As many of you know, I’m an animal rescuer. And to be completely honest, my soft heart for animals weighs heavily on me at times. Where I live, we don’t have animal control or a shelter that can take in every dog that needs a home. The reality of how many animals are neglected or abandoned can feel overwhelming. Sometimes it even takes a toll on my mental health.
But when I start to lose hope, I always come back to the starfish story. A little boy was walking along the beach, tossing starfish back into the ocean one by one. A man told him, “You’ll never save them all. It doesn’t matter.” And the boy replied, as he picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, “It matters to this one.”
That story reminds me that maybe I cannot save them all, but it matters to the one in front of me when I choose to help.
Most recently, my friend Jourdan was heartbroken over a dog that a family member of hers had adopted from our local shelter three years ago. The dog, Mama, had been living in a kennel on a deck ever since, confined for at least 23 hours a day and always on the deck.
When her family member decided they no longer wanted her, I knew her chances weren’t good. She was not a trendy breed or a tiny puppy. She was simply a 4-year-old Mountain Cur mix, weighing just 28 pounds, with a heart that only wanted to love.
We tried social media. We posted her photos. We shared her story. But no one reached out to adopt her.
One evening as I sat on my deck, worrying myself sick about Mama’s future, I prayed to St. Francis, the patron saint of animals. And suddenly, I remembered a Facebook friend of mine, Tracy, who had once shared the heartbreaking story of her own missing stray dog. On a whim, I messaged her and pleaded Mama’s story. To my surprise, she spoke with her husband Dave, and they said the words I was desperate to hear: “We will take her and she will never have to be in a crate again if she doesn’t want to.”
Today, Mama is living in the country with their family, where she is treated like a queen. She even has a new dog sibling named Radar, whom she adores.
