Welcome Home Sarah!

“The weight that lays on your shoulders
Could be the wings that carry you home” ….Live lyrics

I always thought of adoption as a sanctuary. A voice for those who can not speak for themselves. The ultimate protectors of hounds that are otherwise unwanted or in need. So when I look around our home and I see hounds that have been rejected by adoption, it almost leaves me speechless. Labeled, discarded, even threatened with death by those who have vowed to help them. I am left searching for words. But our hounds found safety. My heart cries for all those hounds we never hear about. Who go quietly, misunderstood.

We brought Sarah here as a foster. To help her find balance and then help her find a home. And even with documented proof of significantly improved behavior, someone still found it necessary to publicly vilify her on the largest greyhound internet forum. A seemingly determined attempt to ensure she never ever had a second chance.

After many long discussions, Ken and I decided that we have enough experience with hounds like Sarah to know that the label of “vicious” will hang heavily around her neck for the rest of her life. And were she to ever have a mis-step, the outcome would probably not be good for her. I still believe Sarah could go into just about any dog-experienced home and be a wonderful pet. But we are just not willing to gamble with Sarah’s life and put her into a situation we can’t control.

The aggression label was the weight on Sarah’s shoulders. Now, she can lay that burden down because she is home. With us. She likes it here and we certainly love her. She joins the ranks of Bucky and Lucas who both faced death at the hands of adoption. And I hope every adoption group out there can learn from her that every dog deserves a chance to be a balanced, happy dog. If egos can be laid down long enough to honestly seek help for something that just might be beyond one’s current abilities, more dogs might find help. It’s easy to adopt out cute, cat-safe, social butterflies. The dogs with issues are the ones that make you a better dog person at the end of the day and perhaps they are the really the ones who need us most.

So,please help us welcome home Sarah Jane Vaughn…Let her success and happiness as our pet serve as a reminder to all of us that circumstances dictate behavior. Labeling a dog is an absolute. And these dogs are anything but. Their behavior is a reflection of our willingness to help them. And I want to thank the adoption folks out there who do get this! I’m so grateful for you…because our house is pretty much full and we can’t take them all!

Tags: foster, greyhound, pack, Sarah