Post by Trish Manche
Working with Take Me Home Pet Rescue has taught me a lot about the heartbreaking statistics of pets who are surrendered, abandoned, or abused. Our intake boxes are overflowing with people who are surrendering their pets or stray pets they have found. While we would love to help every pet, it’s just not possible given resources of fosters or financial support. It is a tough job to generate these messages daily knowing that at some point a human has failed or is failing these pets. We have to remember, that as a rescue, we cannot be responsible for all these animals in bad situations.
I know a lot of my friends think I am that crazy cat/dog lady, but I urge you as part of our rescue to lovingly remind your friends and families to spay and neuter their pets to try to slow down this number. The SPCA of Texas and organizations like Texas Coalition for Animal Protection offer discounted programs to help with the cost. As we know, spaying and neutering does not affect the quality of a pet’s life. Vaccines are largely not harmful to the pets and in fact lifesaving to protect them from painful and deadly diseases. It’s important to protect these pets and remember that pet ownership is a life long (their life) commitment. Education is key.
While I am offering this somewhat depressing blog today, I want to remind you of all the good that happens in our rescue. Through the help of our fosters and volunteers, we have taken in approximately 11 litters of kittens since January 2023, most of them in the last 2 months and this does not include singles! There have been some adults as well. Lots of happy endings. We have pulled dogs/puppies from local shelters and not so local shelters who have gone on to find happy homes. We have been able to take in some owner surrenders of some great dogs that have moved on to loving homes. There is A LOT of good news here.
Encourage everyone to foster. I always hear how people would foster fail with every dog or cat. While I dearly love every foster, not every dog or cat is one I would keep forever! Fosters save lives and we could not function without them. We ALWAYS need more fosters. It is a special and rewarding relationship.
Volunteering is a life blood of our organization. Although we are in the middle of summer vacation, my granddaughter recently reminded me that many young people in area high schools and colleges are looking for volunteer hours. If you know someone who might need hours, encourage them to contact our group. There are a lot of opportunities for all ages. There is always work to be done to assist the rescue.
Lastly I want to give a huge THANK YOU to our fosters, volunteers, our board, and all those who are on the frontlines of our organization working tirelessly to bring in resources of all kinds and those pets we all love to adore. We need all of you to be a success.