Wednesday, June 29, 2005
A Person's A Person...
These words from Dr. Suess' Horton character often run through my head as I go about the day's business in the shelter. Our focus is so obviously the care of each cat, kitten, dog and puppy we have in the shelter. But it is with people, each and every person that interacts with the shelter, where the reality of our business is most keenly felt.One person is all it takes to bring those of us working at the shelter great joy! The delightful older woman who came bringing much needed blankets for the kennels and much desired rawhide chewies for the dogs in adoptions.
One person to come into the shelter and adopt an older cat who has been in the shelter for such a long time. That one person felt they were meant for each other!
One person from another great rescue group to take a very frightened cat, not always a good fit for a shelter, into their program to have a better chance at finding a home.
One person who says, "Sure, I will foster those kittens with the very damaged eyes!"
Each of those people mean the world to our work.
One person is also all it takes to bring us great sadness and cynicism.
The one person who packed up a mom cat and kittens into a crate and lobbed them over our wall last night. We found them cold, wet and scared. Thankfully, no one was harmed.
One person to leave a dog tied to the gate in front with a collar so tight it caused wounds to the dog's neck.
One person to bring us a litter of puppies to place because their dog came into heat early. Fortunately, the mom dog is now spayed, but not the male dog. She prefers him natural.
Each of these people guarantee that we will still be in business for some time to come.
People are the problem, people are the answer.
