Springing forward for the 12th year
We’re taking part this month in Schnauzerfest’s campaign to raise awareness for the work done by dog rescues. The Spring Forward For Schnauzerfest campaign calls on people to take a walk with their canine friends and post pictures and videos on social media. It’s a simple idea and celebrates where Schnauzerfest started and where it is today: a charity based on walks with, and for dogs who will never exercise their doggy right to do so.
Dogs trapped in breeding facilities, aka puppy farms, do not take walks. Nor do they see daylight. Fresh air is unknown as they breathe the smells of their own waste and fear in the pens where they live. They stay confined to a few square feet. They mostly die in the same few square feet once their breeding lives are over. Or, if lucky to survive long enough, they might be surrendered to a rescue. As my dogs were. For a rare few they might find their way to safety when seized by authorities taking action if the operation is an illegal one. But, all too often low welfare breeders operate within the law and nothing to help their dogs is done.
All this nasty reality is not what people like to think about when they look at cute dog pictures on social media. Or when chatting to friends about their new puppy. It’s too uncomfortable for many to think about the parents who the puppy left behind. But without more of us doing exactly this – talking about the nasty reality – and keeping on and on, year after year, the dogs don’t stand a chance of anything ever changing.
This is now my 12th year of involvement in these issues. Twelve years since Susie-Belle popped up on my timeline. That’s twelve years since I met her in the rescue and my life forever changed. Twelve years of blogging, writing, campaigning, adopting, hoping, hoping, hoping things will get better. But it hasn’t. All I can take from the last 12 years is that I know more people are aware of my dogs’ stories than if I hadn’t done a thing. People know about the dogs we help through Schnauzerfest. And we never shy away from talking about the difficult stories which lie behind the sweet looking faces.
But, it is still hard some days to think that any difference is made beyond the individual dogs we help. Because the cold hard truth is that the puppy trade today is as lucrative, criminal and out of control as it has ever been. The demands faced by rescues are dreadful. A combined result of many factors, not least the ‘pandemic puppies’ and the cost of living crisis.
So what can I do? I can’t despair as that won’t help any dog. I can and will keep doing my best. I’ll stick around and try to make some kind of difference. Because this is who I am today. A person committed to seeing an end to the abuses in the commercial dog breeding world. It is who I am. Even if I wanted to escape this, I cannot. My conscience won’t allow me to turn away. I am compelled in ways I have never felt about anything else in my life, and I couldn’t turn away even if I wanted to.
Daily I wish things were different for the dogs. Until they are, I will keep hoping people support charities like Schnauzerfest. I stay hopeful that one day politicians will be in power that truly care about the dogs not themselves and their careers and photo opportunities. That they will listen to campaigners who have solutions that will work, not ones full of loopholes and built-in flaws. That politicians will back their fine words with resources to enforce the laws to protect the dogs.
I will keep hoping that together we can make a noise that one day might be loud enough to bring about change. I have to keep hoping that one day soon, humans will do better.
There are ways to support the charity Schnauzerfest which do not cost a penny. Visit the website here to find out how you can get involved. Follow the charity on social media and share posts and tweets to others. It all helps. Or this weekend, support the #mumsofmany campaign with a small donation so the charity can pay vet bills for the dogs which do get out of the breeding industry.
