We think its best to be prepared when you rescue a dog, and that makes us look like fools? Suzzie, it was a good hearted thing you did to save that old dog, and its great that it worked out that your parents were able to take him in. But you were lucky. What would you have done if your mom hadn't wanted Bentley?
It is very hard to find a home for an old dog. Just look at www.hart90.com - one of the local rescues here. They have quite a few older dogs who have been on their website forever. HART can pull those old dogs because they have a system of foster homes. FOHA, the rescue I volunteer for, seldom pulls older dogs because we don't have as many foster homes available, and they tend not to do well at our shelter. Right now we have Braveheart, a 10 yr old sheltie mix who is being fostered by the people who live on the property. We also have an old lab mix who we are looking for a foster for because he has heartworms and ear infections; its been three weeks so far and no luck yet.
Nobody is saying that you did a bad thing, and nobody is saying that dog should have died, but me, Bahamutt and a few others DO think that when people pull dogs from shelters that they should BE PREPARED for the care that the dog may need.
I look at craigslist all the time, I look at my local shelters all the time, and I see the poor old dogs listed who were given up for no good reason, and I am sad, but I don't pull them because I do not have the money or the time to devote to them right now. I do what I can, and that is volunteering at FOHA walking dogs, petting kitties and sometimes helping at adoption events. Someday I will save lives like you have, but I know that right now I am not prepared to do this. We must do what we are financially and emotionally prepared to do, otherwise how much can you truly help if you pull animals on impulse and simply hope that you will get lucky?
It is very hard to find a home for an old dog. Just look at www.hart90.com - one of the local rescues here. They have quite a few older dogs who have been on their website forever. HART can pull those old dogs because they have a system of foster homes. FOHA, the rescue I volunteer for, seldom pulls older dogs because we don't have as many foster homes available, and they tend not to do well at our shelter. Right now we have Braveheart, a 10 yr old sheltie mix who is being fostered by the people who live on the property. We also have an old lab mix who we are looking for a foster for because he has heartworms and ear infections; its been three weeks so far and no luck yet.
Nobody is saying that you did a bad thing, and nobody is saying that dog should have died, but me, Bahamutt and a few others DO think that when people pull dogs from shelters that they should BE PREPARED for the care that the dog may need.
I look at craigslist all the time, I look at my local shelters all the time, and I see the poor old dogs listed who were given up for no good reason, and I am sad, but I don't pull them because I do not have the money or the time to devote to them right now. I do what I can, and that is volunteering at FOHA walking dogs, petting kitties and sometimes helping at adoption events. Someday I will save lives like you have, but I know that right now I am not prepared to do this. We must do what we are financially and emotionally prepared to do, otherwise how much can you truly help if you pull animals on impulse and simply hope that you will get lucky?
