Am I the Crazy Animal Lady?

When I tell people I work in animal welfare, they inevitably ask me "Oh isn't it so hard?" This is followed by: "I would want to take them all home. How do you not take them all home? It must be so sad." I have created a scripted answer for this initial set of questions. It goes like this "No, it isn't hard, it's quite rewarding actually. There is nothing better than seeing an animal who has been waiting months for a home find the perfect home. I work really hard to find the animals homes and feel that is a better mission than taking them all home myself."

This usually raises a few eyebrows. Do I really not take them all home? It is usually assumed that people who work in animal welfare have a lot of pets, that they are humane hoarders, people who love animals so much that they take in as many as they can financially and physically handle. For the most part this is a bit of a misnomer, and I like to think I am living proof. When I owned my own home, had a large fenced yard and pretty much free reign on as many animals as I wanted, I maxed out at 2 dogs and 2 cats. Occasionally I added a foster dog, but this was rare and for short periods only. Many of my non animal welfare friends had as many, or more animals, and I have come to the conclusion that I am certainly not the crazy animal lady.

I have a simple answer as to why I haven't had "hordes" of animals living in my home. My home is a sanctuary for my animals and myself. Every animal that comes into my home affects all of us, and to disrupt the hierarchy and routine is unfair on my four legged family. My animals are so forgiving of the long hours I spend at work, of the dogs I take on hikes with us that may be a bit snarky, or the fact that my dogs don't get a walk because I took so many other dogs from work out that I was exhausted by the time I got home. The least I can do, in my opinion, is to create a sanctuary at home where we can all co-habitate peacefully and have time together as one happy family.

Having a home that is stress free and enjoyable to go to at the end of a long day means the world to me. In fact, despite working tirelessly to find our great adoptable pets homes, I try not to be an animal "pusher." If people are looking for a pet, by all means I will find them the perfect pet. But, if a great dog or cat comes in, and I tell a friend how perfect it would be for them, and they aren't 100% committed to a new pet, I lay off. I would never ask someone to bring another pet into their home until their whole family is ready. For me, having a home filled with just a few, happy animals, is better than having a stressful environment where none of us are happy. After all, I don't want to be the crazy animal lady, do I?