One of A Kind Education

Have you seen the movie entitled, “The Friend?” It is a new release about a man who passes, leaving behind his beloved Great Dane, Apollo. The specifics of the movie are not relevant for the sake of this article, but the premise of the movie is something we live with every day at One of A Kind: What will happen to the dog?

The sad truth of the movie is that most of the characters are in favor of the large dog going to the rescue or shelter, while the main character falls in love with the dog after the untimely death of her friend. It is not easy or practical for her to keep a Great Dane while living in an apartment in Manhattan, but she is determined to do so. Unfortunately, this aspect of the movie is painfully true. Most people are in favor of the large dog going to the rescue or shelter, while one person is determined to stand strong for the dog. Though this is a wonderfully sweet movie with a happy ending, reality is very different.

When the majority are in favor of sending a pet to a rescue or shelter, the equation eventually fails. Rescues and shelters cannot keep up with the constant demand of the failing majority. There is no reward in always choosing the path of least resistance, yet our society so often chooses to dump, abandon, and surrender pets over finding a solution that may take time and resources. Pets are incredibly devoted, loyal to us, bonding almost instantly to their person, yet humans can discard them so easily. We wish the families could see and feel the sense of loss, sadness, desperation, and grief that shelter dogs feel when they are abandoned.

When a pet that was previously loved enters a shelter, they immediately cower and hide. They deprive themselves of food for days and sometimes also water. The staff witnesses this, trying to cheer them up, comfort them, and encourage eating with high value meals and treats. On the fourth day they have been known to purchase rotisserie chickens and McDonalds cheeseburgers with their own funds in an effort to encourage eating. Sometimes it works but sometimes it does not. Weight loss is an expected response to entering the shelter because even the ones who are eating are experiencing horrific diarrhea due to stress. Again, the staff cleans up after them as often as necessary, providing probiotics, anti-diarrhea medications and enrichment to reduce stress. Sometimes it works but sometimes it does not. This process is not just difficult for pets, but also for the staff and volunteers who care for them and empathize with their pain.

The point of this article is not one of gloom and doom, to ruin your day with the harsh realities of rescue, but to encourage you, or beg of you, to be the one person in the story who chooses the more difficult path of finding the right solution. Choose the difficult path, the road less traveled, the choice that may take more time and resources. In the end, it will be much more rewarding, and the loyal, devoted, trusting, and loving pets are more than worth the extra effort. We know they would do it for us.