sure you wake me up before

I have to go to work so you can drop a dog off on your way to work.



Press 15 to leave us an anonymous garbled message, letting us know you

have left a dog in our yard in the middle of January, which is in fact,

better than just leaving the dog with no message.



Press 16 if you are going to get angry because we are not going to take your dog that you have had for fifteen years, because it is not our responsibility.



Press 17 if you are going to threaten to take your ten year old dog to be euthanized because I won't take it. You spineless jellyfish.



Press 18 if you're going to get angry because the volunteers had the audacity to go on vacation and leave the dogs in care of a trusted volunteer who is not authorized to take your personal pet.



Press 19 if you want one of our perfectly trained, housebroken, kid and

cat friendly purebred tiny dogs that we have an abundance of.



Press 20 if you want us to take your dog that has a slight aggression problem, i.e. has only bitten a few people and killed your neighbor's cats.



Press 21 if you have already called once and been told we don't take personal surrenders but thought you would get a different person this

time with a different answer.



Press 22 if you want us to use space that would go to a stray to board your personal dog while you are on vacation, free of charge, of course.



Press 23 if it is Christmas Eve or Easter morning and you want me to deliver an eight week old puppy to your house by 6:30 am before your kids wake

up.



Press 24 if you have bought your children a duckling, chick or baby bunny for Easter and it is now Christmas and no longer cute.



Press 25 if you want us to take your female dog who has already had ten litters, but we can't spay her because she is pregnant again and it is against your religion.



Press 26 if you're lying to make one of our younger volunteers feel bad

and take your personal pet off your hands.



Press 27 if your cat is biting and not using the litter box because it is

declawed, but are not willing to accept the responsibility that the cat's

behavior is altered because of your nice furniture.



Press 28 if your two year old male dog is marking all over your house but

you just haven't gotten around to having him neutered.



Press 29 if you previously had an outdoor only dog and are calling because she is "suddenly" pregnant.



Press 30 if you have done "everything" to housebreak your dog and have

had no success but you don't want to crate the dog because it is cruel.



Press 31 if you didn't listen to the message asking for an evening phone

number and you left your work number when all volunteers are also working and you are angry because no one called you back.



Press 32 if you need a puppy immediately and cannot wait because today is

your daughter's birthday and you forgot when she was born.



Press 33 if your dog's coat doesn't match your new furniture and you need

a different color or breed.



Press 34 if your new love doesn't like your dog and you are too stupid to get rid of the new friend (who will dump you in the next month anyway) instead of the dog.



Press 35 if you went through all these presses' and didn't hear enough.

This press will connect you to the sounds of tears being shed by one of

our volunteers who is holding a discarded old dog while the vet mercifully frees him from of the grief of missing his family.



WE SALUTE RESCUERS AND VOLUNTEERS!!

[GreddysAngel]

[PitBullPride]

[ammitnme]

Oh man...youve done it again.

I really admire the work you rescuer's do...it amazes me

[K]

We need a bigger thing about dont buy a pet as a present becuse all this years presents will be next years homeless shelter pets

[JCleve86]

I want to rescue as soon as I've gotten myself a home, but I don't know if I could do it...you guys are amazing. Sounds like all of those EXCUSES should really say:

"I can't keep my dog because I AM LAZY."

:wallbang: I don't know how you do it... to you!! And for those dogs.

[elegy]

really it's amazing there aren't more rescue people in jail for murder....

[Dsmman]

There should be a test to see if you are a complete dick before you are allowed to own a dog. :roll:

[violet]

:po:

really it's amazing there aren't more rescue people in jail for murder....

I am frequently thankful that the dogs I take in canot give me names and addresses.

[BabyReba]

too true, violet.

[raebo]

Now I know that getting a pet for Christmas isn't a good idea...But, we adopted Finnegan just after Christmas last year( like Dec 28). My rationale was that we were both going to be off work for the week, and had nothing much going on, so it was an ideal time to integrate her into our home.

[moongirl]

Thank you for the great post.