What the $*@! is Wrong with the Other 50% of People?

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Before you read Rasta’s blog today, first, I wish to thank our friends, family, board members and co-founders for all that you do. Our friends on Facebook have provided such tremendous moral support, love, and prayers that have kept us going, and donations have been made from $2.00 to $500.00 that have helped us weather the regular days and the really tough ones—every penny has counted and made a difference. Other friends and family have been with us on the ranch working, helping, giving time, energy, and love, or sending it via notes and prayers. For all that each and every one of you do, thank you from the girls on the ranch and all the animals, those in sanctuary, those adopted, those past and present. You make a difference in our lives every day and we appreciate you—you’re good people for whom we are so grateful.

Now on with the blog!


What the $*@! is Wrong With the Other 50% of People?
(I really hope it’s just 1%, but don’t want this confused with the 99%
because this isn’t political, it’s a sincere question from a girl on a rescue ranch)

Woke up this morning, several times to dogs asking to go out, then, finally, after a half-night’s sleep woke to realize Facebook had made changes to the way messages appear on the notification’s page. There was one we missed. A gentleman advertising a horse on Craig’s List received it and forwarded it to us. Although it was sent to him back in June, I have to respond in the wake of a series of events that have continued my life long lesson concerning how fundamentally screwed up so many people are.

You would think that animal rescue would be fairly simple once the animal is out of harms way, once it is off death row, out of the hands of an abuser, receiving food, water, love, and vet care. It’s the right thing to do, a good thing to do in a world where so much goes wrong and so many harms are committed, but, no, behind the scenes of animal rescue is really just another window into the games people play. There’s rampant jealousy, backstabbing, threats, and lies told not about the bad people who once had the animal in their possession, or the jackass backyard breeders, or the families too financially wiped out to care for their pets, but of all things, about the rescuers, about the people working daily to do the right thing. And, of course, as a rescuer, you also have to take crap from friends of people you may have rescued an animal from or those people themselves hiding behind the guise of more facades and lies.

Taking the relatively small world of animal rescue and the “theater” surrounding it we can then look at the larger picture and see this is what is wrong with the world—why there are wars, murders, inequities, starving, hatred etc.. It is because people lie, they lie to themselves, and they lie to the world. Politicians lie, pass blame, and fail to take responsibility and or a correct course of action because it’s all a game. Lives are often lost because of this and the toll on humanity as a whole is unconscionable. The world of animal rescue is a reflection of this.

Here’s the response the gentleman advertising his horse on CL received:

Had a horse on craigslist and this was one of the responses: Please be careful who comes to pickup your horses. If a nice sounding lady named C from "Rasta's Rescue Ranch" wants them please think twice. She got a pony from a friend, lied, tried to turn them in to Animal Welfare when they got upset. Because, instead of the promised vet care, she put the pony to sleep. She now runs a so called rescue named after this pony with a made up story so she can get donations. She can't afford vet care for any of her animals, just wants pets for her daughter to play with. Please do a home visit, or have a friend do so. Unless you want your friends to go up for sale and end up who knows where. Thanks, a friend

First, I have to address this blatant falsehood:

“Because, instead of the promised vet care, she put the pony to sleep.”

The day after Rasta’s arrival on our small ranch, two vets came over to check on Rasta. This Equine Hospital is a highly regarded horse hospital and the two vets were appalled by the condition of Rasta’s feet; he was severely foundered and in chronic pain for which there would never be relief. The woman who had Rasta allowed this poor pony to suffer day in and day out. The proper vet care was to relieve him of his suffering. Dr. Berkley Chesen and Dr. Feathers said there was nothing else in the world we could do for him and they would stand by that today.

Secondly this, a perpetuation of the lie:

“…made up a story so she can get donations…”

As a fiction writer, I could not have, would not have conceived of such a relentless heartbreaking story as that which Rasta told us. Rasta’s suffering was unconscionable and literally had been allowed to continue for years because those who possessed him did nothing in the earliest stages to correct the problem. They only allowed it to worsen until nothing more could be done.

On that fateful day alone, nearly one thousand dollars left my personal bank account and in the coming months thousands of more dollars, not donations, but personal money poured into the cause of animal rescue, not because we wanted donations, but because the suffering was appalling, the need too great to be ignored.

Third:

“….just wants pets for her daughter to play with.”

Oh, boy, this bothers me at the core of my being. For those who have met my daughter, you definitely feel it too. To the person who wrote this: One, don’t involve my daughter in your lying rant; two, you haven’t a clue about whom or what you are talking about.

Sometimes I have considered my daughter quite blessed to be living on a rescue ranch for all the lessons she is learning, invaluable lessons that will make her one of the best people you will ever meet when she is all grown up. I can say now she is already more fully rounded out as a human being then most of the adults I know. But to the idiot that actually wrote this, here’s the reality: running a rescue ranch is work, physical labor, there are animals to be fed, water buckets to be scrubbed, pens to muck, fences to build and mend, and these things must be done regardless of rain, cold, sleet, snow, wind and there’s a girl out there working the ranch right along side the adults, unless she has too much homework or is with her dad. She does this not because she has to, but because she lives what she believes in; her compassion is tangible. She knows commitment and responsibility. The harder lesson, though, is the heartbreak she has learned, the devastating reality of what happens when human beings do not do the right thing, or they lie, cheat, steal, or abuse.

To the person that wrote that statement from the bottom of my heart, the depths of my soul, may God/Karma/the Universe forgive you your ignorance, shame, blasphemy, hatred, lies, and inability to do the right thing, take responsibility for where you failed as a human being responsible for all the world’s creatures great and small.

You will never know how many tears have been shed on this rescue ranch, never know how many a little girl has cried for the failure of others, how many vets she has spent time with, how many hopes she has had for a better world, how much love she has experienced, nor the depths of compassion she has learned.

Finally, I am a fortunate woman, not for the wealth in my bank account, the fancy car I drive, the properties I own, or 5th avenue office of Rasta’s main branch (LOL, folks), but for my experience in life and the friends and family that I know, love, and cherish, most especially my daughter and Chandon Banning, co-founder of Rasta’s.

In 2009 there was no reason in the world for us to make the personal sacrifice of starting a rescue ranch, no one held a gun to our head, and the devil did not make promises about great riches via donations. No. I had a property that went underwater, lost a job, and necessarily sold off everything I possessed of any financial value. Starting an animal rescue was the craziest thing in the world to do, but fact is the underwater property was originally just that, and the pens were available, the yards and the land, and the reality was the need was overwhelming. Equine and dog rescues and sanctuaries were full, shelters filled to capacity, people were posting ads giving their horses away, some were letting them go to fend for themselves because they could no longer afford their care. Families were losing their homes and their beloved pets, and animals were going without vet care and food. The economy was beating the hell out of good and bad people all the same. I had the time, energy, will, and knowledge that you cannot just stand idly by. I also had a friend whose compassion and passion for animals absolutely compelled our action.

“Stand up for someone other than yourself” – this is something Ms. C. not only has written on her website, but something she honestly lives by. So, to the person that wrote to the man with a horse, again, God forgive you, because I won’t. You ultimately are responsible for Rasta’s story, you wrote it every time you looked at that pony and saw his feet all overgrown and twisted. You are responsible for the creation of Rasta’s Rescue Ranch and by my calculations you owe me personally $20,000 dollars. Stand up for someone other than yourself and do the right thing for once in your life.

Please make the check payable to Rasta’s Rescue Ranch, inc. a 501 (c)(3) public charity; all the proceeds will go to animals in need of a rescue, because of people like you.

And if anyone else out there has anymore lies to spread, and you know who you are, you better make the damn effort to talk to me first, because I’ve had it with your drama, your lies and innuendo, I’ve had it with your whining, your pleads and your backstabbing jealousy/hatred. Get your ass out to the ranch meet the animals, mend a fence, bust some ice, brush a horse, love a dog, toss a ball, hug a kid, realize the magic that happens when we put those who cannot defend themselves ahead of our personal needs otherwise shut the hell up!

Yours Truly,

S
Co-Founder
Rasta’s Rescue Ranch, Inc.