Rescue is hard.
Seeing the condition that some of these animals come in, it wears on you. Knowing that there are people out there causing suffering to innocent animals gets difficult to deal with. The emotions you go through as a rescuer can be exhausting, the feelings of love, care, and the compassion that I want to show to these animals, coupled with the sadness, and sometimes even pure rage that I feel towards people who harmed or wronged them. To feel so many different feelings all at the same time can be exhausting.
Yesterday I went to the local shelter prepared to pick up a friendly, young, healthy dog, and find him a good home.
After I arrived I glanced at my email and saw a plea for a severely emaciated stray dog.
I looked at her photos, bracing myself for what I knew would likely be horrific.
I saw her face and I knew immediately I could help her. I felt in my soul that I needed to, and I felt the connection with her sad eyes. I texted my friend and my husband the pictures “this one is going to be tough case, should I?”, “of course” they respond. I don’t know what I would do without my team and their support.
I asked to meet her since I was already there and was brought back to her kennel. Immediately, this frail 23lb dog approached me at the gate, and she licked my hand. She could hardly stand because of how weak she was, falling over after taking a few steps, but she came to me immediately to show me affection. Her sad eyes stared up at me, almost pleading with me to love her. It took all of my strength to not break in that kennel. I asked to chat with the vet about her condition, and then I agreed to take her home. The loving shelter staff helped her out to my car. I’m confident they saved her life by providing her the care she needed the last few days, but she’s nowhere near out of the woods. Her body is urine stained and covered in pressure sores. She is weak, she needs help to get around, but all she wants is to love you. She is very anemic, consistent with her body’s starved condition. I didn’t know her story, but I wanted to change it, I so badly wanted to make it better. To the dog that has been suffering that immediately showed me love, I wanted to be able to show her kindness and love. I got in the car and immediately started receiving messages. I was told the person that found her, found her on the side of the road in a Rubbermaid tote, my heart broke even more. I was hoping she had just been lost, a stray that couldn’t find food, a dog that just had a rough go of it on her own. I was trying hard not to think of the suffering that I knew in my heart she had likely endured, but to know someone had placed her there broke me. She was discarded on the side of the road like trash, but she wanted to love me, a total stranger. We do not deserve animals. We just don’t. I don’t know her story, but I’m going to do my best to make it better.
She is on medication and a slow refeeding diet so her body doesn’t go into shock from suddenly being fed. We will be getting her medical care to make sure there is no medical reason for her condition, but the shelter vet feels it is purely starvation and neglect based off of her examination.
For now, she has a comfy bed, she has nutritious food, and she has love. We will go slow and carry her where she needs to go, until she is strong enough to go on her own. We will give everything we can to her, and then at the end of this, hopefully, if she recovers, we will give her away with a piece of my heart still with her.
Rescue is so fucking hard.
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