Charity Isn't Free

                                                   Empathy (and why it's so important) Hello friends.  Every now and then I like to vent in a blog post and I thank you for allowing me to do so.  One thing that everyone who runs any kind of non-profit charity, no matter whether it's animal oriented or human oriented,  have in common is a large amount of empathy.  You have to put yourself in the shoes (or paws) of those you are helping, understand their perspective and feel the need to help them through their problems.  Often this comes at a personal expense, time, energy, emotional upset, frustration, sadness, but it also provides satisfaction.  When you have helped someone and they tell you how much your help has meant to them, it fills you back up.  All of the thin...

                                                             Volunteers Needed! Do you love helping animals in need?  Do you want to make a difference in the life of a hungry pet? Rex The TV Terrier, Inc. provides food, supplies, prescription medicine and food and limited veterinary assistance to people suffering from financial hardship.  By supporting people in their time of need, we are keeping pets in their loving homes and out of shelters and rescues.  Now, more than ever, our help is desperately needed.                                                            Fundraising Assistant We are seeking someone who...

It's National Dog Day, so why are people giving up their dogs in record numbers?     There is a crisis.  An undeniable, heartbreaking crisis.  Owner surrenders of dogs to rescue and shelters are at record highs.  Contributions and donations to animal charities are at a record low. Being that we are extremely fond of the bull terrier breed, we have partnered with and collaborated with bull terrier rescues across the nation.  I was heartbroken to see that one of our friends, and an incredible organization, Blue Ridge Bull Terrier Rescue had to close to intake because they simply did not have the funds to continue to operate.  I am hoping that their call to action will generate enough donations for them to open up again to saving bull terriers very soon.  But they are one of many. We have also been experiencing a huge surge in requests for assistance from people who are doing everything to try to keep their pets.  Some are feeding them food mean...

                                        Nancy Drew, Animal Welfare Sleuth I've written about this before, so it may be getting old to some of you.  But the last two weeks have been rife with people with no conscience, no sense of responsibility and OMG such entitlement issues. Part of this blog post is just me venting, because I have to spend hours investigating so many sketchy requests and part of this is so that the people who donate to us know that I am as thorough as I can possibly be when spending the charity's money on pet food and supplies. The month of January was quite busy, as we had a ton of requests from people who were seasonally employed and lost their employment, people who had expenses related to the holidays and needed some help (which required me to give some lectures about pet food comes before presents) and people who h...

                                            Is Philanthropy A Dying Concept? Hello, all.  I am largely invisible, standing in the shadow of a larger than life character (and best dog in the world) named Rex The TV Terrier.  But I'm stepping out into the light for just a moment, even if that is a little uncomfortable for me,  to talk about some things that I find truly concerning.  As you may know, we have a small charitable organization called Rex The TV Terrier, Inc.  We founded this charity during the worst part of the pandemic, when people found themselves suddenly unemployed, with little or no savings and weeks to wait before collecting unemployment (if they were even eligible). It was a scary time for many.  One of the things that ripped out our heartstrings were the people who were more concern...