Driving Ms. Jemmi

Today I transported a young mixed breed dog from the animal control facility in Chilliwack to a vet in the big city, where she will be spayed, vet checked, and microchipped before heading to a foster home. In her foster home Jemmi will learn some social manners and get some much needed loving while Bully Buddies search for a forever home for her.



Jemmi is a sweetheart, an absolutely beautiful chocolate brown girl with a white chest and some white tippy toes, about five months old. I don’t know her story, but she is no doubt another product of unplanned breeding or a backyard breeder, likely sold to the first person who showed the breeder the money, a person who knew nothing about raising a pup and didn’t care enough to search for it when it wandered off or who surrendered it because they didn’t realize it would be such a handful.

Jems rode calmly behind the barrier in the car, looking out inquisitively but making no noises. I forgot puppies need to chew and I left the rope toys at home, so she decided chewing on her leash was a good alternative. That leash won’t be much good any more. Silly dog!



There are times when I look into a dog’s eyes and wish so much that I could offer it a home. But part of being an effective animal advocate is recognizing one’s limitations, knowing one’s strengths, and knowing when to say “no” and when to say “I can help with that”. Rescuers do the animals in their care no favour when they take on more than they can physically or financially or emotionally handle.

Yet every time I transport a dog from one place to another, or do a homecheck, or help with a fundraiser, or support a rescue with a donation, I know that it is just a tiny drop of help in an endless waterfall of need.

The need is threefold – a need for many, many volunteers to help with the care of these great animals who have been tossed aside by those who should be responsible for them, a need for donations to pay for the vet care and feed and other expenses accrued by those who rescue and shelter unwanted animals, and a need for an educated population that not only spay and neuter their own pets and make a lifetime commitment to them, but also challenge others to do the same. As the old saying goes, “if you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”

Chilliwack Animal Control could tell you about that endless waterfall – they are chock full almost constantly, located in an area where the population seems to think it is okay to let dogs run loose, to let them breed indiscriminately, to give them up when they don’t feel like looking after them. And the problems are exacerbated by city folk who figure if they dump their dogs by the highway out in the country, some good hearted farmer will take them in.

Tonight there is a little three legged poodle at CAC, wondering what he did wrong. And there is a lab/chow pup named Dozer who has been there a long time and is growing up in a place that was never meant for raising pups. And there are fifteen others, all sizes, all ages, waiting for their homes. All dogs that someone once thought were cute and sweet and loveable, and then threw away.

For every Jemmi sitting in a shelter, for every old dog abandoned by her people, for every young pup dumped by the side of the road, for every cat and rabbit and bird and llama and pig and reptile whose owners reneged on their commitment – please find a way to help. No matter how small a part you can play, every bit helps. These living, feeling, thinking critters are all part of our world. We humans are stewards of the earth and as such, we have an obligation to protect and help those in need. Just look into Jemmi’s eyes and tell me any differently.



And Jemmi is one of the lucky ones.