Why Am I Here, and What Am I Going to Do About It?

Originally posted on my Facebook page 6/20/11.  I am posting it here so that if you have not visited me on Facebook, you will have a feel for what this is all about.

I created APAA after more than a week of pensive thinking, but without giving it a whole lot of thought.  My heart was heavy from all the postings about animals in need, news stories, and the like.  My bout of thinking was brought about by a Pit Bull I met at my local humane society.  The initial result was my I Have a Dream note originally posted under my personal profile, and a copy resides in APAA’s note section.

I spent Friday, June 17th, putting APAA’s page together in-between taking care of our pack and other things.  I was so intent on getting this page put together, I didn’t stop to think about what its purpose and goals were.  I tossed together a quick “About” and “Description”:

About

A place of networking for animal welfare, rescue & advocacy.

Description 

My goal is for APAA to be available to ALL rescuers and animal advocates needing a place to promote their notices for animals in need, transports, events, articles, and more. I want APAA to be a place of information and sharing for anyone who cares about animal welfare.

There is nothing wrong with either my about or description on the face of it.  However, they are very broad, and over the past few days, I realized:

1.    There is no way for me to keep up with every posting from every animal welfare page I like.

2.    There are already plenty of crossposters who share and spread the word.

3.    Because of #2, many posts show up multiple times in news feeds as people share.

4.    That I need to be more focused if I am going to truly be effective as an advocate.

This is not to say that crossposting and sharing is not important because it is.  Shared posts have brought awareness to issues; resulted in animals being rescued, fostered or adopted; and have brought attention to news articles, websites and blogs with information.

Each animal advocate has to make a decision in regards to which direction their advocacy will take.  Some will volunteer with local shelters and/or rescues.  Some will crosspost and share.  Some will educate.  Some will work on improving animal welfare legislation and/or shelters in their state.  Some will run rescues or sanctuaries.  Some will donate money as they are able.

There is no way one person can do every possible thing as an advocate.  Each possible avenue of advocacy takes time and effort, which must be balanced with home, family, and work.

Since writing I Have a Dream, I have been giving thought to that dream, as well as to what may be going on at my local shelter.  I will admit that I have many things I would like to address.

I have been asking myself how I can best serve my desire to be an animal advocate.  Part of that is asking myself what I do best.  But I also need to be able to give time to our pack, my family and home, myself, and to the tiny, new business I am trying to get going.  This means that I can’t spend all day on the computer every day.  Maybe some days depending on what needs to be done, but definitely not every day.  And it is so easy to spend all day on the computer trying to keep up with all the animal welfare posts and sharing.  I don’t even want to count the number of articles, blogs, notes, etc on my “need to read” list.

So it has become clear to me that I need to become focused, to take my advocacy in a direction that I (and my family) can live with, as well as meshing my skills/abilities, advocacy desires, and my dream.

Skills / Abilities

·         Research

·         Writing

·         Teaching

·         Crafting

·         Logic, thinking and reasoning

·         Idea generation and bouncing

·         And probably more that I may or may not be able to put to use

Advocacy Desires (aka Goals)

Raise awareness AND educate regarding various animal welfare issues including, but not limited to:

·         Breed specific legislation

·         Responsible and appropriate animal welfare legislation

·         Animal abuse and cruelty

·         Spay/Neuter

·         Shelter Reform, including no-kill communities

·         Make monetary donations to rescues and animal welfare organizations

·         To be a voice for the animals

·         To volunteer as I am able

To actively work toward the above when and how I am able:

·         Letters and emails to elected officials

·         Notes here on this page; I may start a blog for articles.

·         Perhaps eventually offering outreach education programs

·         Selling items I make to raise money for animal welfare

·         Helping transport animals, working events, or volunteer work I can do from home

Advocacy Dream

To create a dog sanctuary as “roughed out” in my I Have a Dream note.  Most of my advocacy desires are a part of my dream.  So by working on the desires I listed above, I also work on my dream.  While I may never be able to create the sanctuary, elements of it will live through my advocacy.

To become focused and to carry out my advocacy desires means redefining what APAA is about:

·         It is about animal welfare and advocacy.

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·         It is available to anyone who cares about animals and their welfare.

·         It is not a place to crosspost animals in need.  There are plenty of other pages where this can be done much more effectively, and is a part of those pages’ purpose.  If you need ideas of where, please look through my list of likes.

·         It is a place where rescues and other animal welfare organizations can send me event information, and I will add it to my calendar.

·         It is a place of education and awareness concerning animal welfare, including pictures, videos, notes, articles, and the like.

·         It is a place to discuss animal welfare issues.  I’ve installed the Facebook Discussion app for this purpose.  It doesn’t mean you can’t comment on anything; it is more to be able to discuss something without it becoming lost in the page scroll. 

None of this is intended to be any sort of affront to any animal advocate.  But I’ve realized that if I don’t place some limitations to the page, and if I don’t become focused, there’s no point in APAA.  I cannot do it all.  I must make choices in order to not only achieve my goals, but to also honor and respect my other responsibilities.

Thank you for understanding.