On Saturday night Kathi and I attended a fundraiser for Muttville, an organization dedicated to senior dog rescue. Although we don’t own a dog, some of our best friends are dogs. But we were really t
here for our friends David and Emily Pottruck—huge supporters of this good cause—and animal advocate and rescue worker Sherri Franklin, the founder of Muttville. In addition to being a friend, Sherri is Kathi’s consiglieri (i.e. her hairdresser).
I can be something of a cynic. I know this may surprise you, but it’s true. “Why dogs?” I asked, as we entered the event. “Why old dogs? Why not concentrate our efforts on the many needy young ones? What about neglected and abused elderly people? Or children? What about all the animals we are crowding and killing into extinction? What about trees and other fauna? Why are old dogs in San Francisco so special? Who am I talking to? And why am I quoting myself in my own blog?”
These are valid questions. How do we prioritize who we help? Should we help the folks starving in Africa, or should we concentrate on the people nearer to home, in Haiti, or right here at home?
It’s good to ask tough questions, but it’s better to just do something good. One day Sherri watched as an old German Shepherd was literally dragged into a shelter by its owner, who had decided it was time to dispose of the dog. The story brought tears to my eyes. But Sherri didn’t just cry or get angry—she did something to help other aging dogs. Because of Sherri and the Pottrucks and many other volunteers, a time came when Sherri could say about a dog that was being left at a shelter to be euthanized, “Muttville will take that dog.” To date, Muttville has saved more than a thousand senior dogs, providing them with shelter, veterinary care, love, and in many cases a new home.
The question is not, “Why help old dogs?” Our world need not be a zero-sum game where one living being’s gain is another’s loss. We should help old dogs and we should help old people and the old and young and hungry and care for our environment because it is our responsibility—because we are all in this together. How best to help may sometimes be a complicated question, but it should never stop us from doing something good for another. Sherri saw a need—an injustice—and she did something about it. Did Sherri do the right thing? Ask the 1,000 dogs that got to live on in dignity. Ask the people who adopted the dogs.
We don’t ever need to lie in bed at night tossing and turning, wondering why we are here (not that this ever happens to me). We are here for others and they are here for us: dogs, trees, geese, children, the elderly—the whole of creation—all for one, and one for all. Find a way to help and lend a hand. Or a paw.