Thereโs this guy in town who owns this little house, and a while back he rescued a street dog that was going to get put down. Turned out she was pregnant.
Problem is, he has mental health & drug issues and couldnโt afford to get them all spayed & neutered, so now there are 6 grown bitches with 15 puppies total, and theyโve dug under his fence in multiple places but he canโt afford to fix it so they go roaming all around town. (When I say canโt afford it, I mean his house is currently running on a generator because he canโt afford his electric bill.) Heโs also a day laborer so he cannot take multiple full days off work to take them to the vet an hour away. Heโs in a really rough spot.
Heโs not a bad person. Heโs just overwhelmed.
And this little conservative town with 6 churches for 300 people, have they tried to help their neighbor? Have they adopted the puppies heโs been trying to give away? Have they offered resources?
NOPE! All they wanna do is talk shit about him and complain about the dogs but never lift a finger of their own. And they come to his house to yell at him and cuss him out about the dogs, which does not exactly engender in him a cooperative attitude, as you might imagine.
So after a while of this going on, my mom gets fed up with all the NIMBY bullshit and starts talking to the guy, because sheโs done animal rescue for 20-odd years and has Connections. Heโs resistant at first, but when he realizes sheโs not being an asshole to him on account of his addiction or the dogs, he decides to let her help.
She gets to work organizing and networking. Finds a non-profit that will cover vaccinations, spay/neuter, and flea treatments for all the dogs. Talks the next-door neighbor into paying for materials to fix the fence, since this guy can do the work of it himself. Gets him in touch with another non-profit that will adopt out the adult dogs.
Less than 2 weeks after she decided to do something, all puppies have been to the vet, 10 puppies and 4 adult dogs have been adopted out, and the second non-profit is coming by next week to pick up the remaining 7 dogs to ship them out for adoption.
Iโve learned a lot of things from my momโsome good, some badโbut I think the most important positive message she lives as an example of is this: sometimes, when something needs done and no one else is willing, you gotta stand up and say โIโll do it.โ