“When two givers indulge in a connection, it’s magic. It’s alchemy. I water you, you water me, we never drain each other, we just grow.” (from Sacred Dreams)
Be a contributor. Be a giver. But do it in a sustainable way...and give to yourself as well.
Personal truth. Personal opinion.
We are former breeders because we were also rescuing at risk old bloodline wild horses from outback Western Australia and they have qualities some modern breeds lack. 9 people including ourselves formed a charity which ran for ten years. We rescued a lot of horses (though not as many as some awesome charities in the eastern states), and got involved with a lot of government bureaucracy. We had successes, we had failures. We educated ourselves. We are still learning...
The difficult, inexorable truth is, there is too much breeding. Of everything. There is too much of a 'throw away' attitude and way too much lack of responsibility for the lives and waste we create.
We are supposed to be guardians, not rulers. A renewing crop, not a plague. We need to manage ourselves and our personal lives and stop mismanaging our planet. We need to remember that humans are not 'on' this planet. They are a part of it. The world is not here for us.
It's not about living free anymore. Not unless you can also give back. It's not about gain or control either. It's about balance.
We stopped breeding horses around 2014. We stopped buying dogs/cats from breeders. We eat less meat, use less plastic and buy less processed goods (because yes that's relevant).
These changes have done nothing but improve our quality of life, physically as well as soulfully.
Now we only live with and adopt rescued animals. We offer to take back horses we have bred and sold that end up in trouble or with people who are experiencing difficulties. We offer the same to the owners of the horses the charity we were involved with rescued.
We don't have children for many of the abovementioned reasons, but that's an extremely personal choice.
At some point we have to start letting go of personal ego and move forward for the planet's sake, not our own. It's the difficult, inexorable truth for us. Rescuing instead of breeding will not only save the animal - it will end up helping to save this earth. It's not all we need to do, but it's something we can do. Even if only for ourselves.
If saving the lives of unwanted animals isn't a good enough reason in itself to do all this, I don't know what is. It's our personal goal, to help out in this way, and to share our journey in case it helps others make their own decisions. 🙏
Do it because you can, and because you are physically, emotionally and financially able to...not just because you want to or feel you should. There's a difference. Sometimes those who 'save' animals do it because they need saving themselves. They are trying to fill a void or right a wrong (done to them). Collectors and hoarders. It is a tragic form of mental illness and one that needs addressing. If an animal cannot be rescued, consider letting it go, humanely. Ask the animal in question. Chances are it will agree...because quality of life is better then than a prolonged half-life of not-much-at-all.
Above all, please remember...
Anything rescued should not need rescuing again.
photos (c) KAW
