Let’s shift gears a little! A few months ago, I published a post about how I wanted to include more off-trail content on this Substack mainly in order to work on showing appreciation for the parts of my life that are not hiking related. Since that post, I have been marinating that idea and figured a good place to start would be some of the things I am most passionate about that have nothing to do with gear or outdoor adventures. When I am not backpacking and climbing mountains, I am the proud mom of two amazing dogs, Honey and Scooter. I have mentioned them several times on here and even dived into some of the more complicated aspects of trying to hike with them as well.
However, I have not covered my involvement in animal rescue and how it has played an important part in shaping me into the human I am today. For a lot of my childhood and adolescence, I was lucky enough for both of my parents to be as enthusiastic as I am when it comes to helping animals in need. My family started fostering homeless dogs and cats for a local ASPCA chapter when I was very young, so I learned early on how much this type of work was needed. Kentucky is not exactly known for its stellar animal cruelty laws, so I made it my mission to try and help rescue as many animals as I could.
As I got older and moved to Missouri, the fostering had to stop (hello apartment living), but my passion for animal rescue never waned. If you know me, you know how psychotic I can be when I come across a stray animal that has nowhere to go. In the past, I’ve brought home small kittens or emaciated dogs with the intention of finding a better placement solution for them. Sometimes that ends up looking like caring for them until someone I know decides to take them in and sometimes it just looks like adding them to the menagerie of rescues within my family.
However, at the beginning of this year, things began to change. After I finished my Foothills Trail thru-hike, I planned on camping out at my parent’s home in Kentucky to spend some quality time with them before the start of the semester. Only a few days into the stay, my mother mentioned a post that had been circulating around local Facebook groups. Apparently, a stray dog had been left at the side of a busy road just outside of town and while people had made attempts to capture him, no one could get the dog inside their cars. The rational side of my brain turned off and pretty soon my mother and I were speeding down the highway in search of this dog.
With it being nighttime and below freezing, we didn’t have much luck. Yet, we made a promise to return tomorrow in the daylight. Sure enough, the next day we found the dog. He was pretty skinny and very standoffish. He wouldn’t let me get close without a few growls, so I just slowed my movements and let him take his time to get used to me. With the help of some Wheat Thins, I managed to get a slip lead around his neck and coax him into our car. Once the adrenaline from the situation whore off, that’s when my mother and I really started to realize that maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.
We had nowhere to put this dog. He couldn’t be inside the house because he had shown aggression toward other people and animals (my parents have indoor cats). He also couldn’t come back to Missouri with me for multiple reasons. Honey is already severely dog reactive and my lease definitely wouldn’t allow me to have any more pets. The first couple of weeks were very stressful as we tried our best to find a local rescue to take him off our hands. I think that’s when it really started to sink in just how many rescues and shelters are overwhelmed with animals. Every single one we got in contact with both in and out of state was completely full. Our only two options were to surrender this dog to our county shelter with a strong chance of him being euthanized or try and find a way to keep him ourselves until a better solution arises.
We chose the latter even though it involved a lot of work to make happen. As for right now, the dog (now known as Clyde) is still with my family. We managed to purchase an outdoor kennel big enough for him to live in while we waited for a rescue to open up space for him. So far that has not happened and in the following months since plucking him from the side of the road, my parents have fallen in love with him. At this point, I am pretty sure he’s now a permanent resident of our clan. At some point in the future when I can afford to not live in an apartment anymore, I will most likely bring him to Missouri with me.
During this entire process, it was heartbreaking to realize just how much rescues and shelters have been struggling lately. Even though I can’t exactly foster animals without the risk of me getting evicted, I decided to volunteer for a local St. Louis rescue organization to at least relieve some stress on the staff members working hard to save as many animals as they can. Twice a week, I walk dogs for them. Even though this is a small contribution, it feels really good to help in some way. In my time there, hundreds of dogs and cats have been surrendered to their care. It is absolutely mind-boggling how many dogs they receive on a weekly basis. These types of environments are incredibly stressful for everyone involved and even though we all do what we can, it never is enough. The dogs just keep coming.
If you take away anything from this post, really consider getting involved in animal rescue in some way. Literally, if every family in America fostered at least one animal, the shelters would not be in this horrific position. If you are like me and can’t foster, try to put yourself out there and volunteer. There is always room for more help. Even if you don’t want to be in direct contact with animals, various other jobs like doing laundry, cleaning, grant writing, fundraising, or administrative work would mean the world to these organizations.
I know this post was different and off topic from what I normally publish, but if you enjoyed it, definitely like, comment, or subscribe to support my writing. Tune in for another post next week!
See you out on the trail!