Why Did I Get Into Rescue?

Today, the cat volunteer coordinator for Lost Dog and Cat Rescue asked the cat volunteers how and why they got into animal rescue. Here was my answer. I think some of this has been said here before, but hey, since I already wrote it....

Why did I get into animal rescue? A whole bunch of reasons. Starting with an opportunity to be around dogs again. I grew up with dogs, but my lifestyle just doesn't work for dogs. Working 10-12 hours a day just doesn't work with dogs. And until about 10 years ago, I was living in condos and apartments. I know lots of people who have dogs in such environments, but I just couldn't imagine doing it. But I also can't imagine life without a pet, so that's why I have cats.

But I missed dogs. There's a certain irrepressible quality about most dogs that cats just don't have. Bounding and circling from excitement are not qualities one usually sees in cats either.

I also wanted to find a way to give back, to volunteer. I've never been much of a joiner, but I do believe in giving of oneself. Especially as I got older. So I looked into volunteer opportunities, but many wanted a set commitment. Given that schedule I mentioned for work, and given that my work often involves working weekends as well as workdays, I couldn't commit to a particular schedule for volunteer work. Or I could have said I'd do it, and then had to break that schedule with some frequency. That didn't seem like a very nice thing to do. So I need volunteer work that involved a flexible schedule. Not easy to find!

As I said, I have cats. I have long been a PetSmart shopper. I saw various rescue organizations in my travels to pick up cat food and litter. I started looking into rescue volunteering. I had rescued my cats through a rescue organization, but the ladies who run that organization are a little loopy (so I won't say which one). As with some rescue organizations, they seem to have gone a little too far in the direction of protecting their rescues from the world. While I value animals and life in general, I have a practical streak a mile wide. And I tend to look at people as basically good, not as out to hurt animals.

In the process of researching animal rescue organizations, I ran across Lost Dog and Cat Rescue. I liked that they helped both dogs and cats. And not a particular breed, but all kinds of rescues. I liked that I could sign up as often or infrequently as my schedule allowed. I liked that the interviewers cared about making sure that the adoption was going to be a success, for both sides of the equation - adopter and adoptee. And that that sometimes meant allowing someone to adopt under not-quite-ideal circumstances but because the adopters ultimately had the right quality for that adoptee, whatever that intangible quality might be.

So I signed up to "play with dogs" as I called it. Every week, I'd get the email about volunteering and be able to make a determination whether that particular weekend was going to work out for me. After a few months, I occasionally functioned as a volunteer captain - training new volunteers and generally helping out with the logistics of the whole thing. I was impressed with Barb, Pam, Paul, etc. Their commitment was/is amazing, but they are practical too. They work with the adopters to find the right combination of dog and new owner.

Then one of the rescue emails said LDCRF was looking for kitten fosters. By this time, I was in a townhouse and had some space to be able to foster kittens in the spring when there are so many. That first year, I asked Dot a lot questions. I had only two kittens. The first time I dropped them off to potentially be adopted, I wasn't sure if I was going to be happy or heartbroken if they actually got adopted. That's the challenge of being a foster. Loving your foster without becoming so attached that you become a foster failure. That first time when I left my kittens, I volunteered as a dog handler. The next time I brought them, I stayed with them during the adoption event and got to participate in the interview when one of them got adopted. It helped with the separation knowing that the kitten was going to a great home. And so I became a cat volunteer while I had my fosters.

I've since fostered kittens four times. And become a cat volunteer and eventually a cat adoption interviewer. I still only volunteer about once a month, but I now know pretty much all of the rescue leaders. It's a great organization doing great things. And I'm proud to play my part.