I was born an animal rescuer; it's truly the reason I was put on this Earth.
As a little girl, I'd try to get my mom to let me bring home every stray dog and cat in sight.
I raised kittens, dogs, a baby squirrel, a baby bunny, countless turtles. I loved every being that would let me. Back then, I remember how devastated I was the first time I realized that not everyone was like me. I witnessed a neighbor that lived behind us kick a small Dachshund and I became unhinged. I ran into the house, screaming for my mother and we called animal control.
As I've grown older, I realize just how few people here in the South actually are like me.
It’s not difficult for me to explain the way I feel to someone who doesn’t share my passion, but it's difficult for most people to understand where I'm coming from. The vast majority of people can see a dog in need, resolve to themselves that they cannot help the dog, and go about their lives as if they never saw the dog in the first place, but I stopped allowing myself to be blind to the suffering long ago. I rescue 24/7, early mornings, late nights, my state, other states, unsafe neighborhoods, etc. If there's an animal that needs me, I will be there..
I've helped placed countless animals since becoming involved in rescue and personally have adopted out around 250 animals since November 2011. I stay in contact with many of my adopters via Facebook and email and get to watch these dogs and cats grow up in a loving family.
This is what I rescue for: I get to help heal broken hearts; I get to help save dogs from ever entering a shelter and find them homes that are beyond amazing. I get to make houses feel like homes again. This isn't a job; it's my mission, my calling in life.
Rescuing animals is something that I truly know I'm good at doing and that I love doing. I know I have a lot of Facebook friends that rescue/foster, but I also have a lot of friends with "normal" lives too. For those of you that don't rescue or foster, PLEASE hug someone that does! This job is not easy, this is the hardest job I've ever chosen to do. It's relentless, the amount of animals that need help never ceases, and I constantly feel like I'm burning the candle at both ends.
People always tell me they could NEVER do what I do. That they are too sensitive, couldn't handle it. Please remember I have no special skill to separate my feelings from my rescue work, no button to push to numb my feelings. I deal with pain and loss frequently in what I do. But I have to give myself a small time to grieve and move on to save more dogs. That is the life of a rescuer.
The pain I've experienced as a rescuer can come nowhere near the joy that rescue has brought to my life. I see these animals grow, move on, and forget the horrible circumstances they came from. There's no self-pity, no resentment, and I can't help but believe that animals are so much more highly evolved than human beings. All they desire is to be loved and to be allowed to love you with all of their being.
"In rescuing animals, I lost my mind, but found my soul."
"In a world older and more complete than ours, animals move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth."
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