Yesterday, Rocky ran away. Rocky is a foster at my job. Someone grabbed Rocky for a day out on Saturday, he ran away from their home. So then I had to go look for him, I did for hours, crying and exhausted I left with no dog, terrified an Alligator could’ve gotten him. Then I had to head back to work at 8pm because I had to give a reactive dog his last go out of the day. He’s a Belgian Malinois and he’s been growling at me like he wants to turn me into his next snack. I feel bad for him because I can’t get in the yard with him, I can’t pet him and I can’t throw toys to play fetch with him because if he starts eating a toy I can’t take it away from him without him attempting to kill me. Now this morning, Rocky was seen again, which is great news, so I’m off to try to find him again. I’m so tired, I’m the only person that works 40+ hours a week at my job, I’m always doing everything for all these dogs, both at work and at the rescue, and even though I’m so incredibly burnt out, nothing hurts me more than seeing indifference from other people. Why am I the only one that cares that a dog is not getting any enrichment? Why am I the only one worried about a lost dog near an alligator pond? I’m not asking for empathy towards me at all, I do not wants props or a “thanks for your work”, I want people to care and love these animals, I want to not be alone in this fight. It’s nobody’s fault though, I’m just exhausted.

Doing it once? I understand, sometimes people bite more than they can chew, but then doing it again? And again? And again? How many times do you need to prove to yourself that you are NOT a good pet parent?

I genuinely wish I could shoot people in the name of animals. Some people deserve to die.

And on that same note, ADOPT DONT SHOP! Unless you need a specific breed to WORK, there’s NO REASON to buy a dog. You can tell yourself as many times as you want “I shopped responsibly” no you didn’t. As someone who sees dogs getting euthanized every day, I know how guilty yall feel about this because you’re always on the comments of posts saying “or shop responsibly” pls for the love of god shut the fuck up. Just carry your guilt because you bought a dog and stop preaching bullshit to other people.