We have your dog. She doesn't have a collar or a microchip, so we don't know who you are.
She's lovely, and even at her advanced age she still loves to chase balls and have her belly rubbed.
We feed your dog.
We house your dog, inside, not on the chain outside she's used to. She has a big comfy bed to snuggle in, and we like to give her treats while scratching her behind the ears.
We tried to find you.
When she came to us, we told the world about her. Friends of friends of friends shared our post trying to find her owners. We put her on our website, hoping against hope that you'd see her and come get her. After 5 days, she has legally become our dog.
We still have our dog 6 weeks later. No one has called or come to get her. But something wonderful is happening - a family loves your dog and has been approved to adopt her! All of the humans that have taken her on day trips to the lake, or walked her in the park, are thrilled for her.
Now, after someone points out to you that the picture accompanying the happy adoption story online looks an awful lot like the dog you used to have, you come to get her. We fed her, we walked her, we took care of her for 6 weeks, so $25 a day is what it takes to claim her. That amount doesn't even begin to cover our cost, which is why we spend a great deal of time trying to raise money. You can't make that happen, so there are tears on both sides, and our dog goes home to her new family.
Then you started the bullying online. You got your friends and friends of friends to hear your side of the story and spread the word about how we "stole" your dog. They're encouraged to rate the shelter with 1 star, continuing the fiction that we gave away "your" dog. You contact law enforcement. You contact local media, continuing the campaign. By omitting certain crucial facts, you keep it going.
The new adopted family got spooked about the drama online, and decided that they'd adopt another dog instead. Someone stepped forward to pay boarding, and your dog is again your dog.
But the one star reviews and lies stay online, making others that want to give an animal a home think twice about coming to us. Pandora's box has been opened, and we'll be having to explain ourselves for a long time to come. And we shouldn't have to. Everything was done exactly according to the law and policy.
What we do matters. And because of you and people like you, we no longer want to help. We're tired of working so hard to save animals only to have something like this happen.
But guess what? When your still un-chipped dog wanders away again and ends up with us, we'll do it all over again. Because your dog matters. You? Not so much.
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
There Aren't Just Two Choices
It seems that there's always a a crisis or controversy going on. At our southern border, kids are being separated from their parents, that's a fact. One side wrings their hands and demands change, and the other talks about the criminals that will come across if we don't have tight security.
Or the Enbridge pipeline that was just approved to go through Minnesota land, threatening the water supply and the natural beauty of my state. One side is demanding that construction not start, and the other is saying how much safer pipelines are than the current practice of using rail to carry the oil, coming within feet of homes when it travels through towns.
Instead of fighting each other along political party lines (or worse, unfriending people!!), let's take a look at the actual problem. Sometimes there aren't just two choices for a solution once you go back to why the problem occurred in the first place.
Take the border. In 1971, President Richard Nixon officially declared a war on drugs. The U.S. would seize the cocaine coming across the border, and the Colombian drug cartel would kill people in retaliation. The president of Panama, Manuel Noriega, allowed Pablo Escobar, one of the best known cartel leaders, to ship the coke through Panama, making it that much easier to get to Miami and south Florida. The cartel started raking in big bucks over the demand in the U.S.
And then the tide turned on our war on drugs, at least in south Florida. The cartel decided that getting the drugs in through Miami was too hard, and started targeting the Mexican border to move the drugs to the U.S. Between Colombia and Mexico lie the countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. The drug cartel swarmed into those countries, creating a trade route for cocaine and other illegal drugs. So when you wonder why people are fleeing their own country to the U.S. even knowing they will not be welcome, now you know. Staying means their children may be kidnapped and used as drug mules or worse. Staying means enduring the constant threat of violence.
Now that we know how and where the issue originated, what's the solution? Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If there is no demand in the U.S. for illegal drugs, there is no reason for the cartel to operate the trade route through Central America. How do you decrease demand? Other countries have done it by legalizing the drug itself. It seems contrary to common sense, but their statistics show that it's working, in conjunction with more social services for recovery. Would it work here? Maybe. Seems worth a try anyway.
On to the pipeline issue. Using the same logic, let's talk about the problem. Americans are obsessed with their cars, and trucks, and electricity. I don't know anyone who is willing to give up any of those things, so instead, let's talk about how they are powered. Renewable energy is expensive right now, because it's not subsidized by the government, or at least not to the extent that fossil fuels are. Our government pays billions to big oil companies in order to keep the cost reasonable for us, the end consumer. You can see why the oil lobby is so powerful in Washington - the taxpayers are paying for them to be in business so they can make a huge profit. They're the only game in town.
So what would happen if that subsidy were to end? Prices to us, the consumers, would skyrocket. And then what? Well, when it hurts our pocketbook, we tend to notice and take action. You might not buy that gas guzzler and opt for a hybrid car instead. Oh boy, but then that hurts car companies! Yes, but then the car companies would have to increase gas mileage in order to compete. Win win.
And better yet, renewable energy would have a chance. Those solar panels and wind towers would start to look more appealing if the cost were the same as oil. And what if the government subsidized them as much as they do oil? Before long, we'd be up and running on renewable energy and the demand for oil would be gone. Meaning there would not be a need for either pipelines or railroads to carry it across country. Our water supply would be safe, and people living near the railroad would be safe too.
Critical thinking doesn't always solve the problem, but it may offer more choices for a solution. Fighting each other along political party lines is like trying to row a canoe when two people are moving their paddles in the opposite direction - you just go in circles.
Or the Enbridge pipeline that was just approved to go through Minnesota land, threatening the water supply and the natural beauty of my state. One side is demanding that construction not start, and the other is saying how much safer pipelines are than the current practice of using rail to carry the oil, coming within feet of homes when it travels through towns.
Instead of fighting each other along political party lines (or worse, unfriending people!!), let's take a look at the actual problem. Sometimes there aren't just two choices for a solution once you go back to why the problem occurred in the first place.
Take the border. In 1971, President Richard Nixon officially declared a war on drugs. The U.S. would seize the cocaine coming across the border, and the Colombian drug cartel would kill people in retaliation. The president of Panama, Manuel Noriega, allowed Pablo Escobar, one of the best known cartel leaders, to ship the coke through Panama, making it that much easier to get to Miami and south Florida. The cartel started raking in big bucks over the demand in the U.S.
And then the tide turned on our war on drugs, at least in south Florida. The cartel decided that getting the drugs in through Miami was too hard, and started targeting the Mexican border to move the drugs to the U.S. Between Colombia and Mexico lie the countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Honduras. The drug cartel swarmed into those countries, creating a trade route for cocaine and other illegal drugs. So when you wonder why people are fleeing their own country to the U.S. even knowing they will not be welcome, now you know. Staying means their children may be kidnapped and used as drug mules or worse. Staying means enduring the constant threat of violence.
Now that we know how and where the issue originated, what's the solution? Einstein said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If there is no demand in the U.S. for illegal drugs, there is no reason for the cartel to operate the trade route through Central America. How do you decrease demand? Other countries have done it by legalizing the drug itself. It seems contrary to common sense, but their statistics show that it's working, in conjunction with more social services for recovery. Would it work here? Maybe. Seems worth a try anyway.
On to the pipeline issue. Using the same logic, let's talk about the problem. Americans are obsessed with their cars, and trucks, and electricity. I don't know anyone who is willing to give up any of those things, so instead, let's talk about how they are powered. Renewable energy is expensive right now, because it's not subsidized by the government, or at least not to the extent that fossil fuels are. Our government pays billions to big oil companies in order to keep the cost reasonable for us, the end consumer. You can see why the oil lobby is so powerful in Washington - the taxpayers are paying for them to be in business so they can make a huge profit. They're the only game in town.
So what would happen if that subsidy were to end? Prices to us, the consumers, would skyrocket. And then what? Well, when it hurts our pocketbook, we tend to notice and take action. You might not buy that gas guzzler and opt for a hybrid car instead. Oh boy, but then that hurts car companies! Yes, but then the car companies would have to increase gas mileage in order to compete. Win win.
And better yet, renewable energy would have a chance. Those solar panels and wind towers would start to look more appealing if the cost were the same as oil. And what if the government subsidized them as much as they do oil? Before long, we'd be up and running on renewable energy and the demand for oil would be gone. Meaning there would not be a need for either pipelines or railroads to carry it across country. Our water supply would be safe, and people living near the railroad would be safe too.
Critical thinking doesn't always solve the problem, but it may offer more choices for a solution. Fighting each other along political party lines is like trying to row a canoe when two people are moving their paddles in the opposite direction - you just go in circles.
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