Mickey and the puppy were supposed to be on a flight this morning to our fine neighbor to the north. However, a little video went out about said neighbor, hitting the internet rescue community by storm yesterday, and so Mickey's travel plans had to be put on hold.
I won't get into the details of the viral video, but essentially it made allegations conveying a Canadian animal rescue as a fraud who steals donations and then brokers pets with no home checks or completed adoption applications. Being a skeptic of any "undercover" footage, I was suspicious, but I admit that for a few moments I let the propaganda get to me and actually questioned where Mickey was going. It wasn't the same rescue, but because I couldn't go and see for myself where he would end up, I did start to wonder what the future held for him.
Many rescuers voiced these same concerns, and so Alexis had to spend her time doing PR damage control, and was not able to organize the transport of Mickey from airport to foster home. I had sent her a link to the video and told her she might want to comment (meaning to everyone, not just me), and she sent back an email response, calming any brief doubts I had. I felt a bit guilty for doubting, but more so for wasting even more of her time. I'm sure the email she sent me was one of many she had written recently, and the reason why the details of Mickey's transport couldn't be completed.
I really didn't get the feeling Mickey would be in harm's way up there. It wasn't the same rescue in the video, but now all Canadian rescues were under scrutiny. I believed Alexis, and I knew she was a matchmaker and had adoption applications and did home checks. I had asked her about the rescue before I even picked up Mickey, since I couldn't see for myself where he was going, and I don't want to transport any animal to a worse place then whence they come from.
I don't know how it was eventually resolved, but in the end, the new, new, new plan was this: Alexis was flying out to Los Angeles on Monday. The puppy could leave on Saturday now (he had transport from the airport by his adoptive parents), and Eric, who had been fostering the puppy, could then take over fostering Mickey. Alexis would try to get Mickey a home here locally. If one couldn't be found on her visit, he would travel back with her and officially become a Canadian citizen.
If I could have continued fostering Mickey, I would have. But now that it was unknown when and if he'd be able to leave the country, I couldn't keep him. If nothing else, I hoped he would have a better time at his new foster's. Eric has two other dogs, so Mickey's need to play with others of his own kind would finally be fulfilled. I had planned on keeping him until his flight or until he had a new foster. He had a new foster, a good foster. Christy offered to take him over for me, or find another transport, but I had to see Eric's place for myself. I couldn't go to Canada with Mickey to make sure he'd be someplace I felt worthy, but I could check out where he was going now. I had no doubts that Eric was a fine foster, but I wanted to make sure Mickey was comfortable there with the other dogs.
But of course, this is just a plan, and we all know how plans turn out. I have this strange feeling Mickey might not be leaving after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment