Caveat Donor

I know the old saying is “caveat emptor” which means “buyer beware” but in this day and age, it is equally the responsibility of each of us to be sure our donations to causes we support are going to good uses, to legitimate and honorable organizations and to research before we give!

I know a lot of my readers are animal lovers, just as I am, and very committed to helping rescue lost, abandoned or mistreated pets. There are so many these days. The official word is that the economy is booming but there are certainly enclaves, industries and segments of the population that have not found this to be true. People are still losing homes, ending up on the street or moving to seek or get work. In that process, a lot of dogs and cats and a few more exotic pets are being abandoned, dumped at shelters or passed off to less than good homes.

A small circle of friends and I got involved this week in trying to rescue a young female Australian Cattle Dog, also known as ACD or Queensland Heelers. She was in a shelter in Roswell, NM which is known to be a high kill shelter and to have had a lot of problems in recent times. It’s even made the news in Albuquerque, the TV station I mainly watch. Her time was getting very short and my friend Julie in Ohio, who loves this breed especially and has adopted a series of ACDs with physical and health issues learned of her plight and called me.  

Little "Lassie"

Already having five ‘rescues’ in our home, I could not take her, so I called on another dog-loving friend and we tried to get this little girl out to safety. In that process we came up against an outfit that calls its Uncaged Paws. Supposedly they were going to take “Lassie”—but then we learned they had not done so! That got both Julie and me doing some research on this somewhat illusive and mysterious “rescue” organization.

Finally thanks to help from Southwest Collie Rescue with which Kathleen works as she has adopted two dogs through them, Lassie was removed from the shelter, passed along to Kathleen and then on to a wonderful veterinarian in Capitan, NM where she will be spayed, checked for heartworm and other problems and then go to a good forever home. We were all very grateful to have gained this happy ending. We have to use the motto of Best Friends and some other bona fide rescue groups: We can’t save them all but we will save all we can.”

But back to Uncaged Paws, here are two links where you can read for yourself why I recommend that no one do business with them or make a donation! As far as I can see they are totally bogus, almost if not actually a scam and certainly not a reliable friend for animals!  Read and draw your own conclusions!!

Irresponsible Rescuer Kelly M. Barker

http://www.responsiblerescuenetwork.org/2015/04/09/irresponsible-rescuer-kelly-m-barker/ 

Justice 4 Shady People Hiding Behind the Name of "Rescue" (Facebook page):https://www.facebook.com/Justice-4-Shady-People-Hiding-Behind-the-Name-of-Rescue-238325412858330/ 

From now on I will definitely research any rescue or animal care organization before I donate.  There are a couple of no-kill groups here in my community, one with a better reputation than the other. Kitty City and its dog branch deserve support as does Button Brand, a local vet clinic also involved in rescue. On a wider scale, I wholeheartedly support Best Friends, in Kanab Utah.

While it is partly my personal political views, I do not support PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) because of their extreme stance on a number of animal related issues. I am also very dubious about HSUS (Humane Society of the US) as they are top-heavy with high paid executives and also rather extreme.  ASPCA is on my maybe list; they have been a good organization but I feel have been taken over by some extremist elements. I will continue to research these and others.

I admit I have trouble with the notion that animals have “rights” in the same manner we higher animals do.  However our domestic animals rely on us for their needs: food, shelter, medical care, and companionship. Whether we buy, adopt or raise a companion animal, we are ethically and morally bound to provide for it once we take it into our care. There can be circumstances when a person or family truly cannot continue to care for a pet but in such cases they need to seek either a reliable friend or relative to assume their duty or select an ethical  no-kill shelter . Most communities now have one if you look!

And while I believe in rescue and adoption very deeply, to include spaying or neutering 99.9% of pet animals, I cannot go along with shutting down or regulating to death the many honest and reliable breeders. These people raise a specific type of dog for a purpose such as the Australian Shepherd, Border Collie, German Shorthair , Labrador or Alaskan Husky.  They are not “puppy mills” or contributing in any measurable way to the overpopulation of dogs and cats.

            There are many sound reasons to preserve and improve various breeds and to continue to produce them. Good breeders genetically test before breeding a pair and they do not crank out the maximum number of pups they can each year! They have clean, well kept and comfortable—for the dogs—facilities and welcome a perspective buyer to examine the place and research them! They also check buyers before releasing a pup or older dog into their care. But that is a whole other story!