Friday, July 1, 2016

the forest for the trees

Mom is a firm believer in the starfish story - heck, she has starfish tattooed on her forearm. You know the one "you can't save all of them, but you can save this one". Mom says it helps her to focus on what is in front of her and not be burned out trying to worry about things she can't change.

However, an article was posted in Animal Sheltering Magazine talking about changing the rescue model. The author talks about another proverb where a town keeps seeing babies in a river and struggles to save each one. At one point two people start running up river and when the villagers try to call them back, they respond by saying they are going to try to stop them from being thrown into the river.

An interesting perspective.....honestly mom says she hasn't thought about it long enough to know what the answer is for her. But it does require a change in thinking - for example, if someone comes in to surrender an animal, rather than just have them sign over the pet and be "angry" at the surrender, why not ask questions?? What is going on? Can the person be helped with some information or support? Lead them to a food bank or low cost medical care. There are websites out there that also help pet parents with medical costs.

Want to be inspired about this sort of thing? Follow the Pongo Fund out of Portland Oregon. They are striving to keep pets IN THEIR HOMES!! And they are making a difference.

Along those lines, earlier this week Jackson Galaxy and his Foundation moved kittens from Los Angeles to Boulder CO. If you watch the original video, he talks about being inspired....and what it took to make it happen. In short - he knew the right people and they were able to take adoptable kittens from the Best Friends LA shelter to Boulder Humane...which allowed Best Friends to take vulnerable kittens from the LA City Services shelter.

But not everyone has those connections or abilities.

When mom was with a previous group, she had a clash of personalities with the director of that group. The lady told mom that she needed to see the big picture and see the "forest not the trees". Mom got mad and told the lady that the lady's problem was that more often than not she was so focused on the big picture that she forgot the forest was made up of trees.
Cookie and the snack kittens - now all adopted

Not everyone has the abilities to fix the "big picture". While we know that the shift is coming - and that is great - there still need to be people on the ground taking care of the trees. And there is nothing wrong with that either.

Licorice - now adopted


24 comments:

  1. Absolutely. Both the trees and the forest need looking after, and different people to do each. Both should respect the other, though. Our mom dreams of the day when people are fighting over puppies and kittens because the spaying programs are so successful.

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  2. First off...cool tats! Secondly, I am grateful for the TNR programs that I have been involved with, and hope for the change in education and knowledge to make less stray cats because people are schooled with spay/neuter instead. Good post!

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  3. We need to do both at the same time, and we all need to work together, individuals, rescues, shelters and communities.

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  4. Your mom rock ! My mom love tattoo but she has no guts..tee..heh
    and I'm so happy for Licorice ...YAY !
    Have a great weekend

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  5. even if you can't do anything, sometimes taking a step back and looking at the big picture can help. Our shelter recently started making appointments to turn in an animal instead of just letting them walk in. Making people think about it for even a day or two can often change minds... and if it doesn't you can schedule it for a time you know you won't be slammed so you can do everyone justice.

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    1. we like the idea of appointments....plus it helps staff/volunteers be ready rather than being caught off guard

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  6. I found it interesting that the article in Animal Sheltering magazine was written by someone from the HSUS - Of COURSE the HSUS, who does not run or support a SINGLE animal shelter, would argue against the Starfish story. (Sorry, I have a deep and abiding distaste for the HSUS.) (http://www.humanewatch.org/) (okay I'll stop now.) But I agree that help is needed on both ends of the problem. Interesting post!

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    1. Not an HSUS fan either, but we think the article had good points

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  7. I have always loved the starfish story. Nice tattoo.

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  8. We're glad that people are thinking about the forest and the trees (or the cats and their families). There is an organization here that did lots of good but is currently on hiatus that had the mission to help keep pets in homes. They helped with medical fees that would have otherwise forced people to surrender or euthanize, and they helped with the sometimes extortion-level pet deposits to prevent surrenders. I know it was done on a needs basis, but don't know how it all worked. I know that pet food pantries help do the same thing, especially in communities with lots of people struggling along at the poverty level. The starfish is absolutely part of things, but hopefully we can end up with less starfish in need..... Someday.

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  9. I like the idea of appointments to turn pets into a shelter. This is a great post and hopefully most places will turn up to help people without money to keep their pets. Anyway, it is all a great idea.

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  10. Thanks for writing so candidly about this...and for offering up the possibility of "Thinking Different" about the current rescue model. It certainly can't hurt to think about these issues with a different perspective and perhaps make some real world changes based on those "new" ideas!

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  11. Both! All of it! Everything! :)
    Wonderful post.
    Cammie!

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  12. I'm so glad your human is part of the cat rescue community! We need more like her.

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  13. The shelter that the mom volunteers with doesn't ask questions usually. They say most people lie anyway...saying a cat is a stray when really it's their own cat that they don't want anymore. But we think more questions should be asked. Make it a little harder for people to just turn in their pets. Interesting way of thinking about it.

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  14. Interesting concept and that's the focus on my next book. I want to educate without educating if that makes sense. I'll be empowering people with information on cat behavior to keep more cats out of shelters in the first place by using humor and every day stories. Purrs from Deb and the Zee/Zoey gang

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  15. Your post couldn't have better timing! I just launched a non-profit yesterday after a year in development. I too read the article you referenced and am proud to say that our group is modeled around....change. Not an easy thing but yes, it needs to be. Glad to see we're not the only ones embracing that concept. Thanks for sharing! Andrea www.arcticspiritrescue.org

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  16. There is so much truth in this post. It takes a village, doesn't it?

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  17. There is nothing wrong with taking both approaches, but saving the individual animals must take precedence, I think, because that can and must be done immediately. Helping a starving man to feed himself by getting him a job and a home, an education if need be, is very good - but he still needs to be fed for him to survive until then.

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  18. Very interesting post, thanks fur sharing another purrspective :)

    Purrs

    Basil & Co xox

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  19. Definitely something to think about. People have different approaches, but hopefully everyone is working toward the same goal. Love the tattoo as well!

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