Denied Adoption, I Took a Dark Path

Kiki: Grunge era fashion victim
with stray dog in Puerto Rico.

Even in the 90's, tough adoption standards made me skirt ethics.

I must confess that when I tried to adopt my first 2 dogs from Arizona shelters I was soundly rejected both times.  Granted, I was in my early twenties and had dyed my hair black at the time, so it’s possible the staff thought I had priorities other than being a dog baby mom, but I was happily involved with an animal rights organization, worked in a doggy daycare/boarding facility and had grown up not only with dogs, but with an amazing variety of animals, some of which were brought to us by neighbors because they were sick, lost or injured.  I considered myself rather a catch when it came to animal companionship.  And yet here I was being told an apartment was inappropriate for the dog.  So my chosen baby was returned to her 4x4 prison cell until someone with a palatial mansion happened by and wanted her.  It made me terribly sad and made little sense.

Pop and the pooch.  A teensy bit of mis-
representation with the best of intentions.

So I sent my Marine father in to adopt her.  He was a very noble, law abiding guy, but like John Wayne, happily broke rules that were unjust or just plain silly.  He walked out of the shelter carrying my Joey like a baby.  Drill sergeants look so cute with puppies.

Turns out a dog will do alright in an apartment if you walk them, make sure all their needs are met, and love, love, love them.

Then came Elli.  I went to a different shelter to adopt her.  By now I had moved into a house with a fenced yard.  The shelter where Elli resided would be happy to know this, but since I was kind of a doggy kidnapper on the lam, I did not report that I had changed from an apartment and could now better accommodate a dog, nor did I indicate that I had ever set foot in a shelter for any reason ever.  I presented as a fresh faced ingénue about to embark on her first adventure into dog adoption because I was utterly paranoid. What if they found out about me and confiscated Joey!?  I lied about having another dog because I could feel the heat, if you know what I mean, but my confidence that I was no longer in an apartment emboldened me.  When I told them proudly about my beautiful grassy yard, they asked how tall the fence was.  At the time this threw me for a bit of a loop.  Was it a trick? I hesitated then told them it was about 4 feet.  Surely this was an acceptable height. 

Joey and Elli.  They are no longer with me,
but I will love them forever.

I was rejected yet again.  I don’t think they had an actual buzzer or that “Wah, waaaaah” sound to accompany my humiliation, but I didn’t let it deter me.  I looked into Elli’s eyes and silently promised her that while I was going to walk away, a quiet man with a crew cut was coming back for her very, very soon.

The funny part is, when my dear dad went to adopt Elli, a boxer mix puppy with tiny little feet, they were filming a promotional video for the shelter.  They filmed the whole adoption process with my dad, the dog rescue equivalent of the guy under-aged kids pay to go into a convenience store to buy them beer.  He carried little Elli out much like he had carried Joey, her little paws clutching his strong neck.  Well now they could absolutely and without question ID our illicit adoption scam ring.  I remember when he brought her to my house I was waiting anxiously on the porch.  He walked up to me and handed over the warm little bundle.  I thanked him profusely and we

Elli: Little dog, big attitude.

laughed a bit, as criminals tend to do when they get away with it.  As he walked away, back to his International Scout (an SUV before SUVs) she watched him go with a sad expression.

My dad didn’t live too much longer after that.  She turned out to be a tough guy just like him.

Turns out that in reality, my fence was a perfectly fine height.  Luckily the two puppies got along splendidly – which was truly a relief because that part of the plan was left entirely to fate, my biggest potential error in the whole adoption.

Joey and Elli in their couch potato golden years.

Joey and Elli lived 14 more years each, passing away within less than a year of one another.  The silence of a home once occupied by dogs that is suddenly bereft of their joyful noise is deafening.

They were my buddies and I know I made mistakes with them along the way...starting with their improper adoption, but they had a lot of love, a lot of fun, and a little gas sometimes.  I hope I am lucky enough to always have a couple of dogs kicking me in the abdomen while I'm sleeping.  I think if I have to go into assisted living I will just ask to be boarded at a dog kennel.

There are times when the standards are so high for adopting animals that very good people are weeded out.  It's a loss for the animal, the potential adopter, as well as the shelter.  So many of them are underfunded and full to capacity.  The staff in many of these places are volunteers or employees who are probably overworked and underpaid, but are called to save animals and do it with passion. Should they relax their standards?  I don't think so - not at all.  I will gladly abide home visits and lengthy applications because I know that this process makes it more likely that animals are going to people who will treat them properly - hopefully like family.  Urine samples?  Yes.  Need some blood?  Fine.

Joey's toddler years.  Playing with an orange.

I have read of people outraged that they were rejected, who then turned to a breeder or
pet shop to purchase a dog or other animal.  It is in every way a tragedy.  It saddens me deeply and it's a flaw in our system, but I truly cannot think of a better way to screen adopters.  I wish there was a scanner that could be swept over a person to instantly reveal their character in a tidy printout. Are there overzealous rescuers who are jaded enough that they make it impossible for loving adopters to walk away with an animal in need? Of course, but we can't risk the alternative of handing over animals with little more than the a hope they'll be safe.

-Kiki Nusbaumer

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The Week of April 12 – April 17

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Lil Bub makes appearance at Denver County Fair to help raise funds for animals

 

Last male white rhino protected by armed guards

Go ahead, try to poach this rhino.

 

Solving the mystery of dog domestication

In a nursing home or underneath the porch, In the US we dispose of the elderly

Here in the United States we don’t do as well by our elderly as China, Japan, Korea, France or the Mediterranean and Latin cultures.  We are a youth centered society, relegating our elderly to a lonely, isolated existence or hiding them away in nursing homes.  They get little respect and little support.  Rather than placing them on a pedestal or considering them the core of the family unit, we as Americans often consider them a burden.

Thor and his dad.
Thor was 11 when
he was adopted.

We do, however, treat our companion animals quite well.  Well many of them.  The rest we euthanize because there are just so many in the system they don’t fit in the shelters.  These unfortunates are not adopted.  They are put down by the millions.  As Marleen Oetz from LNF Dog Rescue says, “Half of them don’t make it out alive.”

We really like puppies and kittens.

Today I read about some elderly dogs.  They are treated much the same way as elderly Americans.

Chelo at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue
(Photo by Muttville). www.muttville.org

Chelo

In an article in Dog Heirs online, Chelo, a senior Pomeranian, was surrendered by his “family.”  The reason: Too old.  The article goes on to say he lived outside 24 hours a day, underneath the porch, utterly alone day in and day out.  And the capper is that they shamelessly informed the shelter staff at Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco, CA, where they dumped the dog, that they “got a newer dog to replace,” like he’s a light bulb or something.  They actually wrote on the surrender paperwork, probably read it back to themselves (yes they can read and write) but felt no guilt or shame, no desire to pretend to be decent humans by lying and saying something- ANYTHING- besides “Too old. Got a newer dog to replace.”  I think our shelter system should have a black list shared among them and when creatures like this come in to dispose of the inconvenient little life they had a whim for and then lost interest, they get on the list and they no longer have access to living beings as property ever again.  I can think of an appropriate name for the list.

Chelo has since been adopted and has now begun his happy life with a loving family.

Baus at www.socalbulldogrescue.org (Photo
by Southern California Bulldog Rescue)

Baus

I also read on the Deaf Dogs Rock Facebook page about Baus.  He’s a ten and a half year old bulldog.  He was surrendered to Southern California Bulldog Rescue because he was “Old and smells.”  His neglect was so thorough that he has cherry eye in both eyes and other eye maladies which have brought him to near blindness, severe dental issues, and ear infections that have rendered him deaf.  He smells because he has been allowed to fall apart piece by piece.  His new caregiver says, “He wants nothing yet gives everything he has to you. I love kissing his face. And his smelly breath from his rotten teeth is just the cologne of a tender old man to me.”

Baus is currently in foster care and is available for adoption.  And he will be adopted, I have no doubt.  Under the post one person commented, “Can’t wait ‘til his ex owners get old and smell.”  And they will, I have no doubt.

A violent end

According to Dr. Jared Diamond, UCLA professor of geography and physiology, traditional Nomadic tribes sometimes had to abandon their elderly on treacherous journeys.  Aché Indians who were plagued with famine assigned young men to essentially assassinate the elderly with an axe, spear or the practice of burying them alive.  No doubt this was a situation in which sacrificing the one for the many was a necessary evil, but burying them alive?  One can’t help but think the youngsters who used this technique for culling the group shouldn’t be given responsibility for a pet. 

Human vs Canine

As I have grown older (I am not yet at an age where the tribe would leave me alone on a desert trail to fend for myself or stick me in a nursing home), my philosophy and attitude toward dogs has evolved in such a way that it may be subject to ridicule by some pragmatics in our society.  When my dog passed away I kept the extent of my grief largely

Ruby, forever young, died suddenly
from liver failure at 8 years old.

to myself, aware that some of my friends and even family would think to themselves, it’s not a child after all.  It’s just a dog.  No, she was not quite a child.  It’s difficult to define how I relate to my companion dogs.  I don’t try much to compare dogs with human children.  Not really less than or more than.  Equal to?  In some ways that feels like comparing apples to oranges.  Yes human children probably pee in the living room quite often, but do they steal your underwear and eat the crotch out of it?  Probably not.  Can your human children join sports teams?  Yes.  But can they catch a tennis ball in their mouth?  Not likely.  And kids always laugh when they pass gas.  My dogs don’t even care.

At the end of the day there are two sides to the story of the abandoned elderly dog.  There are those who cause suffering and those who rescue.  I think Anne Frank said it best:

“In spite of everything I still believe people are really good at heart.”

But maybe dogs are just a tiny bit better.

-Kiki Nusbaumer

http://theweek.com/articles/462230/how-elderly-are-treated-around-world

http://www.dogheirs.com/tamara/posts/5250-update-on-neglected-senior-dog-deemed-too-old-by-former-owners-looking-for-a-new-home

http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/jared-diamond-on-aging-150571

www.facebook.com/deafdogsrock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ach%C3%A9_people

Who's News?

Who’s News?

Little bites of it.  The Week of March 15 - 20.

Elderly couple reunited with their dog after they desperately had to surrender him

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Woman saves dog thrown from truck on I-435 Police Search

Follow Up!Two arrested in investigation of dog ties to railroad tracks because she wouldn’t fight “I’m not going to say I have the perfect boys...”  Says their mother, who will support them 100%.  And there you have it.

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Chick and Chihuahua buds at beach

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March 8-14

A smattering of Weekly Animal Headlines 

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Self Reflection After Rescue Trip to NYC Animal Care & Control

 

Crufts Murder Mystery

Golden Retrievers Take Care of Human for Two Days After Her Fall

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Pit Shot and Tied to Railroad Tracks for being too sweet

Does Being Vegan Really Help Animals?

Doggy squeeze. He's OK!

Firefighters Rescue Dog With Jaws of Life 

 

Kate Upton Uses Star Power and Baseball to Get Dogs Adopted

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Pet Store Cruelty Charges

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What We Do At Who Rescued Who

Did you rescue?  Were you rescued?  Probably both.

You’ve probably seen the magnet on a car.  Maybe you thought for a moment about just what it was saying, that small slogan with such a big meaning.

Who Rescued Who?® is a re-brand for a company called Imagine This.  It’s a company that has the audacity to imagine a world in which all homeless animals are adopted and euthanasia is a thing of the past.  They went a little further and considered the impact that adoption has on the adopter, or rescuer.  The rescued becoming the rescuer.  They knew right away they had stumbled into the ultimate symbiosis; a mutually beneficial relationship more powerful than the relationship between the humble little shrimp and the goby fish.  The shrimp and the goby live together in a burrow made by the shrimp, but not rent free, no indeed, for the shrimp is nearly blind.  When danger threatens, the little goby touches the shrimp with his tail.  He is essentially the shrimp’s seeing-eye goby.  The goby didn’t ask the shrimp if he could shack up with him.  It just happened.  The shrimp was probably so excited that first time the goby gave him a little tap with his tail when a predator came swimming around.  He had just figured the goby would eat a lot of his food and leave dirty dishes in the sink. You didn’t tell me you’d do that, thought the shrimp.  You rescued me.

But I digress.

Everyone who has adopted an animal from a rescue group or shelter knows the feeling.  You rescued an animal.  You have saved the life of an innocent being and at the same time provided a much-needed service to your community.  But the love you get back is so much greater than you had ever imagined possible.  Your life is altered by the new family member you have brought home.  My own dogs are adopted from Virginia rescue organizations FURS and Angels of Assisi (working with Deaf Dogs Rock).

I am rescued by the experience.  On the surface, no one may have noticed that they rescued me.  They are by no means Lassie.  Lassie would not have eaten my television remote.  But when I open the front door of my home after a day of work, they leap and dance, kissing my face and crying with joy as if I had been out to sea for weeks, months even.  They plunge their faces into my briefcase, certain I work at a beef jerky factory.  Each day is a celebration.  The first greeting in the morning feels like Christmas, and like the sea anemone and the clownfish, when night falls I wrap my tentacles around them as we drift off to sleep. (The clownfish eats the critters that are dangerous to the anemone and in turn the anemone protects the clownfish with its stinging cells in symbiotic bliss.  Don’t ask me the additional benefit reaped by the anemone – you’ll have to Google it).  They may not know if I was in mourning, or stressed, or waiting on test results.  It’s pure, unconditional love they hurl at me, and it is scientifically proven to keep me healthier.  And it’s not meted out in little doses when they feel like it.  They can be asleep and they are still keeping my stress levels down, my heart healthier, my state of mind more peaceful.  Who really rescued who?

Imagine This Company has been manufacturing Who Rescued Who?®branded items for years. They have helped with the fundraising efforts of thousands of rescue groups around the country. In addition to Who Rescued Who® merchandise, an amazing collection of car decals and magnets, jewelry, clothing, beautiful pet urns and more are available for purchase at www.imaginethiscompany.com

And then there’s the TV show.

Reality TV That Matters

Who Rescued Who?® is reality television that matters.  It showcases the profound impact a rescued animal has on the individual or family who adopted him. Visit ahttp://www.rescuedwho.org/video.php to see a sample video to get the gist.  We will bring you moving stories from across the country about the flipside of animal adoption; the young man bullied at school who finds a friend in formerly homeless cat; the elderly man who lost his wife and can’t face the remainder of his life alone, until he adopts a hound whose companionship gives him the strength to go on.  Some stories will be small and some will be large.  We want to hear them and then we want to share them with the world.

Share your story.  Your story can make things happen.  We may publish it on our social media sites, share it on our website or maybe even put it on TV (we are working on that, do you know a guy?).  Have you rescued?  Have you been rescued?