The Bad Days in Rescue

I received an email the other day about "No Name" who was in a rural Idaho shelter. He had been there for some time and it was time for him to move on. The shelter asked for rescues help and with no boxer rescue in Idaho the all breed rescue contacted us. We have helped a few Idaho boxers now and they have found wonderful families here in BC. I asked the shelter to have him dog tested and as long as he passed he would make the trip to BC. "No Name" who I have now nicknamed Freedom has had an uncertain past. He arrived as a stray and no one came to claim him. He enjoyed the shelter staffs attention but was indifferent to whether they gave it to him or not. It's pretty evident that this boy has not had the best start to his life. Freedom did not do well with his dog test and showed signs of severe dog aggression. We were this boys last hope and I had to make the decission to say no. I'm left now feeling like the bad guy, Freedom past from this world with only the care of the shelter staff. He had no family to love him, no one to hold him, no one to tell him he was a good boy and it was all going to be okay and why? Because I said NO. Why do I have to feel bad, someone failed this poor boy. Who knows, maybe someone bought him as a cute puppy and had the best of intentions, amybe he was thrown out in the yard right away, maybe no one ever cared. Who ever owned this boy though should feel the guilt that I currently feel. They should know that Freedom died because of what they made him. Doge are pack animals, their instinct is to live in a pack not to be aggressive. Someone has made him this way, whether on purpose or due to lack of socialization and training. I wish we had the resources and the place to have taken this boy in to rescue. Unfortunatly we don't, our own families and dogs must be our first priority and everyone must be kept safe. Dogs like Freedom can be managed around other dogs and slowly trained. It takes a very special owner though to make the decission to adopt a dog like Freedom. There are far more "Freedom's" out there then their are adopters willing to adopt them.

My heart breaks at my decission but it's one that I have to live with. Some days I hate rescue.