**a post by the mom
First - a disclaimer: this is not written on behalf of the rescue. I don't speak for them ... I speak for me and this is what I saw and experienced.
Saturday was an adoption event sponsored by a large pet food company that has a manufacturing plant in our area (Mars/Pedigree - there, I said it). About 10 rescues are invited each year. Normally it is held outside but since rain was predicted, they cleared some warehouse space and it was inside - which enabled us to bring kittens (something we don't normally do to outside events when it is HOT!).
Before I get to what happened, let me give you an idea of what my day was like...just so you can have the entire picture. And keep in mind that we are ALL volunteers and most of us have full time jobs in addition to doing events like this.
My Saturday went like this: get up and take care of my crew and the foster kittens. Get my things together for the event and run out the door around 9:15am - grabbing a fast food sandwich on the way since lunch was going to be snacks at best. Drive 20 minutes - which took more than 40 minutes due to an accident in front of me. Pick up kittens for the event and drive another 20 minutes to the event site. Unload and get set up - crate and supplies for the kittens, paperwork and help the other volunteers with our table. The actual event was 12-5pm. Spend the day talking to people, handing out information, some sales, no adoptions (OK - well, one adoption, but it was to a volunteer). Take down everything, reload the car, take the kittens back to the adoption center and get them set up for the night. I managed to get home about 6:30pm. Feed my crew and the fosters, clean litter boxes, shower (did I mention it is hot and humid here?) and then stare at the fridge hoping for some inspiration for dinner (there wasn't much in there...I think I ended up having cheese and crackers).
I don't want that to sound like a complaint.... I don't mind doing events, but they do suck up an entire day. I like talking to the public about our rescue and our animals. However, events aren't just the time we are at a location....it is the set up and tear down and travel time as well.
Here is what got me steamed however:
As we were setting up, a lady walked by with a lovely male Great Dane. That was NOT NEUTERED!!! We kind of blinked and were all "seriously??" Another volunteer took information about low cost neutering to the woman and was told (loudly and rudely) that the dog was being bred, the lady was making good money and in fact she had another woman with her who had bought one of the puppies.
EXCUSE ME?????
Now, this pet food company can sell their product to anyone and everyone - that is part of being in business. And if their employees choose to be backyard breeders, we can't stop them.
BUT - if you invite rescues.....that are all volunteers and work on shoe string budgets.....to a RESCUE ADOPTION EVENT....your employee should NOT be bringing her unneutered dog with her and bragging about breeding him. And then being rude to rescue volunteers who actually say something to her!!
I know one of the volunteers that was the contact for this event said something to one of the organizers, but I have no idea what was said to her in return. And to add insult to injury, as we were all loading up to leave, one rescue had an entire palate of dog food loaded into one of their trucks, while a volunteer of ours was told there was a "three bag limit of food donations" (though we did end up getting more than that). O!M!G!
Hey - maybe it was an oversight. Maybe it won't happen again. Maybe we got bad information about the donation amounts. But the whole thing left a definite sour taste for our group.....
Outrageous! It just shows they don't fully understand what "rescue" means. Our Humane Society ED lost her job when she bought a collie puppy from a breeder when there were collies waiting for rescue in the shelter, and she had significantly changed the requirements for euthanasia for dogs to include almost any aggression, even what could be trained--and a few other things, but it was the collie puppy that did it. Some people just don't get it.
ReplyDeleteoh that is SO wrong.....
DeleteI understand why you felt disappointed.
ReplyDeleteYep, I've heard similar stories, about one rescue gets a pile of free food, while others are turned away, and adoption events...people think like rescuers and fosters are a business and don't see the big picture. I feel badly for your group's experience, and I would have laid into the woman with the Great Dane; my blood just boils!
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to bring an intact dog to an adoption event - it's another thing to take offense when someone provides you with neutering info and brag about selling the puppies. Sheesh. Do you know where you ARE, Great Dane lady?!
ReplyDeleteThat said, a woman I volunteered with at another rescue (not the one I'm with now) would pull any Siamese or Siamese-adjacent cat she could get her hands on out of the high-kill shelters, in search of one with the "perfect markings" for her daughter. Needless to say, we didn't get along. Ha.
Ugh. My human and I are part of both the cat fancy world and the rescue world and we LOATHE backyard breeders. Anybody that brags about making money off of breeding sucks - triple that if they bring the dog to a rescue event and have a bad attitude. I can't believe a company that supposedly cares about the wellbeing of pets (which they should if they make products for them) would employ a person like that.
ReplyDeletewow.. just wow.. wouldn't it be nice if the company would make their employees volunteer at a shelter if they are going to do things like that..
ReplyDeleteand three bags? seriously? how stingy.
guys.....sorree this eevent ended up ona bad note for yur mom & everee one else ~~~~~~~ ♥♥
ReplyDeleteOh no ! How disappointing ! Purrs
ReplyDeleteThat was a terrible bad and awful day. And like a kick in the shin too with there rudeness.
ReplyDeleteThat really does suck. How insensitive of this employee to show up with her dog like that.
ReplyDeleteWow, clueless woman. I'm sorry you had such a sucky day. hugs!
ReplyDeleteSome people think of animals as purely a money-making venture. And I know what you mean about all the hard work. We love volunteering, but that doesn't mean we love everything to do with it. You're allowed to be exasperated, annoyed and tired at the end of a long day, especially if it features people such as the woman you met. Let's hope most days are better.
ReplyDeleteWe hope Mars has a word with the employees about what is appropriate at a rescue event. They can't control their employees' backyard breeder schemes, but they certainly can draw up guidelines about appropriate things to do at rescue events. Undermining the missions of the rescues certainly isn't one of them!
ReplyDelete