"Redemption Porn"

How much cute can you take?

Wesley is available at outofthepits.org

It’s upsetting enough to read the human news every morning, and then go to the animal news, a parallel set of unfathomably cruel stories. But there’s often no competition. We are passionately linked to our dogs and cats. When they suffer—we do too. As Malcolm Nance, writer, soldier and activist, recently told an audience of protesters in Hudson, New York, when he went to fight with the Ukrainian people, residents begged him to search for their missing dogs and cats in the streets. So that’s what he did.

Myriad homeless dogs and cats are living in the streets all over the world and many of them are starving. Meanwhile, the Internet is filled with happy endings, narratives of animals who are nearly dead and thankfully rescued at the last minute by heroic individuals. Indeed, those who rescue and foster dogs and cats are heroic. They take in the animals and make them user friendly so we can adopt them. Their stories, each one more moving than the next, go viral on social media. Some rescue pundits refer to this genre as “redemption porn.” It makes us feel good to watch all these happy endings, despite the misery that we know lurks behind the walls of our municipal shelters.

I confess that redemption porn is addictive. And some of the story tellers have become so slick that they are now called “influencers.” The “Dogist,” one of the good guys, wanders around various neighborhoods interviewing dog owners while shooting their best friends. But he also goes to shelters and rescues to photograph dogs who need homes. The guy has a big heart—and a book contract. Its title is: “This Dog Will Change Your life,” by Elias Weiss Friedman (aka The Dogist.) I’m going to buy it.

Then there are the foster mothers and fathers who video their new guest—neglected, abused, ill—every few hours and post the progress. Thousands of people tune in, hoping the dog will be transformed on camera and finally find a home. The thing is—they do! I find myself glued to these stories. We are all looking for redemption.

Life has changed for us now that a mad man has taken over the government, and everything has changed for our dogs and cats as well. We are still adopting them, but dumping them faster than ever, because—who knows? Kicked out of the country? Fired from your job? Vet care too expensive or hard to find? The dog pooped on the rug? So examine your impulse to get a dog because it might be misguided. Maybe you were inspired by all the redemption porn which makes dog ownership look like a walk in the park, which it is not.

When I first began volunteering at shelters and rescues, I spent a great deal of time talking people out of adopting the dogs they wanted. I mean who could resist Wesley, the pup at the top of this page? He came into rescue with a spiral fracture on his tibia and he needed four months of recovery post surgery. Ever try and keep a frisky puppy quiet? His foster family was determined to keep him until he was healthy and not in danger of re-injuring himself. What patience! But also—they are knowledgeable and experienced. It’s easy to love animals—much harder to take care of them.

I write a lot about the folks who run Out of the Pits (OOTP) because I admire them. For decades they have focused on the hardest breed to adopt out (pit bulls, or whatever you want to call them) and quietly saved thousands of dogs. Now that the reputation of the pit bull has been rehabilitated (in most circles), and people understand that the dogs are fabulous (even though some can be a pain in the ass), OOTP takes in all kinds of dogs in need. Yesterday, a pregnant dog about to deliver was dumped at a police station. Without even seeing her, OOTP took her in. “She shouldn’t be having her babies in a police station on the cement floor,” the rescuer told me. “We can help her.”

After years of visiting shelters, eventually I realized that the people adopting and dumping the animals were virtually the same. Not literally the same, but they were cut from the same cloth. They needed training, just like their dogs. We all need it.

Nothing is worse for an animal who has just been sprung from a shelter—to be returned to a cold, cement cage. And it’s harder to adopt out a dog who has been returned. One shelter recently had a large, gorgeous golden retriever returned three times; the dog was “too loving.” That’s a first!

So, let’s look at some statistics. Last year, more cats were adopted than dogs and more than half, 57% , of the dogs who landed in shelters were adopted, as opposed to euthanized. This is not a great figure, especially since Best Friends, among other organizations predicted that the country would be “No Kill” by 2025. This prediction may have encouraged people to adopt, but it was wishful thinking. We are a long way from No Kill. Our shelters and rescues are wildly underfunded. They can’t hold onto animals if they can’t afford vet care and food. According to an organization called “Shelter Animals Count,” which offers stats on dogs and cats, there are 1,109 rescue groups in New York State and 336 shelters. These numbers are probably low, because so few shelters and rescues report their data. But please remember that the same financial crisis that is hitting us—has a big impact on our animals.

Carly Ann and Scarlet Rose. Bonded sisters waiting for a home after their owner died. Contact Peppertree.org