TLC as a rescue, celebrated its 4th year in June... We started out as holding mobile adoptions on Saturdays in Moorpark and 20 months ago, we took over the old pet store location in the Simi Valley Town Center after the previous rescue folded... While I used to get just a weekly dose of the general public, now I get at least 5-6 days of it and I have found that despite the vast amount of patience I have with dogs, my capacity to deal with the rude, general public has diminished rapidly...
I was thinking about all of this as I was moving laundry from the washer to the dryer this morning about 3AM... I normally get up early, but because our washer at the rescue shop broke down last week (and although practically new, the folks who sold us the warranties on the machines now refuse to honor them), all of us TLC volunteers have been pitching in to stay ahead of the vast amount of laundry we generate....
Sunday morning at 6AM, I was at the local launderomat doing 15 loads and Sunday evening, I brought home 14 loads... Because my home washer and dryer is half the size of the rescue shop's, it takes me twice as long to do the same amount... So I have been cranking laundry here at the house, in between getting this done and doing that for TLC the past two days...
Every day of my life is like planning a military invasion... I get up early, immediately spring into the mental list of what needs to be done, how can I get it done was quickly and efficiently as possible, and so on... But doing laundry requires little mental time, so it tends to be a thinking kind of time for me as I fold fleece and towels this morning...
In my mind, I am rolling through a recent incident at the rescue shop - a highly sought-after little itty bitty had numerous interested parties and one of the potential adopters failed to show up as agreed upon with her 6-year old so we could judge the energy level around a 2.5 pound Chihuahua... Waiting for two days, we contacted the next waiting application who drove in immediately and adopted the itty bitty... The next day, the mom showed up with her son and through a fit inside the rescue shop --- in front of her children and about 15 other people who were looking at our rescued dogs and puppies...
'Threw a fit' as in made threatening statements in a VERY loud tone and after asking her to leave the third time, I had to advise the lady if she did not leave, I would be faced to call security and have her escorted out of the facility... Even today (three days later), I am amazed at the lack of tact, manners and craziness that transpired... There is almost a feeling of entitlement in some of the general public - they believe they don't have to follow rules or the rules somehow don't apply to them... I can't begin to tell you the things we have heard from the general public - most of the time you just have to shake your head and wonder what kind of upbringing they had...
Two weeks ago we had three youngsters walk into the rescue shop (ages 9 to 12) and upon entering, one said in a loud voice, "THIS PLACE SMELLS LIKE SHIT!"... HUH?... If my momma had heard that come out of my mouth at that age, I would have had my mouth washed out with Tide and dish detergent!... We asked them to leave and a few minutes later, in comes the mom who starts arguing with a volunteer about asking the kids to leave... Stating there was 'no way her child would have made that statement'... Now, why would we lie about something like that?... What purpose would it serve?... We are trying to get dogs and puppies adopted here!
Recently a mom came in with her two small kids right before closing, and the child started projectile vomiting and moving forward until she had covered a 24' square space, littered with vomit and pieces of coleslaw, her dinner, etc... The mom did nothing but console her daughter - didn't apologize, didn't try to stop the child from screaming, crying or continuing to move forward and spew out more vomit... The mom didn't even bothering to help clean up... Three times I had to ask her to pick up her daughter and take her out of the rescue shop so we could clean up the mess... It was obvious she did not want to pick up her daughter and get vomit all over herself, but in the meantime, we volunteers are grabbing towels, mops, buckets, bleach, etc...
And this is what we volunteers face day in and day out, just trying to save dogs' lives... Lives that are discarded into shelters to become 'someone else's problem' to fix, take care or try and save...
I noticed that as I am filing the spay forms, I have now processed 55 of these since July 9th... And already this morning, I have had to turn down 14 dogs and puppies in incoming emails that we do not have room for and are going to die today if we can't take them...There is just TOO darn much to do and too few of us who care about killing healthy, adoptable dogs and puppies!!
As I sit down at my desk, I am disgusted with the human species and am disappointed that I am still having to save dogs and puppies 32 years later from needless death... I am disappointed that many parents are not providing good role models for their children, and others in the general public that consistently exhibit rude and unacceptable behavior in the rescue shop --- such as OMG barking at our dogs (and wonder then why we ask them to leave???)... Did they not receive good training and politeness from their parents???
My list of things to get done today is long and as usual, I probably will not get 50% of it done... Even if the general public cannot pitch in and support No-Kill, the very least they can do is to practice good manners... I was reminded this morning during the folding of laundry, hearing my momma say in my head, "Linda Anne, you can't fix stupid", just as clear as if she was standing there aside of me... If you can't fix stupid, what do you do?
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