| A Rescuer (with a capital R) is one who thirsts for knowledge and never really knows it all, one who wrestles with decisions of conscience, convenience, and commitment. A Rescuer is one who sacrifices personal interests, finances, time, friendships, fancy furniture, and deep pile carpeting! She gives up the dreams of a long, luxurious cruise in favor of an additional room for her dogs. A Rescuer goes without sleep (but never without coffee!) in hours spent watching anxiously over a mother in process, ready to assist if needed. A Rescuer skips dinner parties because that new rescue mom is due or the babies have to be fed every 2 or 4 hours. A Rescuer's lap is a marvelous place where babies settle while being stroked, learning to play with toys, or having their fur blown dry after a bath. A Rescuer's hands are often soiled from cleaning cages or chapped from being washed so often, but ever so gentle when caring for a delicate and fragile baby. A Rescuer's back and knees are often arthritic from stooping, bending, stretching and lifting, but are strong enough to enable the rescuer to run after a loose puppy, often catching him in mid-air! A Rescuer's shoulders are stooped and often heaped with abuse from competitors, but they're wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and frustrations. A Rescuer's arms are always able to wield a mop, support a basket full of babies, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer. A Rescuer's time is not her own and her days are usually planned, but she opens her home to visitors who often overstay their visit, keeping her from scheduled tasks: cleaning cages, feedings, housecleaning, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, and out-of-the-house errands. If a visitor soils the floor with mud or water or fails to hold a puppy over paper before an accident, extra work is placed on the rescuer. A Rescuer's ears are wonderous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or strangely shaped (from being pressed against a phone receiver), often deaf to criticism, yet always fine-tuned to the call of a sick baby. A Rescuer's brain is foggy on faces, but it can recall details of her own breedingstock, the babies raised, who adopted which baby and what it was named - faster than an IBM computer. It's so full of knowledge that sometimes it blows a fuse: it catalogues thousands of ideas that worked, happy ending stories, recollections of loving babies and ......buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn't make it. A Rescuer's heart is often broken, but it beats strongly with hope everlasting... and it's always in the right place! Oh, yes, there are rescuers, and then, there are RESCUERS!! |
| What is a Rescuer? |
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