A question for you

The other day I received an email from a woman who was extremely upset about the post about Bruno. She thought that we were horrible for leaving Bruno's friend behind and would have preferred to not have read that story. It has left a terrible mark on her that she can't seem to shake. Firstly, I would like to thank all of you because we did raise enough money to rescue Bruno's friend when we come across him again. Secondly, I think I explained it in that post but would like to reiterate how we actually do regret leaving his friend behind, but we made what was a split second decision in a situation where we were unsure who was watching, and whether we would get in trouble by a local or not. I would also like to reiterate that his friend was not the least bit upset that we took Bruno. He was just thrilled to be untied from Bruno. He did not even look back at us as we drove away. I write this blog to give readers a glimpse into what we do on a daily basis. Animal rescue is not always a pretty thing. Decisions have to be made on who to rescue. We encounter dozens of dogs on a daily basis. Unfortunately, we have to make our decisions on who we feel is the most in need and who we know we will be able to place in a foster home, since we do not have a shelter.

My question is, as the reader, how heavy do you want this blog to read. I write this blog for you, so I want it to be something that you will continue to read in order to relay to you what it is we do. However, I do not want to turn people away by talking about things that are too hard to read. I know what it is like to go to bed and have an image or a thought in my head and not be able to get rid of it. That is one of the reasons that I do not post the super graphic pictures of these dogs. I do not want to see that, so I am pretty sure that the readers of this blog do not. The last thing I want to do is offend you. We do have happy stories, and I try to post them too, but for whatever reason, I get all fired up with writing about the insane, sad and tragic. We are human, and we make mistakes. I have never thought about trying to hide those mistakes from you. My intentions with the blog are to share the real stuff with you, our blunders, mistakes and all. Please share with me your thoughts on what you think of my posts so far and if they are too difficult for you to read. I would genuinely love to hear your opinions. Thank you.

The Dilemma

When we go to East St. Louis, just about everyday, there seems like there is a dog in need of being rescued. Just two days ago, Lucky looked like he had a broken leg. We were going to put a plea out to pull him, but it seems to be miraculously healed now. And then, yesterday, Hank had a terrible puncture wound on his neck.

The dilemma comes from a few angles. First, we have to ask ourselves, do we have the money? Usually the answer is no. Next we have to find out if we can get someone to foster, which is no small task, especially for adult dogs who have lived on the streets all of their lives. I have said before that there are times where I take pictures of a dog that I really want to pull, come home, post pictures, write up a story and never find him again. That is heartbreaking. Which leads us to today's dilemma.

If you watch the video below, you will see one of the strangest things I have seen so far in East St. Louis. These two dogs were linked together with a short leash. What?! How long had they been like that? They were both very underweight, so I would imagine that it had been a while. Two dogs cannot hunt if they are tied together. As we pulled closer, PJ exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! it's Bruno!" She then went on to explain that Bruno was someone's puppy about four years ago who she vaccinated and had neutered for him. She also gave Bruno his monthly heartguard. PJ was smitten with Bruno. One day, about three years ago, Bruno disappeared. He was gone for quite a few weeks when PJ found him and brought him back home. About two weeks later, Bruno disappeared for good. Or so she thought.

This was two and a half years ago! PJ could not believe her eyes. Would she ever see Bruno again if she did not take him now? What if whoever tied him to this other dog came along and did it again? PJ and I know that per the rules of our rescue, we are not supposed to pull unless we have all of our ducks in a row. That is unless it is an emergency. Was this an emergency? And then, there is the question, how can we just take one? It is heart wrenching to have to leave any dog on the streets, much less to choose between two that have been tied together for who knows how long. But, alas, we had to make a decision. And quite honestly, we had to do it fast, because who really knows who might be watching and what kind of trouble we will run into if someone caught us removing the leash from these dogs, much less taking one home with us. My heart broke as we pulled away, leaving the other dog alone without his buddy. I would love to rescue him too if we ever see him again (and have the money and a foster).

All of that being said, we are in a little bit of trouble for pulling Bruno. And when I say trouble, I just mean that I feel really bad because we are trying so hard to get this rescue to the point where we can buy a shelter so that we don't have these dilemmas anymore. When we pull dogs that were not planned for, our shelter plan is set back that much further. Please help us sponsor Bruno so that we can stay on track for our shelter fund. Please help us so that we can save as many dogs like Bruno and his buddy as possible. We need about $200 for Bruno's fund. In order to pull Bruno's buddy, we would need about $300 more. Whatever you can donate is so useful, whether it is $5, $10 or $100. We can't tell you how much every dollar counts for a rescue like ours. Thank you for your support and thanks for listening to my long winded dilemma.