THE OFFICIAL VERDICT IS IN.
 GUILTY!!!
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Yes, we are all
guilty of not doing enough and not
Embracing changes
that could benefit the animals.
By Randy N. Warner
To answer the question, I would
say an emphatic YES!! There is no other group of people who devote more time, effort,
compassion or personal finances into a job or hobby than do most rescuers. But, educating just one family at a time, as
opposed to 50 families at a time is obviously not as productive. And lets face it.
Trying to convince an adult to change their ways of handling and caring for their
pets is about as successful as convincing your spouse you are ‘right’ during an
argument.
Rescuers are concerned with
education, they just don’t know it.
Should Rescuers be considered humane educators
as well?
First of all we have to
sort the good from the bad. Take Dalmatian Rescue north of Denver.
Lady has no life skills other than screwing her back yard dogs for fun
and money. A breeder. Can't even produce any 'quality' or
champion dogs. Yet she does everything in her power to make others
believe she is not only a dedicated rescue effort, but the QUEEN of
rescues. Sorta like having a rehab clinic for drugs and yet
selling cocaine and marijuana at the gift shop. Doesn't work for the
average American who wants an expert that can provide a solid argument.
This ignorance,
stemming from over inflated egos is seen way too often in the general
rescue effort nationwide.
But, leaving this lady
out of the conversation for reasons of cleanliness and sanity, rescuers
are the BEST suited for education.
Sometimes they just don’t know
it. They speak from the front lines of the dog and cat rescue battles. Rescuers have the
most, as well as the best, information regarding pets and their unique stories, along with
the reasons why....
Rescue is a passion-driven field. Logic and business sense are frequently put on
hold because some little angel needs some extra care today. I mean, it's not like your
profit margins are going to be factored by investors on Monday, right?
Now, I'm quite sure that accomplishing an education effort
takes different strategies than what most of the public assumes, but I believe it can be
done. Not everyone will agree, not everyone will wish to participate, but at the very
least, nearly everyone can read this and think about it.
From 1985 ‘til now I’ve done
rescue primarily for Dalmatians—and others when needed. I know how difficult it
is, how expensive it is, to what extent you can be drawn into an effort that never seems
to end.
It's the ''never seems to end'' part that I
want to ask YOU about. I'm addressing this to all those who devote their valuable and
wonderful time and assets toward saving dogs' lives, the rescuer. I have a challenge
for you…
I’d like to suggest that you give
20% of your time, efforts and money to getting a strong and substantial humane education
program into your area schools. I do not mean to infer that your present efforts are
not necessary or important. I know it is crucial to so many animals’ lives to
continue what you’re doing.
But, that being said, if you ONLY do
rescue, you are simply making it easier for those who are borderline about keeping their
pets, and you are also assuring that your children’s generation and your
grandchildren’s generation will be forced to do the same level of rescue as you do
now. You must do everything you can to educate this younger
group of people before they head down the very same path as their parents.
Each and every one of you has the knowledge,
experience, compassion and everything else needed to make a HUGE difference in the next
generation!!! You can't do it by saying "I don't have time" or offering
other excuses. Spending 100% of your available time rescuing simply puts all future
dogs in jeopardy, because you did NOT do enough to resolve the underlying problems for the
future. You will continue to clean up the
mess after yesterday’s parade. I would hope that you would rather see the front of
the horse once in a while.
If you are willing to work toward this
momentous effort, I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.
Try 5% per year for humane education over the next five years and increase
accordingly. Some of you are not comfortable
as public speakers. If that is the case,
consider recruiting a friend or neighbor who supports your efforts and wants to do
more. Many schools (even in this economy) have ''speaker'' funds and will write you
a check for $100 as you leave. You could bring in as much as $500/week for 5 hours’
work. We all know how helpful money is in our pocket.
Why not earn money for our rescue endeavors while we spread the message to make
rescue unnecessary? As a rescuer, you can
send information to schools of your choice and follow up to see which class got that
information.
What if you spent only one hour a
weekend handing out information to the public? Minimal
cost for copies, countless contacts to pet owners!
If you have a website, place some
information there as well. One more link about the overpopulation and how people can help
end it will not take too much effort, but will save lives in the end! Everything I have on my site is for public use.
The more people that check out my site, the more their awareness and information levels
increase, thus they act more responsibly. If you don’t have the time for another
page, PUT A LINK TO MY PAGE ON YOUR PAGE! Everything on my site will resound loudly
in the ears of anyone who has helped with rescue and listening to the idiots make up
excuses for these poor innocent pets.
Some principals tell me that I’m not
needed at their school, because most of their students already have pets. WELL, A
BIG STUPID DUH TO THEM!! But once I’m
invited into a school, you would not believe the impact that my 45-minute program has on
these young minds. I take all five of my dogs: 2 dals, (one deaf) a coyote, a pit
bull and a beagle-basset mix. My presentation is blunt, direct, fun, AND VERY
INFORMATIVE. I barely mention what they think they'll hear. When we depart, each
face looks so much different from when we first arrived. It’s amazing. The kids are motivated to form a humane
education club or at least take on a year long project to accomplish something to help
animals. Amazingly, teachers and staff tell
me how much even they learned and then thank me.
You need to be well versed in
supportive information to check all claims, suggestions and rules enforced in contracts.
I'll bet every rescuer out there knows exactly what I'm talking about.
I
just hope that some of you see that we all have room for growth, change and expansion of
our duties. If we are creative, we can accomplish so much more. If only 20% of
the rescuers who read this decide to do SOMETHING, that would be over a thousand people. Now, a thousand people visiting schools just 3
times a year is 3,000 MORE classrooms visited. 3,000
classrooms this year with 40 students each is 120,000 EDUCATED youth who will not likely
need to services of rescuers or animal control agencies except for adoptions. Then, I've
surpassed my goal considerably!!
For all those who say 'we can't' for whatever reason, would you rather be part of
the Rescue
Janitorial staff than the Engineering or Research Departments who will be a vital part of
the solution?
When you pass on, can you guarantee that someone similar will step into your shoes and
take over with the same fervor and compassion to save the dogs of tomorrow?? Wouldn't you
like to try and save some of them NOW while you can? With every good presentation
you give, you are likely to save 10-50 dogs depending on the number of ears listening. And
it only takes an hour and maybe $15. (gas, 50
copies and lunch at McDonalds on the way home)
CAN YOU MEET THE CHALLENGE OF EDUCATION TO CREATE PROBLEM
RESOLUTION?
I would love nothing more than NOT to do rescue
because it is not necessary. Until then, I
will continue along my path of education for solution.
I choose to be pro-active to end overpopulation, not just re-active to
current demands of cleaning up yesterday's mess.
We also welcome any and all creative and
successful projects you may be aware of to put on the site and share with others.
WORK
SMART, NOT HARD
“I am only one, but
still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot
do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”
Edward Everett Hale, 1794
–1865, American Orator and Statesman
Anyone interested in gaining materials for
humane education, strategies for gaining access to schools (which will become the most
challenging part of this) topics to discuss, whether to bring dogs along, etc. can email
21stcares@gmail.com You will be provided with any and all information
we can offer to get your questions answered and help you successfully present these points
and reach your goals. No charge for any
service.
We also welcome any and all creative and
successful projects you may be aware of to put on the site and share with others.
WORK
SMART, NOT HARD
http://21stcenturycares.org/
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