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Dodging Drool
Roberta "Bobbie" Beach

Giving Thanks

Posted Sunday, November 21, 2010, at 4:31 PM

This coming week we will celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday instituted by President Abraham Lincoln. This holiday is way more than the day before Black Friday. Merchants need to sell to stay in business but the commercialism of our holidays, beginning with so many being moved to Monday as well as putting the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln into one President's Day, does the meaning of each holiday a grave disservice. Nov. 11, Armistice Day, and July 4, Independence Day, cannot be moved!

Here at Silverwalk, I celebrate the contributions and concerns of many people for the dogs needing homes. We are in full Home for the Holidays swing, looking for temporary foster homes to let some dogs live with more people than dogs. It is amazing the difference this can make to a dog - and to a family. If you are at all wiling to open your home and hearts to a homeless dog for a short time, the hounds here would greatly appreciate it. They and I will be thankful.

I am reading and learning more and more about the need to change our focused attitude in rescue to a more positive mindset. People, myself included, usually don't surrender a pet unless they feel they have no choice. Before the brickbats come flying, I KNOW there are exceptions - believe me, I have been present when they have happened. However, most people care for their animals - they simply find themselves in situations where they 1) either need help to keep their pet, 2) need education on how to do so or 3) must relinquish their pet to a shelter or rescue. It is then incumbent on us as rescue/shelter people 1) offer help and solutions and/or 2) to find the best placements for those animals, reserving killing as a very last and only if medically/behaviorally necessary resort. This asks open admission shelters for a lot of change - but it can be done; I have read of several large cities where it is happening. One is St. Louis where Stray Rescue is now the default shelter for the city - and dogs don't die when they are relinquished to Stray Rescue.

It is also not just open admission shelters who need to change but those of us in the no-kill arena as well. How can we better serve the population without drowning in overflowing numbers of pets? One way is to develop a relationship with a Northern shelter to which we can move our pets in order to open more space here. Many of the North states do better with spay/neuter and are willing to collaborate with Southern rescues/shelters to save pets. I have several friends active in this endeavor. Silverwalk currently is not - but we are exploring it.....Part of the difficulty in moving dogs out of Silverwalk is the dogs here are mostly adult to senior. They are seasoned dogs, ready for homes but not the cute puppy. Now, I love puppies (I do have Margie, after all!) but older dogs tend to be more tolerant of children, your home and yard (ok, yard may be stretching it if you looked at my yard but most of my damage is from my own dog, Seymour - who BELIEVES in being an earth dog like a dachshund should). I ask you to consider adopting an older dog....they will help you prepare for a puppy later on - and teach that puppy the ways of your household.

This year, I am thankful for Silverwalk's affiliation with Safe Harbor. I am thankful for the volunteers who have become part of Silverwalk - they are few but they are AWESOME. I am thankful for a board who is generous in time and phone calls as I find it difficult to call references due to my speech impediment. I am thankful for the increase in calls and contacts asking Silverwalk to take in a dog - while we don't have room, these contacts say we are a real part of the community and region. I am thankful for the wonderful publicity from SEMissourian and Erin as well as KFVS. I am thankful for generous donors and adopters - my thank you notes are always behind :(.

Most of all, I thank God I am in a position to come home to howling hounds each morning (and no, I don't hear them howling till they see my car!), to the joys, frustrations, love, and daily learning experiences these dogs give me and all who are part of Silverwalk. Please, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Remember those less fortunate than yourselves: canine, feline and human. God bless.

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  • And may I say on behalf of all hounddogs that they are thankful for you Bobbie, because the world became a better place the day you were born.

    -- Posted by stardog on Mon, Nov 22, 2010, at 1:15 AM
  • Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. You do wongerful things for gods creatures

    -- Posted by jpb2 on Mon, Nov 22, 2010, at 6:34 AM
  • Yes happy Thanksgiving Roberta! And I would like to echo your statement about adopting older dogs. I NEVER would have thought about this but now have a 10 yr old dachshund sleeping by my side this morning. He came to my house calm, well behaved, housebroken...no problem! Now this puppy on the other hand...

    -- Posted by doggone on Wed, Nov 24, 2010, at 6:35 AM