The Blisters of Dog Rescue

We’ve all heard the analogy of life—a few steps forward, a few back. For some, it is three forward, one back. With others, it feels life one forward, three back.


Dog rescue is no different.


Another maxim is centered on the laws of thermodynamics. In short, because of entropy, everything is moving to a close. We are all moving to an end. Life will one day be over. This is true of life in general, and life as a whole one day.

Pretty bleak…but reality.

Those who work with Children’s Hospital and dog rescue see the beginning stages of life reversed. Most can accept an older dog that has lived a normal life enter its final stage, but a puppy!

This is why I call all red listed dogs rescued from shelters those that would be killed, NOT put to sleep, put down or put to rest. You put to rest an eleven year old dog, not a one month old puppy!

When I walk my dogs, I meet a lot of people and I ALWAYS say, ‘kill shelter’ or ‘this dog was going to be killed’. It’s a strong word leading to more explanation.

I am always willing to explain!

Zoey was going to be killed because she had mange. MANGE!


You know what it took to cure her mange? Hold on…this is going to get intense…a bottle of shampoo 2-3x a week!

She then got parvo and should have died but it was caught early thanks to the rescue leader.

That meant a trip to the vet for four hours during the week day, medications administered three times a day (four of them), a vet bill for over $200, and a careful watch of her progress.

After parvo was a cold and fleas. Next she will be fixed, have stitches pulled and before adoption.

She will soon be turned over to her new home and the owner will pick her up and see a healthy dog, removed from all the BLISTERS that preceded her.

The reason I go into such detail with my posts and show so many photos is for one main reason. It is to show the elaboration of the dog’s life--to communicate a personality—to show the joy the animal can bring to others and it’s unique stamp that it has against all others.

In one word DIGNITY.

I have come to really understand the following. How a society (each individual) treats those who cannot defend themselves is the true mark on it’s (their) character.

Gandhi told us, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progression can be determined by the way its animals are treated.”

The God of the Bible speaks often of protecting the widows and the orphans.

Brownie has been a challenge to all. As I type, her support is 85% complete to meet the goal of $2400.

Brownie is one of the saddest cases we’ve seen. It has challenged many to ask what a dog’s life is worth.

One close person in my life, when shown the Brownie story on the blog immediately reacted by saying, “Oh geez, give the money to another dog” interpreted as saying, “kill it” justifying the Machiavellian philosophy of life in ‘the end justifies the means’.

The greatest blister of dog rescue for me is NOT the mange, parvo, or fleas…it is people who don’t care.

Be it the neighbor who said, “This isn’t a dog park!” when Zoey walked on his lawn, someone close who said, “Geez, give the money to another dog”, or the person who loves what I do until it affects them and the change of heart comes out.

And I regretfully say I was one of them for most of my life! Not in action, but in non-action, by sitting on the sidelines of life…doing nothing!

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