Saving Maile

Over the last 4 days there was a bit of a rescue drama going on with a former Pacific Northwest New Rattitude dog. Maile, who was adopted as a young puppy in early 2013 and adopted to a family in Western Washington had been picked up in a suburb of Boise Idaho, running along the street. She was wearing a collar with a rabies vaccination tag but no id tag. The shelter was able to track her New Rattitude foster mom down through the rabies tag, since she was the one who had taken Maile in for her vaccination.

Maile as a puppy in foster care; Spring 2013 and (below) is a video of her litter arriving in foster care January 2013 

Several of us worked together to track down her adopter using Facebook, the adoption contract, and a cell number we finally found. We heard a fairly common story - the couple had split up, she had the kids and he wanted to keep their dog. After the divorce he had bounced around in different living situations and somewhere along the line Maile was left with relatives in Idaho who quite possibly weren't happy about being saddled with a young, energetic terrier. The adopter was raising her kids on her own now and couldn't afford a dog so she signed owner surrender paperwork, making Maile a New Rattitude dog again.

Leaving Boise, ID: Resting up for the first leg of her transport

Now I'm sure about now many of you are enraged and angry that this poor dog ended up neglected and alone. On Facebook I regularly see people forming virtual vigilante mobs and they get wrapped up in the emotion of a sad story where once again a family pet ended up getting the short end of the stick. People love to point out how they would never do something like this to their personal dog and many a self righteous soliloqy is spewed into social networking land. You know what though? I find that spewage just as useless and selfish as the original act of neglect.

Saying goodbye to Levi, who drove the first leg of the transport

No person thinks that they will end up in a situation where they have to rehome a pet. No one. As a rescue coordinator I hear some pretty horrible situations where people are completely distraught over finding themselves unable to care for their animals. I would love to think that I will never be that person, but until you've lived the situation you just don't know, so leave the judgement at home.

Meeting Candace, who drove the 2nd leg of the journey - over 200 miles!

Settling in for the drive from Baker OR to Goldendale WA

What good does that kind of negative energy do for Maile? While I sure wish her adopters had made better choices for her, it does no good to get worked up over that now. How does anger and judgement keep the situation from happening to more dogs? So step away from the keyboard and do something about it. Be the person who DOES care. Go to the shelter and volunteer to bathe and groom dogs, volunteer to drive a rescue dog to a better situation, help a rescue with their database programming or Web design, donate some money to a reputable animal group... Being angry on Facebook isn't helping anyone.

Just finished with leg 3 which Becky drove and taking a walk in the park before loading up for leg 4 with Troy and I - Yakima WA to North Bend WA

So here's part two of Maile's story. This is the part that I think deserves to be talked about, valued, and shared. Because as soon as the Pacific Northwest team of volunteers heard about the situation they stepped up to the plate. Her former foster mom was busy on the phone talking with the shelter, keeping them updated as a plan formed, trying to contact the adopter, getting the right paperwork done so that we once again had official ownership. Volunteers networked with friends and family in the Boise area and a plan slowly came to be. By Friday evening, about 24 hours after we first learned she was at a shelter, we had a volunteer to go to the shelter and pick her up and overnight her at their home. We also had a foster home for her (her former foster family will be fostering her), and 4 drivers lined up (with even a couple back up drivers!) so that Sunday morning she would start her 500 mile road trip from Boise Idaho back to Western Washington. That's a lot of people who dropped what they were doing, put away their laptops, cancelled weekend plans, and made sure that a little dog was safe and cared for.

Getting reacquainted with foster dad Andrew in North Bend before heading to her foster home

THAT is what is exciting. The rescue is the event that emotions should be poured into and posted about on social networking sites. A bunch of everyday people stepped up and made sure a sad ending turned into a happy new beginning. They didn't do it for pats on the back or how much attention it might get them. They did it because it needed to get done.

After her 500 mile trip she is HOME!

So next time you see that emotionally manipulative post, screaming from the computer screen about victims and victimizers, and the armchair rescuers are busy spewing anger and hatred, resist the pull to join in. Step away from the electronic devices and find a way to make a positive contribution because anger and self righteousness is something we indulge in for ourselves, not for the dogs.

It goes without saying that I want to thank all the folks who helped get Maile to safety. The animal control officers who got her out of the road and who took the time and effort to find who she belonged with. There were many people beyond the actual drivers who helped us brainstorm a way to get her back and made phone calls for us so thank you to all of you. A big thanks to Bev for springing Maile from the shelter, overnighting her, and buying (and donating) a nice new crate for her to ride West in. Thanks to Levi for buying her a harness and leash for the road along with some treats and toys - because what's a road trip without snacks, right? And then thanks to Levi, Candace, Becky, Becky's dad, Cassie, Troy, and Andrew for driving and Cindy and Andrew for fostering her.