A circus with dogs and cats as the stars? Have you ever seen such a thing?

This past weekend, my husband and I saw a show in Vegas called, "Popovich Comedy Pet Theater".  I have to tell you, that as an animal rescue person, this might be the best show I've ever seen.  Not because it had millions of dollars in production value or expensive costumes, but because the performers are all rescues.  SAY WHAT?  Gregory Popovich, performer and trainer, has cats, dogs, mice, two little goats, geese and a parrot.  All of which are rescued, except for the parrot.

My hero, Gregory Popovich

It is made clear in the show a couple of times that he encourages pet adoption.  If you do a little more reading, you'll find that he supports spay/neuter.  He fundraises for local shelters.  He uses positive reinforcement training on all of his animals, and they all live with him and his family on a large, two-house farm area.  When the animals are ready to retire, he slowly eases them out of it--still taking them to the shows for a while so that they don't feel left out.  A man after my own heart! 

You can read an interview in Las Vegas Weekly that goes into more detail here:  http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/as-we-see-it/weekly-qa/2013/aug/06/gregory-popovich-pet-retirement-and-how-train-cat/#/0  

And of course, a video here.  The cuteness is Off.  The.  CHARTS.

There is a huge debate right now about the use of animals as performers.  Many of you may have seen "Blackfish", about killer whales and Sea World.  Personally, I did not watch it.  I know the story, and after bawling my eyes out watching "The Cove", I didn't think I could handle it.  Highly intelligent marine mammals are stripped from their natural environment and forced to live in tiny enclosures in the name of entertaining children and of course, "conservation". 

Then, we have the circus.  The circus should, and COULD be such a wonderful place to take children.  Trapeze performers and tight-rope walkers in sparkly costumes are thrilling to behold.  Elephants, huge behemoth performers, with their flappy ears and swaying trunks have a hypnotic effect on the entire audience...  so what's the difference?  Why is it ok to be enamored of a show with cats and dogs, or with trapeze artists, but be morally repulsed by performing elephants, tigers, dolphins and orcas?

Let's break it down.  Circus acrobats = willing performers.  They train willingly to travel with the circus.  If they are injured, old, or for any other reason decide that they don't want to perform any longer, they retire. 

Dogs and cats (and let's just throw in the mice and geese here as domesticated animals) have evolved over thousands of years to coexist with humans.  The dog napping quietly at your feet or playing fetch with you in the yard is a product of human intervention and coercion at a biological level.  You can't go out into the forest, capture a wolf, and just because it shares very similar DNA with Fido, expect for it to follow you home and be your buddy.  A group of Russian scientists have successfully domesticated a close relative of the dog, namely, the fox.  There is an in-depth discussion of how they went about it starting in the 1950's in a National Geographic article here if you are so inclined to take that journey. 

In the case of the above mentioned Vegas show, where dogs and cats rescued from shelters live with the performer, are still treated as pets, trained with positive reinforcement, and allowed to retire and still live with their humans when they no longer want to perform, I believe it is quite safe to say dogs and cats = willing performers.

What about circus elephants?  Elephants are highly social creatures, so does being in front of a large group of people satisfy their social nature?  They live out their entire lives walking miles per day, foraging for their food.  Does being chained to a train car from city to city satisfy their need to wander?  What about family?  They stay with a life-long bonded matriarchal family group.  If you've ever been around a dog or cat that has puppies or kittens and seen what happens around six weeks of nursing, then you know about the fundamental difference!  At six weeks, mama-dog has had enough of the nursing interlopers and starts shaking them off of her.  Not that they don't get along once weaning is over, but when mama is done, mama is done. 

Not so with elephants.  Elephants nurse their calves for upwards of four years.  If you'll think back to the Disney movie, Dumbo, you'll recall that the mother elephant was locked away and labeled insane for trying to protect her baby.  This representation is actually truer to life than we would like to believe.  Baby elephants bound for the circus are ripped from their mothers before one year of age to begin "training".  This involves a series of "learned helplessness" exercises.  Baby elephants are strapped to the ground, hog-tied, waterboarded.  That's right.  I said waterboarded.  A huge elephant can only be controlled if it thinks it is helpless.  Bullhooks are used to stab all over their bodies to keep them in line.  Elephants = NON-willing performers.  There are plenty of photos and videos, so don't take my word for it, please.  You can click here to see training photos, or you can do a simple Google search and find plenty on your own.  Again, all of this is done in the name of entertaining children.  Oh, and of course, "conservation."  

A huge problem here is that parents mean well.  Parents want their children to have memorable experiences, to learn about animals, and to be entertained.  Businesses like circus groups prey on this.  If it really was just about the children, they would have retired their wild animals a long time ago, but they know that elephants bring in crowds. 

That's where we, as rescue folks, come in.  On Wednesday night, July 30th, we're bringing a different kind of crowd to the circus. 

Mazie's Mission was founded on many principles, one of which, is to bring rescue groups together.  We only serve other rescues, not the public, so we encourage working together with groups that share common interests.  The group that has organized this protest of the treatment of animals by Ringling Bros Circus is Animal Connection of Texas.  Their website is here.  They have created an event on Facebook with the details that you can visit and share here:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1422741611346763/

We hope that you will come stand beside us.  

It's just a couple of hours for those of us that are willing participants, but it is a lifetime for the non-willing, tortured animals inside American Airlines Center. It is a peaceful protest and signs will be provided.  

At the very least, we ask that you share this information so that maybe one day, circuses will only employ willing performers.  

Thanks for reading and sharing,

---The Mazie's Mission Family

Top Ten Reasons to Get on Instagram Right MEOW

Ahhhh, Facebook.  Social media bread and butter for rescue groups.  We can network, share animals in need, commiserate, send messages....  Where would we be without it?  Of course, sometimes the drama can be a bit much.  Also, there's twitter, the birthplace of the hashtag.  Here's me when I find myself in the twittersphere, trying to tweet or whatever:

What I look like, tweeterittering

Maybe someday I'll figure it out.  #dontholdyourbreath #nottrendy #imdoinitrong

Then, there's Instagram.  Oh, how I love Instagram.  There's no drama b/c you can't share stuff.  Okay technically, I guess you could if you wanted to, but it takes like, 47 steps and I draw the line at 45 mmmkay?  People are there because of common interests and/or for the sheer beauty of photography, so there's a shocking (and dare I say wonderful) lack of selfies.  If you come across a bunch of selfies on Instagram, you're following the wrong people.  Here are the top 10 reasons we've found to keep going back to Instagram:


10)  Sookpit

Not only do you get adorable pics of rescued pibbles, you get great shots of the South Texas landscape.  Sookie's people recently got a GoPro and the shots are amazing.  #dontbullymybreed



9)  InstaSquirrel

ermahgerd.

This is the North American Squirrel Preservation Association aka, You Had Me At Squirrel  :)  It says on their homepage that they donate $1 to NASPA for each new follower so get to followin'.  #instacute



8)  dallasvegan

So maybe you're thinking, "I'm not vegan".  YET.  I mean, do you see this here food?!  Plus, maybe you have friends come into town.  Maybe they're vegan and you didn't know it.  Maybe they ask where a good place for dinner is....  Maybe you're all, "ummm.... most Tex-Mex places have cheese enchiladas..."  Wrong answer, compadre.   Then maybe you remember you follow Dallas Vegan on instagram and BOOM.  InstaHERO is your new name.  You're welcome.  #getinmahbelly



7)  Bite sized bakery

Disclaimer:  This bakery is NOT in Texas.  It's NOT vegan.  I have no idea how I stumbled on this account, but I am not even sorry.  They specialize in cake pops.  Those are Calla Lilies made out of cake and unicorn dust, fool.  Each picture looks more delicious than the last.  #sugarcoma





6)  Hotelroomer

This countdown was seriously lacking in cats until now.  This is....wait for it....


A HOTEL FOR CATS.  It's located in Lyon, France, so you don't understand a word they say, but also, they're CATS.  I hope they accept people too because if I ever find myself in Lyon, France, my ass is checking in.  I will put on a cat suit and make myself at home.  #dontjudge




6)  Sylvia Elzafon

You can find her work on the walls of Dallas Animal Services, on the sides of buses cruising around Dallas, at Be Raw Food and Juice, on the cover of Beg by Rory Freedman, and lots of other places.  Of course that would mean a lot of driving around, and Instagram can save you all of that.  Rescue dogs, delicious food, glorious photography.  #toknowheristoloveher




5)  Tofu the Tiny Pig

Okay.  This is exactly what it looks like.  A tiny pig and his dog-brother.  I melt every time this account posts a pic.  GAH!  Have to move on.  #friendnotfood




4)  Ivy Raptors

This one is SUPER fun because you can tag them with a pic of your pet with it's best raptor-face and they share them.  The whole account is dog and kitty funny faces.  #rawr





3) Hamilton the Hipster Cat

522,000 followers can't be wrong.  At least not all of them.  Yes, that is a cat with a perfect mustache. No, I have never tried to google an address so I can go steal him.  There are tons of pics and videos of him, and they are all equally adorable.  #hetotallydrinkscraftbeer



2) Nelson the Goldendoodle

He was featured recently in D Magazine's Blog, Front Burner for being the "coolest dog in Dallas".  I'm sure you tell your dog that he's the coolest, but let's be real.  This dog rides around bar-hopping in the sidecar of a vintage Vespa wearing doggles.  If I am ever lucky enough to see this dog in real life, you will hear the scream.  I will be like an 11-year old girl at a One Direction concert that has cameos from Justin Timberlake and Harry Potter (no, I don't mean Daniel Radcliffe, I mean the actual Harry Potter).  #thereisnohashtagcoolenoughforthisdog




1) Mazie's Mission

HEY it's our blog, so we make the rules.  Don't make this cat drop down from her perch and get you.  Okay, really, we are new to Instagram so if you go on there to check out these cool accounts, let them know we sent you (and they will be like, "who?") and maybe we'll get some followers out of the deal.  :)  #followusaround  Our instagram username is Maziesmission1.

And of course if you have some you'd like to share, let us know in the comments.  :)


xoxox,

---The Mazie's Mission Family

The Nature of Loss

For some reason, the last few months have been especially difficult for the animal lovers in my circles.  My parents and several good friends have lost their beloved pets in just the last week.  My sister and several other friends have as well in the last couple of months.

There are only a few ways for it to happen when you boil it down.  Sometimes an accident or acute illness takes one from us very suddenly.  There is shock and sadness, but at least we know he didn't suffer.  Other times old age creeps up and takes one.  It doesn't make it any easier to know it's coming, but he has lived a long, full life.  If we are being realistic, is there anything else, anything better we could ask for?  Then, there's the toughest one.  A pet is ailing and we know he isn't going to get better.  There are more bad days than good.  Anyone who has had to make a call like this will tell you that the pet lets you know when he is ready. 

I read an excerpt from a book several years ago that said animals do not fear death the way we do.  They do not dread what is to come.  They live in the moment and that is what makes them such beautiful creatures.  The problem is that even knowing this, we are still devastated.  This is one situation that knowledge cannot mitigate.  It doesn't matter that we know the suffering will end.  And it's hard to know whether or not we are being selfish by keeping them with us one day longer.  The final act of mercy we can give our companions is to end the suffering when the time comes.

To me, the people who are the most selfish are the ones who refuse to accompany their long-time friend and companion on his final transition.  Dogs have been domesticated by us for thousands of years to crave our company.  Their very DNA has been bent to convince them that humankind is the center of the universe.  They trust us.  To abandon a soul like this, either by dropping him off at a shelter or leaving him at a vet for their office to do the dirty work because it's "too difficult" is unforgivable as far as I am concerned.  

Everyone who reads this will have similar experiences in loss.  My parents had to take their little schnauzer, Gretchen, on her final journey last week.  I remember her as a spry, barky puppy...not as the blind and deaf senior lady she had become.  My dad took her out to their land and buried her because he felt like that was where she would want to be.  She was 13.

Some very dear friends had to make a similar decision last week.  A final act of mercy.  Their sweet boxer had stopped eating and they learned she had late-stage lymphoma.  I remember when they brought her home 10 years ago.  They named her after Pallas Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom, companion of heroes.  She had the sweetest smushy boxer face you'd ever see.

Sixteen years ago, a fellow animal rescuer brought a tiny beagle home with her "temporarily".  On Saturday, she spent his last day on earth with him.  A final act of mercy.  I am convinced that if all it took to keep our pets alive was our unconditional love, that rescuers would have pets that lived exactly as long as they did.  Of course that would mean that we as humans are capable of the type of unselfish love that dogs bestow upon us.

So now that you're sufficiently depressed, there is one other type of loss...but this one you can help with.  As I said earlier, showing a pet a final act of mercy by ending his suffering is one of the most noble things we can do in this life.  What if the final act of our mercy isn't ending a life, but giving our pets a better one?

There is a clause in the Mazie's Mission adoption contract that says the adopter agrees to notify us if there is ever a time when the adopter can no longer care for this pet.  We want to make sure that the animals we have spent so much time on rehabilitating never have to set a paw inside a shelter again if at all possible.  If an adopter is having difficulties, we offer any assistance we can give.  We supply things like food and other basic necessities.  We work with a local non-profit called Hope's Door that takes in victims of domestic violence to offer temporary foster solutions for their pets.  And on the rare occasion that despite all efforts, pets have to be returned, we assist the adopter in re-homing pets they can no longer care for.  If you have followed us for a long time, you may remember Rally, a pit bull mix whose facial injuries from abuse had to have several surgeries.  Her name is Eleanor Rigby now.

When we first pulled her from Dallas Animal Services, she had a missing lip, prolapsed uterus and bronchopneumonia:

You may also remember Ox, a gorgeous black lab who was left tied up to a dumpster and picked up by local animal services.  He now goes by Miles Davis:

They have lived happily together for the last 3 years, but their adopter contacted us last week and explained that she could no longer adequately take care of their needs.  This is not a case of "I got new curtains and the dogs don't match them now" or "I'm moving tomorrow and need someone to take these dogs".  The first line of the email read, "This is the hardest email I've ever had to write".  

Without going into all of the personal details, these two sweet dogs need new homes through no fault of their own.  We have been given a couple of months to find a place for them to go.  

It is very easy to judge someone.  It is not easy to stand up and do something.  Last year, we helped a woman with terminal cancer re-home her precious yorkie.  Somehow, the universe gave me the fortitude to sit with that lady for 30 minutes while she talked about how she believed that our volunteer, who met her at Baylor hospital, was an angel sent to her to help find a loving place for Tootsie to go, without bawling my eyes out.  This final act of mercy was one of the bravest, most self-less things I've ever seen in my life.  I defy anyone to say that she should have just kept the dog.

Tootsie, with flowers her mama sent to her new foster

We are asking for your help in doing the right thing.  If you are able to foster or adopt either Rigby (Rally) or Miles (Ox) please contact us as soon as possible. The adopter says they do not have to stay together.  They love each other, but are not inseparably bonded the way some dogs are.  They are currently in Oak Cliff, just south of Dallas.

Thank you for sharing so that we can assist this family in their final act of mercy for Rigby and Miles.  They will see this post, so if you have any similar stories, please share them here.  Pain shared is divided.

<3

A pain I can control

One of the questions I get most often as I proudly show friends pictures of our current foster(s) is, "How do you let them go?".  This is followed by the statement, "I could never do what you do".  Even other people involved in rescue--transporters, adoption event volunteers, fundraising organizers, etc--are often afraid to commit to fostering.  My answer is surprisingly simple.  The pain is one I can control.

Without waxing too poetic, there's a lot of bad stuff out there in the world.  Stuff I have ZERO control over.  Stuff I can't begin to understand.  But the pain of seeing a happy, healthy dog leave my arms to go to a forever family that loves it... well that's temporary.  Don't get me wrong, I cry the whole way home.  Every time.  Like. An. Idiot.  The pain of seeing photos of dogs that I could not save...that never goes away.  Those innocent faces haunt my nightmares.

In my opinion, fostering is THE most important aspect of rescue.  You might disagree with me on this point, but the fact stands that most rescues do not have a physical location.  This means that no matter how badly they want to help an animal, there is no way to do it unless the car that gives the animal a freedom ride has somewhere to go.  Adoption events are crucial, veterinary expenses are critical, and networking is vital, but again, none of this would matter if there were no fosters.

Where are we going?

You see a litter of cute puppies in the shelter and think, "Oh!  I want to help!".  Followed by a steady stream of:
My dogs will throw a fit
My cat will throw a fit
My husband will throw a fit
My kids will throw a fit (although this will be an excited fit, not a what-is-wrong-with-you fit)
It will eat my shoes
It will eat my furniture
It will eat my flowers
It will pee on my rug
It will poop in my house
It will cry
I'll have to crate train it
What if it needs medicine
What if it doesn't get adopted in 1.5 days
What if....

What if I get attached


There is a well-known term for this:  Foster Failure

"Compassion is fostering a homeless animal"

Look at me, being all clever and posting this as my facebook profile pic....and then we ended up adopting this dog.  womp-womp.  Foster failures.  So it definitely does happen, but it is actually frowned upon by many rescue groups.  Why???  Because if you choose to keep an animal, that usually means you can't foster another.

My first foster failure ALMOST happened a few years ago.  Her name was Bella.

She was terrified of people.  Even after living with us for several weeks, she still preferred to stay on her bed in a room by herself.  I always wonder what humans have done to poor souls like this to make them so afraid.

Those are my two hoodlums napping in the background

I called her my Bella Blue because she always looked so sad.  One day, at the gym with a friend, I got a text from a volunteer at our adoption event that said, "Some people have filled out an app on Bella".  I immediately burst into tears.  I actually am tearing up right now just thinking about it.  "Who are they?  Do they have kids? She can't be around kids!  Do they have other dogs???  She needs to be an only dog!"  I looked for any excuse to say no.  Which is the crazy rescue lady response, not the acceptable, normal one.  As it turned out, they were perfect.  And as shy as she was, she actually bonded with them immediately.

Seeing her go broke my heart, but looking at the steady stream of doggy-faces that came after her, little ones that I would not have been able to save if I had kept her, gives me peace.  A pain I can control.

Yes, your shoes *might* get eaten, and your rug *might* get peed on.  Is an animal's life worth less than a pair of shoes?  Maybe some people wear fancier shoes than I do...  Of course this is a simplification, but I promise that if you give fostering a try, you'll see what I mean.  Hey, I might even buy you a replacement pair of shoes.  ;)


xoxo,


---the Mazie's Mission family