Those Who Do, Do…Those Who Do Nothing, Complain
by John Flores
“You are always talking about saving abused and starving dogs. Don’t you know there are children dying out there?”
Since I’ve started animal rescue, I’ve been hearing this more and more. Whether it is in conversation, social media or email, comments like these come up. And I get it, there are starving children, we are in a drought, and there are homeless people out there. In no way am I ignoring these things but that isn’t the path I’ve chosen. I don’t get mad at doctors for not being able to fix the transmission in my car. And I definitely don’t give the person running a food drive any lip about not having dog food available.
This is the way I see it, the people who do things, do them. And the people that don’t….well, they’re the ones who spend all their energy harping on the people who are trying to make this world better. It’s quite obvious there are more of them around or else these problems in the world may not be so bad. I think a majority of the people in this world think if something doesn’t bring you monetary value then it’s a waste of time or it’s not worth doing. We all need to make a living but part of the reason there’s so much to “fix” in this world is that exact type of selfish thinking.
Both of my parents worked 50+ hours a week for over 40 years and still managed to take care of 3-4 dogs at a time, dogs they never asked for, dogs that just needed homes. This isn’t about picking what the “best” thing is to do; it’s about picking the right thing. And my parents always told me, if you’re helping someone or something other than yourself; it’s always the right thing. It just so happens, I’ve chosen to help homeless animals. You see, the people who are feeding the homeless don’t say anything to me because they’re too busy doing their own thing. The only people that have a problem with it are the people who do nothing because they see nothing in it for them. You see, when it comes to volunteering your time for any cause, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing to help, the only thing that matters is that you’re helping.
And for me, (and many others), animal advocacy is a passion. Promoting bully breeds in a positive light is a passion. I know this because I do it for free. The only thing I regret about it is the fact it took me about 35 years to find my passion. I think society as a whole just lacks compassion and unfortunately compassion cannot be bought.
People matter. Animals matter. And in my world….”pit bulls” especially matter.
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LOVE THIS! XOXOX
Agree with you completely!
Thank you!
Well your work is truly inspirational. You know this story but I wanted to share. We adopted a Pit Bull because I followed your story with your dogs and wanted to be part of the solution. 10 months later my wife, who had never had a dog before we adopted Valentino, rescued a dog who had been abandoned at the park that we take him to. I say we adopted Valentino but she rescued Parker because he was at a no kill shelter but Parker never had to go to a shelter because my wife couldn’t let anything bad happen to this beautiful little girl. Now we feel like we have hit the dog lottery totally by luck and not without a little hard work. John you can take credit for saving two more Pitties.
Terry, your story inspires me!! You and Sarah are awesome!!!