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THE
OFFICIAL VERDICT IS IN.
GUILTY!!!
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Yes, we are all guilty of not doing enough
and not
Embracing changes that could benefit the
animals.
Co-authored by Randy Warner and Mary Ultz,
Humane Educator City of Huntsville
To answer the question, I would say
an emphatic YES!! There is no other group of
people who devote more time, effort,
compassion or personal finances into a job
or hobby than do most rescuers. But,
educating just one family at a time, as
opposed to 50 families at a time is
obviously not as productive. And lets face
it. Trying to convince an adult to change
their ways of handling and caring for their
pets is about as successful as convincing
your spouse you are ‘right’ during an
argument.
Rescuers are concerned with education, they
just don’t know it.
Should Rescuers be considered humane
educators as well?
They ARE! Sometimes they just don’t know it.
They speak from the front lines of the dog
and cat rescue battles. Rescuers have the
most, as well as the best, information
regarding pets and their unique stories,
along with the reasons why....
Rescue is a passion-driven field. Logic
and business sense are frequently put on
hold because some little angel needs some
extra care today. I mean, it's not like your
profit margins are going to be factored by
investors on Monday, right?
Now, I'm quite sure that accomplishing an
education effort takes different strategies
than what most of the public assumes, but I
believe it can be done. Not everyone will
agree, not everyone will wish to
participate, but at the very least, nearly
everyone can read this and think about it.
From 1985 ‘til now I’ve done rescue
primarily for Dalmatians—and others when
needed. I know how difficult it is, how
expensive it is, to what extent you can be
drawn into an effort that never seems to
end.
It's the ''never seems to end'' part that I
want to ask YOU about. I'm addressing this
to all those who devote their valuable and
wonderful time and assets toward saving
dogs' lives, the rescuer. I have a
challenge for you…
I’d like to suggest that you give 20% of
your time, efforts and money to getting a
strong and substantial humane education
program into your area schools. I do not
mean to infer that your present efforts are
not necessary or important. I know it is
crucial to so many animals’ lives to
continue what you’re doing.
But, that being said, if you ONLY do
rescue, you are simply making it easier for
those who are borderline about keeping their
pets, and you are also assuring that your
children’s generation and your
grandchildren’s generation will be forced to
do the same level of rescue as you do now.
You
must do everything you can to educate this
younger group of people before they head
down the very same path as their parents.
Each and every one of you has the knowledge,
experience, compassion and everything else
needed to make a HUGE difference in the next
generation!!! You can't do it by saying "I
don't have time" or offering other excuses.
Spending 100% of your available time
rescuing simply puts all future dogs in
jeopardy, because you did NOT do enough to
resolve the underlying problems for the
future. You will continue to clean up the
mess after yesterday’s parade. I would hope
that you would rather see the front of the
horse once in a while.
If you are willing to work toward this
momentous effort, I don’t want you to be
overwhelmed. Try 5% per year for
humane education over the next five years
and increase accordingly. Some of you are
not comfortable as public speakers. If that
is the case, consider recruiting a friend or
neighbor who supports your efforts and wants
to do more. Many schools (even in this
economy) have ''speaker'' funds and will
write you a check for $100 as you leave. You
could bring in as much as $500/week for 5
hours’ work. We all know how helpful money
is in our pocket. Why not earn money for
our rescue endeavors while we spread the
message to make rescue unnecessary? As a
rescuer, you can send information to schools
of your choice and follow up to see which
class got that information.
What if you spent only one hour a weekend
handing out information to the public?
Minimal cost for copies, countless contacts
to pet owners!
If you have a website, place some
information there as well. One more link
about the overpopulation and how people can
help end it will not take too much effort,
but will save lives in the end! Everything
I have on my site is for public use. The
more people that check out my site, the more
their awareness and information levels
increase, thus they act more responsibly. If
you don’t have the time for another page,
PUT A LINK TO MY PAGE ON YOUR PAGE!
Everything on my site will resound loudly in
the ears of anyone who has helped with
rescue and listening to the idiots make up
excuses for these poor innocent pets.
Some
principals tell me that I’m not needed at
their school, because most of their students
already have pets. WELL, A BIG STUPID DUH
TO THEM!! But once I’m invited into a
school, you would not believe the impact
that my 45-minute program has on these young
minds. I take all five of my dogs: 2 dals,
(one deaf) a coyote, a pit bull and a
beagle-basset mix. My presentation is blunt,
direct, fun, AND VERY INFORMATIVE. I barely
mention what they think they'll hear. When
we depart, each face looks so much different
from when we first arrived. It’s amazing.
The kids are motivated to form a humane
education club or at least take on a year
long project to accomplish something to help
animals. Amazingly, teachers and staff tell
me how much even they learned and then thank
me.
You need to be well versed in supportive
information to check all claims, suggestions
and rules enforced in contracts. I'll bet
every rescuer out there knows exactly what
I'm talking about.
I
just hope that some of you see that we all
have room for growth, change and expansion
of our duties. If we are creative, we can
accomplish so much more. If only 20% of the
rescuers who read this decide to do
SOMETHING, that would be over a thousand
people. Now, a thousand people visiting
schools just 3 times a year is 3,000 MORE
classrooms visited. 3,000 classrooms this
year with 40 students each is 120,000
EDUCATED youth who will not likely need to
services of rescuers or animal control
agencies except for adoptions. Then, I've
surpassed my goal considerably!!
For all those who say 'we can't' for
whatever reason, would you rather be part of
the Rescue
Janitorial staff than the Engineering or
Research Departments who will be a vital
part of the solution?
When you pass on, can you guarantee that
someone similar will step into your shoes
and take over with the same fervor and
compassion to save the dogs of tomorrow??
Wouldn't you like to try and save some of
them NOW while you can? With every good
presentation you give, you are likely to
save 10-50 dogs depending on the number of
ears listening. And it only takes an hour
and maybe $15. (gas, 50 copies and lunch at
McDonalds on the way home)
CAN YOU
MEET THE CHALLENGE OF EDUCATION TO CREATE
PROBLEM RESOLUTION?
I
would love nothing more than NOT to do
rescue because it is not necessary. Until
then, I will continue along my path of
education for solution. I choose to be
pro-active to end overpopulation, not just
re-active to current demands.
We also welcome any and all creative and
successful projects you may be aware of to
put on the site and share with others.
WORK SMART, NOT HARD
I
would love nothing more than NOT to do
rescue because it is not necessary. Until
then, I will continue along my path of
education for solution. I choose to be
pro-active to end overpopulation, not just
re-active to current demands.
“I
am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do
everything, but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything, I will
not refuse to do something that I can do.”
Edward Everett Hale, 1794 –1865, American
Orator and Statesman
Anyone interested in gaining materials for
humane education, strategies for gaining
access to schools (which will become the
most challenging part of this) topics to
discuss, whether to bring dogs along, etc.
can email
21stcares@citlink.net. You will be
provided with any and all information we can
offer to get your questions answered and
help you successfully present these points
and reach your goals. No charge for any
service.
We also welcome any and all creative and
successful projects you may be aware of to
put on the site and share with others.
WORK SMART, NOT HARD |
