French Bulldog Last Chance Rescue
In the aftermath of Dakota, those of us who have been so incredibly frustrated by this entire situation are faced with a choice.
We can give up on rescue altogether, toss in the towel and let the dogs fare for themselves. We can decide that rescue is just too hard, too painful and too emotionally fraught. We can choose to walk away.
We can devolve into bickering, as many of us (myself included) have been doing for the last few days. We can become bitter, jaded, angry. We can point fingers, assign blame and watch as rescue in North America turns into a game of politics, more than an exercise in saving French Bulldog lives.
We can put our heads down, ignore it all, call for peace and cry that we should all just get along. We can cross our fingers and hope that there will be homes for the other Dakotas in the future, in spite of the fact that a lot of rescues are walking away from this situation deciding that the Dakotas of the world are just too much trouble.
Our we can choose another option altogether – to look for a solution, to work for a change.
From Charlotte Creeley (Founder, French Bulldog Rescue Network – FBRN, and French Bulldog Village – FBV) –
Following discussions with various French Bulldog rescue supporters and the pledge of a significant amount of funding, we have started a new North American (USA and Canada) French Bulldog rescue group, the French Bulldog Last Chance Rescue (FBLastChance). We do not intend or want to impede the efforts of the existing rescues, our target group is the temperamentally challenged French Bulldog. The… death of Dakota has brought into sharp focus the fact that, as few and far between as these dogs might be, they deserve our help too. If we believe that a French Bulldog can be rehabbed, we aim to give him or her that last chance.
We will be announcing our board of directors as soon as we have final confirmations. Right now, we are in the planning stages, and we welcome your input, your support, your expertise, and especially your willingness to open your home as a foster home for one of our dogs going forward.
If you are interesting in becoming a volunteer in any capacity, please join our email group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/FBLastChance/
No secrets, no politics. These dogs need our help.
Should Dakota Be Saved?
Update: RIP, Dakota.
The French Bulldog Rescue community is currently abuzz over a French Bulldog named Dakota. I have my own experience with a biting French Bulldog that caused a furor – a little cranky dog aptly nicknamed Cujo, who quite honestly is the only Frenchie who has ever scared the beejesus out of me. My friend Charlotte fostered him, and Charlotte was convinced that with enough love and enough training, Cujo could be redeemed. Within five minutes of meeting him, my opinion was that the kindest thing to do with Cujo would be to put him down.
When that happened, the public outcry was enormous – strident enough that I packed it in on a few mailing lists after Charlotte was called a “murderer”. Funny how, when I said to some of the women screaming loudly that, the next time a biting dog showed up on rescue’s doorsteps, we’d happily pack it in a box and ship it to their homes, they instantly let us know that “oh, no – I can’t foster a dog, especially not one who bites. I just think someone else should have done something”.
In Dakota’s case, there are lots of “someone else’s” willing to do something, and that includes volunteers who have previously had Dakota in their homes. In this case, the question becomes “Are you still allowed to call yourself a rescue, if you refuse to allow your volunteers to allow to rescue a dog?”. Or do rescues have the right to make executive decisions about the fate of dogs that people are, quite literally, begging to help?
Let me know your opinions. If you feel, like I do, that Dakota’s supporters deserve the chance to try to save him, then sign the petition. It might not do much, but it will let you make your opinions known to FBRN.
Here’s Dakota’s story, from the Petition Site:
Pierre is a Canadian!
Thanks to the combined efforts of Korean Animal Protection Society, Maya Shin of Pet Airline Korea (who was incredibly helpful – if Canadian shipping agents were as thorough as Maya, more of us would consider shipping dogs) and of ECFBR volunteers Michelle Williams and her sister, Yvette, Pierre has arrived safe and sound on Canadian soil.