Reaching out

[violet]

I have often come across people that cannot fathom the energy I put into animal welfare. They absolutely do not understand my dedication. They will say things like "well yeah..they shouldn't be treated badly but they are just animals", And they are right..they ARE just animals. But we are their guardians. We are the only chance they have to have good lives. I have also had people tell me that animals do not know the difference. Again, they are right. The problem is we DO know.

Before someone jumps all over me for saying animals do not know the difference, let me explain what I mean. An animal that spends its entire life with an abusive owner does not know there is a different way to live..thing is.. children raised by abusive parents do not realize there is another way to live either. Goodness knows that does NOT make it ok. That is what I mean by they do no know the difference. And that most certainly does not mean they do not feel pain, sadness, or fear. It just means that to them those are normal feelings. I don't know about the rest of you..but I find something or someone never hoping to feel something other than bad things worse than someone going through something bad but having hope it will improve.

I have tried for years to reach a few people in my life that simply do NOT understand. I was raised in a family that would get rid of pets that committed typical animals acts such as going to the bathroom in the house or chewing things up. They also occasionally got rid of old pets when new ones were brought in. Could explain my passion to be the exact opposite. It has taken years but my Mother now lectures people about the pet overpopulation crisis.
One of my brothers now owns a spayed AKC rotty and several rescued pets. I am still working on the rest of the crew. With all the frustration at least I know I am making SOME progress.

The best way I have found to reach people is to start gently. Don't necessarily jump all over someone for breeding or keeping a dog out on a chain. All you succeed in doing is making people angry and anger causes people to close their minds. Then what have you done? You have lost an opportunity.

People do need to know how many dogs and cats are dying every day. People need to know animals should be afforded quality lives. People should know animals need regular vet care and grooming. But we can not tell them with loud voices. We have to tell them with steady voices.

[WannaWhitePitty]

I'd love to see this post posted on the PF boards!!!

May I cross post it?

[violet]

sure

[PitBullPride]

I agree!!!! If you come at people to strongly or snotty, they will refuse to listen to you alot of times.....You really do have to be careful how you approach people in these situations. It does make a difference. Believe it or not, some people actually don't know better.

[aaron kahn]

again V- good job!

[pibblegrl]

I hear you, Violet.
I get asked the same thing from time to time...I am not an 'established' or 'official' rescue yet but a lot of my money goes towards helping pit bull or rescueing...my boyfriend asked me too when we first got together
He was like 'you are on a very limited income, why do you put so much of it into pit bulls when you don't get anything in return?'
I told him what I get in return more than makes up for it, it may not be monetary but it makes me feel like I have a purpose in life, I told him I would also like to foster children.
I agree with you, kids and animals don't know what it is like to live in a happy home if they have never been in one, right now I can change that for animals. I, too, have converted quite a lot of people to rescue....one of my hobbies is going to pet stores and educating the clients on what they are about to buy. I go in armed with info and shelter phone numbers. One family even put the puppy they were going to buy back and took my entire list of shelter numbers with them. That was so awesome. I love that feeling I get when I convince someone that the shelters are the way to go..
I also like to educate people about training and behavior to help prevent the animal being sent away due to 'bad behavior'...I helped my aunt when she was ready to have her dog pts a couple of years ago....she had an older dog....kinda dominant from years of being spoiled, health wasn't that great...I gave her some advice for his diet, and put her on a training program....it worked out very nicely and she kept the dog until he died recently...now she tells everyone about me.... i love that I was able to keep that one dog from dying an unneccessary death and in the process helped someone to understand dogs better...
I know I'm rambling...I'm done now...

[ammitnme]

This is so true....when we were having our BSL hearings at the City Hall...we had one owner who kept getting in the council members faces, losing his cool at the false info the council would bring in to the meetings, threatening to "sue for the invasion of his constitutional rights", all the while, his dog is chewing through her 6 ft. rope teather in his unfenced back yard and running all over town... . Every report, every time I presented any information to the council...I did it in a matter of fact way, no emotion, just presented the facts. It did not make any difference...all the council saw was this big guy ranting and raving, and being threatening. All the stats he presented were right on the money...his information all correct, but his approach was horrendous...and we now have our BSL in place, thank you Mr. Responsible Pet Owner!

You are very correct in this...when I go to City Administrators offices with info packets...I try to be as respectful and helpful as I can be. I learned early on that in all reality these people are trying to do the right thing for their communities, and because of their misinformation they have the tendancy to choose one way to solve a "problem" and all the ranting, raving and arm throwing in the world wont change it. Volunteering to help them meet their goals of safety in the community is much more effective.

Great post Violet