This past week, I was part of a group effort to rescue a very young puppy from an unfortunate circumstance. Though the attempt was not ultimately successful, due to an uncooperative foster, the effort put forth by members of this webboard was valiant, tireless and generous.

Though the "rehoming fee" was exhorbitant, funds were raised by a small group to cover it, as well as fuel costs to cover a transport of over four hundred miles and return trips for the drivers. The funds were allocated and in place for swift action. With less than 24 hours to fill an open relay leg in the transport, an open appeal was made to the general forum, and the call was answered by yet another gracious member of this community. Long distance calls were made, hundreds of pm's were exchanged, work was set aside, and sleep was lost.

I am proud to be a part of this webboard. I am honored to be acquainted, although only in cyberspace, with the other members of the group that I speak of. Mostly, I am in awe of how a common love, in this case, our dogs, can inspire such telling acts of compassion, generosity, kindness, and heroism.

I agree with everything you say here Duane, I have massive respect for so many members, the common sense and genuine compassion shown on here gives me faith that there are some decent human beings in the world.

I tip my hat to everyone involved in the quest to rescue that darling pup, so many good and kind hearts for one wee dog.

Good on all of you.

WTF??? Uncooperative?? REHOMING FEE?? You HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Way to be charitable and caring. Phoney.

Other then 30mins of asking around, what efforts were made to find the owner of this puppy? Picking up strays and then trying to sell them is not a legit form of rescue. If you want to be an honest do-gooder, the pup should go to a real shelter or rescue that would follow the law.

Hey Duane, there was a "stray" 65 Mustang parked down the street the other day. Can you use one? I asked the neighbor, its not his.

- self deleted -







Trying to stay focused on the goodness of those who tried so damned hard.


Edited by Connie Sutherland (02/10/2013 12:16 PM)
Edit reason: deleted

Pm for you Duane.

Good for everyone that donated their time and resources. I saw that post and wished I still knew people in Houston from the days that I lived there (if that was the one).

If there is ever a need for transport, etc. in the Michigan area, I would be happy to help out!

That is terrific of you, Lee.

Each time this board has mobilized to meet a need (four or five times in recent years, different needs each time), help has been forthcoming.

It makes me both grateful and proud.

The puppy in question was found on the road. He was crawling with fleas and engorged ticks. He was thin, very young and obviously distressed. I carried him door to door through the entire neighborhood inquiring who might be his owner. Should I have then put him back in the street to wait for a car to end his short life and walked away? Is a shelter already overloaded with unwanted dogs the only “qualified “way to show care to a lost or abandoned animal?

Is asking a re-homing fee wrong? There are expenses involved in animal care. And if offered free, a dog is often taken home by someone unwilling to invest in a pet. I asked the same amount that other un-papered German shepherd puppies are selling for in our area. To my knowledge a shelter or rescue asks a fee for an animal to help to with care/medical and to ensure a better home. I volunteered at two rescues in the area for a time in the past and would even though they were no kill I would never consider them for finding great homes. You have no knowledge of what animals I have cared for, what care they have needed, what situations they came from, or what problems they have had. You don’t know the people they went on to live with – on a handful of posts, a 3 minute phone call, and a few pm’s you base all your assumptions.

I was totally cooperative with the people from Leerburg who tried to arrange transport for this pup. I do in fact appreciate the effort that was put forth to arrange for this puppy to get a good and lasting home. But now I find myself sorry to have even mentioned it on the forum. I see that because I did not have a credit card or a PayPal account of my own, I am now ridiculed and labeled as an “uncooperative foster” and a thief. Is it a law that to care for animals in need one must have a credit card?

BTW I now learn 5 days later that people say it is because I would not give a receipt. I NEVER said I would not give one. I told what has been my custom in the past and at that was told that it was better not to pursue things further. End of conversation.

It is unlikely that I will participate or encourage anyone else to participate in your forums again; as it seems that you are very exclusive and judgmental about people that don’t do things in a certain way that you judge to be “right”. I doubt that this puppy or the many other animals I have worked with over the years care whether I have a credit card or not.
I do want to thank a few of you for your helpful comments over the years-Connie and Barbara come to mind the most. I would not have known of Marker Training or a lot of other dog related things had it not been for my finding of Leerburg. Zuki, Keiko, Bunny, Quisquis, and all the other animals and dogs I come in contact with thank Leerburg for that.