Rescue is hard work. It’s disheartening, frustrating and heart breaking. You don’t get to choose when dogs need you and you have to see some of the worst of humanity. Luckily, there are heartwarming moments and just enough warm fuzzies to keep most people going.
Online Tools Benefit Rescue
The Internet, email, World Wide Web, sites like PetFinder.com and now, even Facebook, have added a whole new set of tools to the process of finding homes for shelter dogs. When I founded NYC Shiba Rescue in 2007, I never could have accomplished it without email, Google Docs, meetup.com and nycshibarescue.org. I have enormous respect for the “old school” rescuers – back when you just went to the shelter, loaded up with all the dogs you could take, took them home, and then tried desperately to find homes for them. I will admit, I couldn’t do it that way. With electronic communications, digital cameras, and websites though, the process is a lot more streamlined. NYCSR, for example, finds out almost instantaneously about Shibas and Shiba mixes in shelters all over our region of the country. We can coordinate with far flung volunteers to save those dogs. We can campaign for foster homes and solicit donations online. We post our available dogs on our website, petfinder.com and other sites. We get adoption applications electronically. It’s all good.
All of that online work is communication and coordination though. The real WORK still has to be done in the physical world. Shelter dogs have to be evaluated. They have to be transported to foster homes, taken to the vet, moved between homes, and taken care of by foster families. They have to be taken to meet potential adopters and eventually taken to their adoption day! Supplies have to be carted around. Events have to be attended. All of the online tools and social networking make the communication, coordination, and “advertising” part of rescue so much easier, but they don’t take the place of the actual rescue work.
Armchair Rescue Through Social Networking
One activity that email and social networking has given birth to is what I call “armchair rescue.” There are few things more frustrating to many people I know than armchair rescuers. Mostly they just forward emails and post information about dogs in need on sites like Facebook. I’m sure these good-hearted folks truly believe they are providing a useful service, but for the most part they aren’t accomplishing much of anything. They “network dogs” with a zeal and passion that I would love to see funneled into action instead. At its best this “networking” brings dogs to the attention of people who may not have seen them otherwise (although usually these people aren’t able to help because the dogs being posted are frequently not adoptable by the general public). Most of the time, I suppose it is essentially harmless, but it’s still extremely frustrating.
Why, You May Ask, is it Frustrating if it is Harmless?
It’s frustrating because if they really care, we would like their help! Many armchair rescuers will inundate rescuers with fb posts and email asking “how can we help this dog?” When given an answer that involves any real world effort on their part though, they always have reasons why they can’t do anything. If/when the dog is saved, they say how happy they are that “we” were able to help. If the dog can’t be saved, they blame the rescuers. Either way, they feel good about themselves, feeling as if they’ve “done their part.” Well, here’s a newsflash… rescue groups already know about these dogs. Posts and emails by armchair rescuers aren’t telling us anything we don’t already know. They are however wasting our time by making us respond to email, block spammers on Facebook, and explain to the 20 OTHER people who saw the post or email that we already know about the dog and that we’re doing what we can, etc.
One of my Shiba rescue friends voiced the frustration best a few days ago when she said “If you aren’t going to step up to the plate, then get out of the game!“
It May Not Always Be Harmless
So many times I’ve read where people on facebook have made up fantasies about “the sweet angel of a dog” and how all they need is love, when, in reality that dog has a Level 3 or 4 bite record and really should only go into a very experienced foster home. It worries me that all this networking may result in dogs ending up in inappropriate homes.
Even when you go into a shelter and evaluate a dog hands-on, you can’t be absolutely sure that you’re getting a valid read on its temperament. You definitely can’t tell from one photo that a dog is a sweetheart! (PS That sweet “smile” you are all commenting on, is a reaction to stress… not an indicator of temperament.)
Ways For Anyone to Step Up
Here are a few hints on how to really help save dogs. Whether you have a lot of time or a little, whether you can foster or not, whatever your circumstance, if you really care, there is something you can do to help.
Volunteer with a local shelter or rescue group!
- Provide a foster home if possible
- Conduct home visits
- Conduct shelter dog evaluations
- Help coordinate and/or drive transports
- Answer email inquiries
- Help with recruiting other volunteers
- Help with bookkeeping and other administrative tasks
- Help with fund raising
- Write press releases, blog entries, descriptions for petfinder.com, grant proposals, etc.
- Volunteer at events
(Can’t do any of those things? MAKE A DONATION.)
Transport!
Have a car? Check out the numerous rescue transport groups and start volunteering to drive a leg of a rescue transport when you can. Help a dog get to safety. (Don’t have a car? MAKE A DONATION.)
Donate!
Last, but not least, MAKE A DONATION. Rescue isn’t cheap and a lot of the people involved in rescue and transport are working hard to make ends meet. If you can’t donate your time, donate your cash, because they could sure use the help.
I wish I had a way to import comments from Facebook/Networked Blogs into the blog. Some of the best comments are THERE instead of here!
Jenna I cannot thank you enough for writing about this. I have been very frustrated with the same exact problem lately and been thinking long and hard about how to deal with Armchairs. Thank you again.
Adding a comment from FB for you.
There are two major problems with armchairs, the way I see it. 1)The pressure and guilt becuase of them is staggering to the point where you feel burned out because you can never do enough to make them happy.
2)Due to all the posting and thinking someone else will save them, sadly some dogs fall through the cracks and end up not being saved.
Thanks Nicole. The best conversation on this post so far has been on your Facebook page! Like I mentioned there, I was a little worried when I wrote this that some people would be offended, but then I decided that maybe that would be a good thing. The conversation so far has been great!
I totally agree with you on point #2. That is definitely a problem caused by armchair rescue.
Facebook and/or Networked Blogs needs to find a way for comments to flow through to blogs. Over 80 people have clicked through to this post since I published it 8 hours ago and there have been at least 20 comments on Facebook. Two or three years from nowm I’m going to be searching all over trying to remember where we had that conversation and it’s going to be lost in Facebook. Boo.
Maybe the new update for Facebook will allow better tracking.
I have to say I have been guilty of Armchair rescue – sharing links and retweeting pleas for help and thinking about it, it just takes what may have been an original strong message to a dull chatter (Nicole’s #2 illustrates this), although I would draw the line and never make the “I cant help because …………………… comment”, mainly because I can imagine the sheer frustration when you have lost a dog or are trying to home one and having to filter genuine offers from retarded posts.
I do have a rescue dog who I am proud to say has become the best dog ever due to time and education. I also took a stray neighbors dog in seeing her wandering the streets after she had escaped from the yard she is left in all day while they were at work, rather than wait for someone else to do it. What this post has made me think about is I was in the game, I don’t know how I stopped playing but I sure as heck am going to get back in.
Well, Sarah, that rocks!
Can you print out the Facebook pages and save the conversation that way at least?
I, for one, used to be VERY heavily involved in rescue. I have had to take a break. I’m not as strong as some people are and it was taking a toll on me. I still do transports when I can and home visits,etc. when called upon, but I’ve had to take a big step back for a while. I educate people often about things as simple as proper care to breed specific needs. No doubt that in the future I will be back in it again, though. I donate money when I can. I feel like it’s never enough, but it’s more than nothing at all.
I feel like that qualifies as being “in” Rae. You do transports, you educate, I can attest to the fact that you donate. 🙂
I’m not fostering right now, although once we move into the new house, I’ll be able to again. There don’t seem to be any Shibas down here though, so I’m thinking of telling the local shelter that I’m good with primitive breeds (to some degree anyway!) and take fosters on that way. I transport whenever I can since I got here. That’s always a great way to stay involved, even after a move.
A couple people made comments on the thread on Nicole’s fb page that sounded like they thought I was saying if you don’t foster, you aren’t doing anything or that forwarding email is always bad. I’m copying one of my replies here so it’s in the public forum as well.
Well here is an overview on my thoughts (mostly from facebook):
I’m always afraid to talk about this because I don’t want to alienate people who are thinking about their relationship with the world of rescue.
I have to appreciate even the THOUGHT of going an extra mile for a dog – that’s the spark, thats where it starts. We can’t all just jump in full throttle to rescue (like by fostering) – so it starts somewhere, and it starts with caring, creating awareness, then getting more involved. We all do what we can.
I think this post – its just that the people who are in the field, pulling and evaluating the individual dogs, transporting, etc – even then it doesn’t feel like enough because for everyone one that is pulled, there are 5 more just that day that need help. Sometimes it feels so daunting… you want more people to just DO something. Its hard to remember that not everyone can for whatever reason. But it doesn’t change the fact that more and more dogs are homeless and in need – we all have to figure out a way to work together!
Maybe it would help to explain the process that shelters use to contact rescues on the blog? I think a lot of people don’t realize that rescues have shelter liaisons who reach out on behalf of the purebreds with rescue contacts that end up needing out. So, in explaining this process, maybe some ‘armchair rescuers’ wouldn’t be as inclined to spam your inbox if they know you have contact with this shelter already.
I’ll never forget when I first started posting “dogs in need” on my blog, I got this horrible comment about how rescues take money and don’t save enough dogs. I wrote back asking what SHE did to help, and she wrote back saying “nothing, I don’t believe in rescue”. Well, kettle, then stop wasting my time with comments & emails so I can get back to doing something…
Jenna, great post – you’ve expressed my feelings exactly! I know I usually get the same identical email up to 10-20 times in one day from ‘forwarders’ and unfortunately even from my own board members! The one thing that really gets my goat though, are the emails to rescues from other rescues, where THEY are laying the guilt on the recipients for not doing more (the text is highlighted, in red, bold, etc…)! I have many times gone to their sites to see how many animals they have in their group only to find 3-7 dogs…..
One of the good things from FB recently though has been one of my sisters seeing some of the emails that we see daily, it has made her a little more understanding when I “take just one more”…
Kathy, thanks for stopping by and for commenting!
You have a good point about the facebook groups… they do potentially expose people who might not otherwise know to the number of animals that the rescue community is attempting to deal with. The number of companion animals abandoned and mistreated in this country is overwhelming and many people are completely oblivious to it.
I understand what you’re saying, but it can work too. I recently read about a very sad and urgent situation about a 10 y/o rescued cat on FB so I called the woman and said I’d take the kitty if she was all out of options. I am a qualified behaviourist and already have 4 (difficult) rescue dogs and 6 rescue cats but the story touched my heart even though I swore there was no more room at the inn. So sometimes it can be effective 🙂 And at least the info gets out there, even if it’s not very targeted. Thank you for what you do.
Yes, facebook can be an effective tool. NYCSR rescued a senior Shiba and transported him to his final home (he lived 6 wonderful months after we rescued him) because Snick posted him to his fb page looking for someone to adopt him. The fb problem I was specifically posting about though was these **URGENT OH MY GOD WILL DIE NOW** groups that have sprung up all over and spam the heck out of everyone. They create tons of meaningless churn and often are posting and sharing information on dogs that have already been rescued or put to sleep. It just seems like the people involved put a lot of time into making noise where that same time could be spent being MUCH more productive for animals in need. I’ve also seen blatant fabrications posted re: dogs’ histories and it really worries me.
PS Yay for the lucky, new cat. 😛
Hi Jen. Thanks for some ideas of what I can do. I would love to be a foster parent, but I have two shibas in a tiny single wide trailer, and I worry about them getting along. Shibas can be tricky that way, and Tesa is a real alpha bitch. She almost killed the puppy (who she now loves) when I brought him home. Isn’t it tricky bringing a stranger into a shiba household? I feel bad I don’t do more. But I did rescue a wonderful shiba puppy recently who was given up because he had skin problems (he was going through his first puppy shed – what’s wrong with these people) He now lives next door with my neighbor and spends a lot of time here playing with Bodhi, who is only a couple of months older (a year) and Tesa who “tolerates” the puppy stuff. I used to live in NY, so whenever I think of the east coast now I think of Jenna and Snick.
Rainbow!! How are you??
Yes, it is tricky to bring a strange dog into a Shiba household. I’ve had my successes and failures with that myself. My foster dog right now – Sasha – can’t be with my dogs at all. She is so dog reactive, that she freaks out any time they get near her. With a foster like her, it’s just a matter of “crate and rotate” until a perfect adoptive home is found. With most fosters though, it’s just a matter of time and patience. I wrote about that when my foster Sophie was here.
That’s great about the Shiba you rescued and placed with your neighbor. If everyone who cares does what is reasonably in their power to do, a lot gets done.