There is no doubt about it, animal lovers are a passionate group of people. Unfortunately, this leads some of them to let their emotions, rather than reason, rule. Here are some thoughts (or tips if you prefer) about this.
· When you rant in a comment posted to a news article or Facebook page, you detract from the issue at hand ... helping the animal in need.
· When you rant in a comment posted to a news article or Facebook page, the person you are ranting at will not see it, so what’s the point?
· Name calling and profanity does nothing to help the situation, and may in fact make it worse. Again, the person you are cursing at and/or calling less-than-polite names won’t see it.
· Threatening physical harm to a person, be it the alleged abuser or an elected official, absolutely does more harm than good. It also has the potential to land you in jail.
· Posting personal information, such as address or phone number, of an alleged abuser can land you in jail, especially if you include inflammatory comments with it.
· Writing to elected officials, police departments, etc can help … IF it is done politely and with thought.
· Sending rants and other impolite writings will not help in any way. They will be deleted and ignored. They also tend to destroy the credibility of animal advocates as a whole.
· Do not spread rumors or unverified information. It will create confusion as well as harming the effort to help the animal in need.
I understand the need to rant about many of the situations that animal lovers and advocates come across multiple times a day. BUT keep your rant to yourself:
· When you write that message, email or letter, be polite and courteous. State your concern, argument and/or plea with reason and verified facts.
· When you write that comment to a news article or Facebook page, make it one of love and/or support.
· Remember that sometimes it takes time to gather information and verify it. Be patient while waiting for updates to be posted.
· Remember that often numerous comments are being posted every minute, and a lot of scrolling takes place. Have the patience and take the time to scroll through several pages of postings. The question you want to ask and/or the information you are looking for may already be there.
Animal lovers and advocates can do a lot of good if their ‘efforts’ are done correctly and with reason.
We are the voices for these animals, and when we speak for them, not only must we make ourselves heard; we must say it in a way where people will listen.
If we truly want change, then we must tell it like it is. I will not sugar coat in my effort to inform, educate and raise awareness in support of companion animals.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Please Help Sweet Bella
I received this email from a transport coordinator I worked with a couple of months ago. If you can donate, please do. Please share Bella’s story.
Thank you.
****
This is Bella, a 4 yr old smooth St. Bernard who had been used for breeding her whole life. Last Thursday her previous owner who had her, her whole life decided he didn't want her anymore. She ended up in the hands of a teenager who when he got her home was informed "She can't stay here" by his mother. Bella had to spend her first night away from the only home she has ever known, even though it was a terrible place, but she had to spend it outside on a back deck.
A fellow animal lover got wind of her situation and went to retrieve her, got her a bath and right off to the vet, here is her diagnosis.... Bella's left eye had ulceration on it possibly from a blunt trauma, luckily she could slightly see out of it but her pressures was not good, she has been on antibiotic drops in her eye and it is clearing up the whiteness is going away and the prognosis is a little more positive. Her nails had to be trimmed back 1/2 inch on all of them(she had to be sedated for that.) Her ears have multiple types of infections going on and she has a giant hematoma on her left ear, She is on drops for her ear infections. She needs an antifungal bath every 3-4 days and has taken 4 capstars in the past week because her skin is in such bad shape frontline wont work.
So we found a wonderful foster Mom (Rose) who has fallen in love with her and informed the rescue that she would adopt her. Of course when all was taken care of, Bella went in to get spayed today, we found out that she is also heartworm positive positive. No surgery, no vaccs yet and another enormous vet bill. Rose is a wonderful adopter but cannot afford HW treatment and the good samaritan who got her out of this situation has already spent $500 on her vet bills. We are looking to raise money for her HW treatment and hopefully reimburse the good samaritan who so generously donated the money so far for her vetting. Please help if you can. Bella has come such a long way just in the last week to a better life, heartworm can't stop her now.
Susan Turturice
OTRA Co-Owner/OTRA Co-Mod-MI/OTRA Verified Transport Coordinator
Co-Founder/Transport Coordinator-Something Special Castaways Rescue
www.petfinder.com/shelters/MO499.html
E-mail: miskeira@sbcglobal.net
Cell: 313-806-2033
Thursday, August 11, 2011
MEMPHIS RESCUE GROUP ON VERGE OF CLOSING DOORS NEEDS URGENT HELP
I received the email below via a Yahoo Group I'm a member of. I made the decision to share (after asking permission!!) with my fans/followers because this is a part of what animal advocacy is about. I could only post the animals in need of rescue. I could only post news articles and videos. I could only post animals and news from within the state I live in. I choose to do more.
Please share this note far and wide. If a rescue closes down, it is the animals that suffer. The animals of Memphis suffer enough as it is. Remember, this is the city where a dog starved to death in MAS, where Kapone went missing after being picked up by Animal Control, where dogfighting is a tremendous problem, where little Yogi was stolen from his backyard. Paws NE works with the Tipton County Animal Shelter in Brighton, rather than MAS but that does not mean the need is any less.
So donate if you can. If you cannot donate, share the note. Let's help a rescue continue to do the work it was created to do.
Thank you.
Carol Schatz
Subject: MEMPHIS RESCUE GROUP ON VERGE OF CLOSING DOORS NEEDS URGENT HELP! PLEASE READ & RESPOND QUICKLY :(
From: tparris2005@aol.com
Date: Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:47:59 -0400
*EVEN IF YOU CAN'T DONATE, YOU CAN FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW AND EVERYONE IN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS BOOK! THIS MATTER IS EXTREMELY URGENT!*
Here I sit at the computer, it's almost midnight as I'm starting this email, and I don't even know where to begin. My heart is very heavy and my mind is a blur of thoughts and emotions that I just can't even comprehend right now. All day every day for the last several days, i've been going through the necessary motions at work and at home but my mind and heart are elsewhere.
I'm sick in my soul because the one thing that I've been most passionate about for the past four and a half years (since April 2006) is about to exist no longer unless strangers and friends, alike, can save us. I hate so much to do this but I have no choice but to turn to animal lovers in the community and beg and plead for your help. Our rescue group is in the
worst financial condition it has ever been in and the reality is that we probably will not be able to pull out of it this time -- not without a miracle :(
I know that the economy has tremendously hurt so many people and ruined so many lives and, as we all know, the beloved pets of these people are the ones who suffer and are left behind when things get tough. The rescue groups try to come in and pick up the pieces for those animals and help them along to better futures. Adoptions are very slow right now due to the economy so our foster homes are just packed with too many foster dogs and no donations coming in. Because of the dire financial mess we are in right now, we have not been able to take any dogs from anywhere in over two months.
The rescue group that I co-founded more than four years ago (Tipton Treasures/PAWS NE, Inc.) is finally on its last leg and, if we can't pull off a miracle somehow, we will have to "permanently close our doors." We are out of money and we owe thousands of dollars in vet bills, we have to feed, provide medication, frontline and interceptor for approximately 150 foster dogs at all times. Adoptions are at an all-time low (most likely due to the economy) and we're having to turn away animals right and left that have nowhere to go. We have consistenly rescued 80% of our dogs from the Tipton County Animal Shelter in Brighton, TN and, since we have no funds lately and are so deeply in debt at this point, we have not been able to go to the shelter to pull any dogs in over two months. We all know what that means for all those little faces at the Tipton Shelter every week, most of whom don't have a prayer.
We have also always consistently taken just about any injured dog we were called about and have taken many that were strays in Tipton and Shelby Counties over the years. We have successfully treated, rehabilitated, and rehomed more than 3,000 dogs from the West Tennessee area alone in over four years. I'm feeling right now like all the blood, sweat and tears (literally) has been for nothing. We have so many wonderful foster homes and volunteers in New England and West TN who have worked so hard to build this charitable organization up and now it's all about to come crashing down around all of us.
I personally get calls every day about a dog that needs to be rescued but my hands are tied all because of money. Our rescue group American Express card is maxed out and we have no other options. Our dogs all originate in West Tennessee and so we're asking our own community to try to dig deep into your pockets and couch cushions and donate to save us. I know so well that money is very tight for everybody these days but I promise that NO AMOUNT IS TOO SMALL -- $1 or $10!!!! Or anything in between :(It seems that about once a year at least I have to turn to fellow animal lovers in our immediate community and farther to ask for donations to keep our rescue doors open and it is so humiliating to me. But I'll do it for the dogs.
Our rescue group is Tipton Treasures/PAWS New England, Inc. and we are a 501c3 public charity publicly recognized by the IRS. Take a look at our website at ww.pawsnewengland.com to read and learn about our group and all the wonderful fairytale-ending stories we have on there. You can also see pictures of me and our other volunteers on the volunteer tab. The heartworm treatments and vet bills that we need to pay for our group (again, our credit card is maxed out) are in Memphis and Collierville so we need for the funds to be donated here in West TN so that we can pay these expenses directly to the providers. Anyone who needs a tax receipt can request one and I will happily provide it to you.
Donations of any amount can be mailed to
TIPTON TREASURES/PAWS NE
c/o Traci Wood, President
7948 Quito Road
Millington, TN 38053
Checks can be made out to Tipton Treasures/PAWS NE
OR
paid via Paypal at www.paypal.com to the account of tparris2005@aol.com -- please note in the remittance box on Paypal if it is a donation to save Tipton Treasures
Please help us continue our very important work so that we can get back to the business of
taking care of the Tipton Shelter dogs very quickly :( In the meantime, *_please look at the
Tipton County Shelter's petfinder site and go save just one of those poor dogs! The shelter
staff is very rescue friendly and will do just about anything to make it possible for a dog or
cat to be able to leave that place. The Shelter phone is (901) 837-5919 and the staff are
Jeana, Sharon, Christy, Shane and Terry.
Again, bless you for even reading this email -- please please help us :(
Traci Wood
tparris2005@aol.com
901-238-1724
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