Many, MANY years ago, someone described me as a 'facilitator' in a conversation... I politely nodded my head and said "Thank you," but left feeling somehow it was not a compliment... At the time I was my daughter's age and was involved in doing retired Greyhound rescue...
This was before the major use of the Internet and we did it the 'old school way' - long distance phone calls, writing letters by hand, putting a $.20 stamp on the envelope and then waiting to be called with a time and place to meet a leg of the rescue train... There were organized 'trains' of folks who thought the practice of killing retired Greyhounds was barbaric... Someone would drive so far with a dog they'd begged from a track who had planned on killing it, and then meet another person somewhere along I-95 at a rest stop...
The dog would go on another leg with someone else until eventually all of the legs of the trip were completed and the dog arrived at the destination to find their furever home... Maybe the trip would be from Florida to Maine and take many days to complete, but it was saving dogs one by one...
I have never been blessed with the ownership or friendship of a Greyhound, but each time I drove a leg in the Greyhound rescue train, I was always impressed by the gentle spirit of these magnificent creatures... Somehow, sitting in the front seat of my car, I could not imagine my passenger had that kind of speed and then again, such a short life...
I remember thinking on one of those trips that by the time I was 40 years old, it would all be over and we, in this country, would not be killing healthy dogs like this... I had just seen the movie "On Golden Pond" if I remember correctly, and many of my thoughts at the time were concerning the differences between the generations of us humans... "Old school ways" and being old-fashioned was not something I wanted to be, and as with the bloom of youth, I figured I would change the world in my lifetime...
Thirty-two years later, I look back on those times and realize how truly naive I was about the ability of humans to learn from their past and improve their future...
I was reminded of these thoughts a few days ago when someone mentioned as a child their dogs were fed Skippy Dog Food and it was good enough then so good enough today (more or less)... Later that day a person came into the rescue shop and asked the best way to potty train a dog --- that shoving the dog's nose into their poop was "Just not working... I don't know why... That's how my mom house-trained all of her dogs, but it is just not working with this dog... Maybe he's mentally challenged? Is that possible?"...
As for Skippy Dog Food, it barely gets a 1-star rating from the Dog Food Advisors... Which is a bit better than Pedigree, which doesn't even qualify for a star rating at all! Unless you are buying Pedigree Plus Healthy and even then it is only has 2-star rating... (BTW, if you are interested in the best wet dog foods, Dog Food Advisors does have a list)... I hadn't heard Skippy dog food mentioned in a LONG time, so it did jar some memories... I didn't think it was even still on the market and being made (hence my checking it out at one of my favorite websites - Dog Food Advisors)...
As for potty training a dog by shoving his nose into his poop? Thankfully in my lifetime positive reinforcement techniques for dog training has come into its own... I am surprised that folks still believe that shoving the dog's most sensitized part of their body into feces is effective...
As I tried to explain this to the woman without success at the rescue shop, I finally made this comparison... "Let me take all of your clothes off from the waist down and I will sit you in a bowl of ice cubes and water... Tell me how you would feel about me and this process... What would you learn from it?".... (smile... aren't I bad! LOL)...
Well, it got my point across if even in a graphic way!... Her look of shock followed by watching her brain process it all was priceless... "Hmmm, yes, I can see where doing this is not teaching him to not poop in the house... "... ::shaking my head here::... What people do know, remember from their past and use in their everyday life without success or change is scary, folks!...
Sometimes it takes graphic representations (visuals or sparking personal feelings of uncomfortableness) to get a message across... As for the Greyhound rescue movement?... Sadly, not much has changed in all of these years - this article is from 2009 and it describes 19,000 Greyhounds still losing their lives at retirement...
Years ago, I was pretty active in the fur trade in this part of the world - passing off dog fur as other kinds of fur being sold at upscale boutiques for enormous prices... And people still willing to buy them, even after knowing it was FiFi or Fido they were wearing...
Meat trade or fur trade - it is always sloughed off by folks as being 'cultural' and as long as we don't seen these wire cages being pedaled down our neighborhood on a bicycle by someone one, society will turn its head away and pretend that is is not going on --- just like we do regarding the vast explosion and overpopulation of unwanted pets that fill our shelters and rescues to the brim...
Once again this morning I am reminded that the more things change, the more they remain the same in oh, so many ways... Facilitator or not, I haven't been effective at all in changing the world... And not even a small part of it, despite devoting my life to the premise that we should not be killing healthy, adoptable dogs...
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| Two 15-year old Poms dumped at Carson Shelter Female on the right was euthanized yesterday |
It wasn't that long ago that mentally challenged individuals underwent hysterectomies or castrations because it was believed this was an effective way to do the right thing for the overall well being of our communities and society...
Just because things 'used' to be done one way, that doesn't mean they should continue to be considered the 'right way'... That point was drawn home for me yet again this morning when I saw an owner had dumped their two 15-year old elderly Poms in a high kill shelter... (Note: update on the two Poms - I've been told the female was killed by the shelter due to mass she had and it is thought the male on the left made it out via a rescue, but both messages are unconfirmed at this time).
Yep, the more things changed, the more they remain the same...
Just my opinions and thoughts here, for whatever they are worth...
Linda, Director, TLC
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