THE FINAL WORD: PET EDITION
Where Have All of the Heroes Gone?
Roughly 15 years ago, my wife and I started an animal advocacy organization called Rock & Rawhide. Its mission was to increase the level of adoptions of dogs and cats in shelters and rescues through promotion, distraction therapy and community outreach. We spent over a decade working night and day with the rescue and advocacy communities to get more animals into loving and responsible homes.. We worked with ACC, rescues, City Hall, the City Council and more to help ACC achieve a 92% live release rate. Through promotions, media partnerships and events, we helped save over 100,000 animals. We were called “heroes.” And while I may not agree with that moniker for something that should be a given in terms of people helping animals, it took a lot of “heroes” to make that happen. Today, I don’t see any heroes. I only see snake oil salespeople.
Back then, we leveraged our relationships with ABC, NBC, CBS, Elvis Duran & The Morning Show, iHeartRadio, Petco Foundation and Petco stores to promote adoption in ways they never had before. We worked with countless rescues to host events, promotions, and to drive more awareness of the need for animal adoption and fostering. And we succeeded given the live release rate at ACC, the levels of donations being made to rescues and shelters, as well as the general positive sentiment for adoption had skyrocketed.
As the pandemic waned on, we closed Rock & Rawhide because we felt our mission had been accomplished when shelters and rescues across the country were emptied out. Sadly, we had too much faith in humanity and took our eye off the ball. Then the pandemic ended, return rates skyrocketed while adoption rates stayed low and the current population overflow crisis began.
Before the pandemic, you had rescue organizations whose founders embezzled millions of dollars for their own personal expenses such as backyard renovations, breast enhancement surgery, facial reconstruction, mortgage payments and more. We even saw one rescue founder who bought a BMW with the proceeds from her non-profit. All done under the guise of “rescue expenses.” These are the people who would drive up pledges for dogs in urgent need (ie – dogs who were on the euthanization list wherein they would need tens of thousands of dollars to cover surgical costs, etc), collect the money and then leave the dog at the shelter, or even worse, take the dog and dump it at a boarding facility; effectively taking that dog from one prison to another. That is not rescue. That is fraud. And it is still happening. These people are not rescuers. They are not “heroes.” They are criminals.
The real “heroes” back then were our rescue organization partners (the honest ones), shelter staff and volunteers, as well as supporters of the community who were in it for the right reasons – to rescue. Today, while fraud has been curtailed somewhat because of the aftereffects of the pandemic and inflation (ie – people donating less, more paperwork required by the IRS and state, etc.), there are still significant challenges in the community. Those heroes I mentioned earlier have become few and far between in a community that was once known for its cohesion – a community once known to go to the ends of the Earth to increase adoptions.
When you think about animal rescue and advocacy, you think about warm, cuddly pets; kumbaya and zen moments; as well as groups of people surrounded by these beautiful animals. Unfortunately, all of that has changed to the point that I no longer recognize so much of the community after having spent 40 years in it. We have an opportunity to change the paradigm back to that inclusive, loving community we once were versus the rat’s nest of social climbers and self-aggrandizing wannabes that have polluted it.
There is only one organization I can think of that bridges the divide between recue, shelter, community and adopters; Best Friends Animal Society. And their “No-Kill Nation” goal in 2025 is achievable.
THE FINAL WORD: Only together can the animal rescue and advocacy communities affect positive change. Only together can we make a difference and, as Best Friends puts it, “Save Them All.” Please join me in supporting Best Friends Animal Society’s No-Kill Nation goal in 2025 at bestfriends.org.
Have a Safe, Healthy and Happy PAWliday Season!!!
