
For several years while I lived in coastal Maine, I volunteered many hours a week at the Marine Animal Lifeline. The Lifeline primarily rescued sick seals and pups (sometimes less than a day old) who had been separated from their mothers. We would take them to our facility, rehab them, and return them to the wild as soon as they were strong enough to fend for themselves. Every so often we’d come across a seal that couldn’t be returned to the wild--I remember one in particular who had been shot in the head by a fisherman who felt justified to kill seals because they dared to eat fish! In that case, the seal was rehabbed over a number of months and finally given to the Central Park Zoo in New York City.
We treated harbor seals, grey seals, hooded seals, and harp seals. Most were pups or juveniles. It was truly an honor to interact with these wild animals and to learn more about them. At the risk of revealing my very sappy side, I confess that I cried at the first release that I attended. We released approximately 6 harbor seals, all of whom had spent time with us for many months. We raised them as babies and helped them transition into seals that could live on their own in the wild. The tears were, in part, tears of joy, but also sadness. While I knew these rehabbed seals belonged in the wild, I feared for their safety. It’s a big, dangerous ocean out there with quite a few predators looking for a meal! After months of feedings, medications, and cleanings, I could hardly help but to feel bonded to these creatures, even though they would bite at the drop of a pin. It’s not as though we had a warm, cuddly relationship. They were, after all, wild.
Despite the distance we had to keep from them, largely out of a need to keep them from getting too comfortable with people (a potentially dangerous thing for a seal), we gave each seal a name and observed them as certain personality traits emerged. They were individuals with distinct personalities--some more noteworthy than others.
I think most people thought that the Lifeline existed to protect the species as a whole. This really wasn’t true. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with the director of the Lifeline as we were being forced to euthanize a very sick and untreatable harp seal who was suffering greatly. As the director explained to me in this conversation, although we were saving hundreds of seals a year, our work did not have a significant impact on the overall seal population. The reason we spent so many arduous hours caring for our charges was because we cared about them as individuals. Each life was worthy of being saved. The need to help them was all the more urgent for me because most of the seals had landed in the facility because of problems created by people.
So what does this have to do with dogs? A lot, actually. Each dog I encounter is a sentient being worthy of respect. Much of my work as a trainer is geared toward promoting a positive relationship between the dog and the person. If that relationship doesn’t work, shelters fill up and more dogs are put down.
Quite some time ago I began work with Pepper (pictured here), a very nervous and fearful rescue dog who had been adopted by an older woman. Within days of adopting him, the woman suffered from a stroke followed by several others in fairly quick succession. The woman’s daughter nevertheless hired me for quite a few months to work with Pepper and help him overcome some of his anxiety. She knew she would not be able to keep Pepper herself. He was not well-suited to a home with children and she had a 2-year-old son. But her empathy for Pepper and his well-being was extraordinary in this world where so many people drop dogs off at shelters as though they were ridding themselves of old clothing at Goodwill or the Salvation Army. After months and months of searching during a very stressful time that included the death of her mother, the daughter found an appropriate new home for Pepper!
Would it really matter, in the scheme of things, if the daughter had given up and dumped him at a shelter where he might very well have been put down? It depends on how you think about it. Many would say he’s just another dog and there are plenty where he came from. It’s not as though dogs are close to extinction. This, of course, is not my own view. We save dogs who need our help for the same reason that we saved all of those seals. They are individuals worthy of our respect and each one matters simply because he or she exists. Bravo for Pepper’s old and new owners for stepping up and doing the right thing!
We treated harbor seals, grey seals, hooded seals, and harp seals. Most were pups or juveniles. It was truly an honor to interact with these wild animals and to learn more about them. At the risk of revealing my very sappy side, I confess that I cried at the first release that I attended. We released approximately 6 harbor seals, all of whom had spent time with us for many months. We raised them as babies and helped them transition into seals that could live on their own in the wild. The tears were, in part, tears of joy, but also sadness. While I knew these rehabbed seals belonged in the wild, I feared for their safety. It’s a big, dangerous ocean out there with quite a few predators looking for a meal! After months of feedings, medications, and cleanings, I could hardly help but to feel bonded to these creatures, even though they would bite at the drop of a pin. It’s not as though we had a warm, cuddly relationship. They were, after all, wild.
Despite the distance we had to keep from them, largely out of a need to keep them from getting too comfortable with people (a potentially dangerous thing for a seal), we gave each seal a name and observed them as certain personality traits emerged. They were individuals with distinct personalities--some more noteworthy than others.
I think most people thought that the Lifeline existed to protect the species as a whole. This really wasn’t true. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with the director of the Lifeline as we were being forced to euthanize a very sick and untreatable harp seal who was suffering greatly. As the director explained to me in this conversation, although we were saving hundreds of seals a year, our work did not have a significant impact on the overall seal population. The reason we spent so many arduous hours caring for our charges was because we cared about them as individuals. Each life was worthy of being saved. The need to help them was all the more urgent for me because most of the seals had landed in the facility because of problems created by people.
So what does this have to do with dogs? A lot, actually. Each dog I encounter is a sentient being worthy of respect. Much of my work as a trainer is geared toward promoting a positive relationship between the dog and the person. If that relationship doesn’t work, shelters fill up and more dogs are put down.
Quite some time ago I began work with Pepper (pictured here), a very nervous and fearful rescue dog who had been adopted by an older woman. Within days of adopting him, the woman suffered from a stroke followed by several others in fairly quick succession. The woman’s daughter nevertheless hired me for quite a few months to work with Pepper and help him overcome some of his anxiety. She knew she would not be able to keep Pepper herself. He was not well-suited to a home with children and she had a 2-year-old son. But her empathy for Pepper and his well-being was extraordinary in this world where so many people drop dogs off at shelters as though they were ridding themselves of old clothing at Goodwill or the Salvation Army. After months and months of searching during a very stressful time that included the death of her mother, the daughter found an appropriate new home for Pepper!
Would it really matter, in the scheme of things, if the daughter had given up and dumped him at a shelter where he might very well have been put down? It depends on how you think about it. Many would say he’s just another dog and there are plenty where he came from. It’s not as though dogs are close to extinction. This, of course, is not my own view. We save dogs who need our help for the same reason that we saved all of those seals. They are individuals worthy of our respect and each one matters simply because he or she exists. Bravo for Pepper’s old and new owners for stepping up and doing the right thing!