BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Dogs To my fellow rescuers, adopters and fosterers

All of us at 4theloveofdog got this in our mail today from Becky. Have a tissue nearby! *please don't copy this without asking Becky first!*

The Heart of A Rescuer

In the heart of every rescuer
Is a lion, a protector, a beast
Fiercely fighting for the ones who can�t;
Too weak to stand on their own feet

In their souls lies the courage
To often go where others can�t
To say �YES� to uncertainty
To give one more dog a chance.

To the people who ask how we do it
Give up so much of our selves each day
If you have to ask, it�s not worth explaining
You wouldn�t get it anyway

To us they aren�t �just dogs�
They have souls behind sweet brown eyes
They were unfairly neglected or hurt
Or banned because of ignorance and lies

We miss vacations and parties
Duck out early on the ones we make
Because there are walks that need to be done
And medicines to take.

We place the litters your neighbors bred
To show their kids �the miracle of life�
We make the hard decisions �no kill� shelters won�t
Because they just can�t suffer another PR strife

We sometimes lead with our hearts ( not with our heads)
Even though we know far better
We pull the �Rottweiler� the shelter called us in to evaluate
Even though it�s a Gordon Setter

We�ve been in this game long enough to know
That we really can�t save them all
Sometimes it comes down to dollars and cents
And emotionally it takes a toll.

We waive the white flag and say we are done!
When the burn out finally sets in
Yet we are never away for very long,
Because without us the dogs don�t win.

So when it feels hopeless, Like your best isn�t enough
Remember the angels you helped save through the years
Because when you feel like your �wings� are too heavy
They will always lend you theirs!

� 2011 Becky Pelletier

Thanks for sharing.

And this is my favorite desktop:

You are so RIGHT Lisa. My 2 are sitting right beside me

Sooooo sweet!! I have several rescuer friends - they network through facebook and it makes a difference! What they do is amazing!

Facebook is a HUGE help to us rescue people. I cannot imagine how it would be without fb to network, share faces, fill transports, raise funds, promote events....good lord.