Examiner
| February 16, 2012
The sadness of knowing
Penny Eims
Editorial
As most of my regular readers know, I like to use photos from Petfinder.com when I do not have a photo for a story.
My hope in using these photos is that it will bring a touch of added publicity to a homeless dog who is waiting for their own family.
Earlier this week, I had one of those moments where the gravity of a situation hits you.
I know that there are thousands upon thousands of dogs waiting for a home, but when I linked up to Petfinder to find a photo, I came upon one rescue’s listings.
There were literally pages of dogs on this one rescue’s list.
From one rescue.
These are the dogs who are “safe”.
When we see these continual pleas for a rescue to step forward and save a death row dog, the harsh reality is that many of the rescues have stepped up, time and again, in months (or years) past and those dogs who have been saved are still there.
Still waiting.
There are so many dogs available for adoption – it is overwhelming – discouraging – devastating.
It is one of those things that you “know”, but sometimes you forget. I “know” there are thousands of dogs waiting – but for some reason, on that day, the enormity of the situation really struck me.
I had a thought in the midst of my sorrow.
My first thought was “I pray my readers circulate the dog rescue stories as heavily as they do the ‘dog will die’ stories”.
I hope that my readers realize that safe is just the first piece of the puzzle.
My second thought was an idea. We are a passionate group here – like minded animal lovers who want to see every dog in a loving home.
But we are in a fish bowl – it is hard to get beyond our little circle.
When we have a dog saved story (such as Brownie the Chocolate Labrador and Juno, the German shepherd) – it would be fabulous if readers who are local to the area that the dogs are located (in their new rescue) would print the story out and take it somewhere to be posted.
Grocery stores, pet stores, veterinary offices – somewhere beyond our happy circle of readers.
Somewhere that local residents can see the amazing dogs who are available for adoption right in their own town.
I’m not sure how to change the desperate situation that dogs face – spay/neuter and adopt are the two obvious choices.
But somehow we have to reach beyond our circle if we are to make a change.
The beautiful dog featured in the photo which accompanies this story is Traveler. He is available through Labs and Buddies in California.
http://www.examiner.com/dogs-in-national/the-sadness-of-knowing