Hi all,
First, I have a word or two for all of you south-dwelling animal lovers who have rescued animals and who continue to rescue animals independently. It’s not until I began being more involved with animal welfare that I realized how many of you rescue strays to keep as pets, or to find them new homes; to give them a second chance. I want to thank you for your kindness, for your time, and for your dedication to making a difference in the lives of the ones we often refer to as “the dudes.”
It may not seem to make a significant difference in the big picture, but it does. Needless to say, it is also saving the lucky ones that crossed your path from a life of hardship.
Nevertheless, for a wide array of reasons, not everyone is in a position to adopt or rescue strays. It is quite understandable. Small living space, unwilling roommates/landlords, lack of money, lack of time and allergies are but a few realities some of you are facing when you see an animal in need which you would like to help.
This said it seems that among those of us who care for animal welfare, there are generally two categories of people; those who can help and those who can not help. While I’m happy to acknowledge the efforts of the former, this message is more for the latter; more for those of you who can not help. Keep in mind that even if you are not in a position to help, I still appreciate your concerns regarding the less fortunate of us living beings who have to live on the street.
Although BARK is still a young organization, we already receive a minimum of one phone call every day from people who need help with an animal they rescued or wish to rescue. Often, it’s two or three calls daily. If we agreed to take responsibility for every animal people ask us to take from them, we would be overwhelmed with animals within two weeks.
BARK is not a government funded organization like the SPCA who is active in many countries. We are a group of like-minded people who put forth efforts to help strays, but our resources are limited. All of BARK volunteers work full time jobs, and of course, we depend on charities to pay for various expenses, most of which are veterinarian expenses.
Back in April 2006 when Natasha and I founded BARK, our goal was simply to organize a network of animal lovers so that we could help more animals “in need” together. I must say, we exceeded our expectations ten fold already. Within a year, we have already helped more than 100 animals. It goes without saying that we are thankful for all the help and support we received to achieve that.
More to the point, every animal on the street is “in need.” So which one do we choose to help? While we would like to help them all, the reality is that we simply can not. While we would like to take responsibility for every animal people call us about, the reality is that we can not take them all under our wings.
In other words, if you call us about an animal that is not in a state of emergency, we will not take him/her from you. You will have to take responsibility for that animal, or face the harsh reality of not helping him/her at all, unless you are willing to work with us to CNR (Catch-Neuter-Return) the animal. Contact us for more details, or read our post titled “BARK, CNR, and You.” Sad, I know… But since when is the stray problem in Taiwan a happy story? The only way to turn a sad story into a positive one in the life of a stray is to take responsibility for him/her, and as mentioned, BARK can not assume responsibility for every stray in Kaohsiung. And that’s the bottom line.
This said, however, there are things we can do to help you help animals. We can provide you with free food (limited to availability), we can help you with discounts at our participating veterinarian, and we can also provide you with a wealth of information and sources to help you train, and re-home an animal. Contact us for more details.
We know it’s not much, but as mentioned, our resources are limited both in terms of manpower and in terms of money, and we hope that you will understand that we do the best we can with what we have.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Chris
Co-Founder
BARK
but mostly joy!). It’s a great alternative for someone who loves animals but can’t commit to a forever pet.