I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone, offended with my specific criticism of a shelter, say things like:
“You have no idea how hard it is for shelter staff to put animals to sleep.”
“How dare you criticize a shelter from behind a keyboard.”
“You don’t know what it’s like to be on the ground.”
“Why don’t you do something instead of just attacking those who work tirelessly in the animal sheltering industry?”
You get the picture.

I guess many of these people don’t know that I actually spend a lot of time at shelters. To them I’d like to say this…

What’s hard is having an open heart.
What’s hard is witnessing first-hand the relinquishment of a pet.
What’s hard is talking to its owner, and telling them that they will kill your dog, and have it not faze them.
What’s hard is having the same scenario play out, and have it break them down, but still see them leave their dog because they’ve come to the conclusion that they have no other option.
What’s hard is genuinely sitting with a shelter dog and looking into its eyes.
What’s hard is bonding with them, petting them, rubbing their bellies, feeding them treats.
What’s hard is watching them try to squeeze so hard up against the bars, just to get another centimeter closer to you, and they can’t.
What’s hard is watching them play bow, and wiggle back and forth, and you not be able to reciprocate the fun or fully engage them back.
What’s hard is seeing them come to recognize you, and then get excited when you approach.
What’s hard is having to eventually get up and move on to the next cage.
What’s hard is seeing how beautiful and loving they are, how forgiving and optimistic they are, and then seeing them locked in a cage.
What’s hard is telling the dogs that they are a “good boy” or a “good girl,” and knowing that so many times they’ve likely sat at those bars and watched countless people pass without a care in the world.
What’s hard is telling the dogs to “be strong,” knowing where they are and what they are up against.
What’s hard is running with them in the play yard, and seeing them free, and then having to put them back.
What’s hard is potentially confusing them.
What’s hard is having to get in your car and drive away to go back home.
What’s hard is knowing every dog by face and name, and not knowing if they are going to be alive the next day.
What’s hard is sitting on the telephone, awaiting to be told a dog’s fate.
What’s hard is knowing how many services I could actually offer the shelter, offering those services, and then not being given the opportunity to provide those services.
What’s hard is loving every single animal inside of a specific shelter, and knowing that the manager and certain members of a staff actually view you as an enemy.
What’s hard is living in America and feeling like the use of one’s freedom of speech and expression is a crime.
What’s hard is seeing a shelter staff worry more about their public perception than the fate of the countless dogs and cats that they are supposed to be sheltering.
What’s hard is knowing that there is definitely a better way than just endlessly killing.
What’s hard is having that way routinely ignored, never attempted and constantly misrepresented by the people that are actually in a position to attempt it.
What’s hard is seeing all of the Pit Bulls be discriminated against in numerous different ways.
What’s hard is learning that a dog was killed because it was deemed “unadoptable” or “aggressive,” and knowing that this is a blatant lie.
What’s hard is seeing shelter workers get desensitized.
What’s hard is seeing wonderful volunteers and members of the public erroneously fear-mongered.
What’s hard is seeing a shelter manager lack compassion and empathy.
What’s hard is having the vindictiveness of certain shelter managers thrown in your face routinely.
What’s hard is not being able to properly network a dog’s photo on your own Facebook page out of fear that that shelter’s manager will see it and kill the dog in retaliation.
What’s hard is knowing that that’s already happened many times.
What’s hard is seeing a dog come in and then be killed as soon as it’s available to be killed.
What’s hard is knowing more about a dog’s personality than the staff allocated to decide whether it should be killed or not.
What’s hard is seeing shelters constantly hide behind liability.
What’s hard is seeing shelters excuse their lack of innovation for lack of resources.
What’s hard is having to deal with hypocrisy, inconsistencies and technicalities on a daily basis.
What’s hard is having to stay focused, and continue putting the effort forth in the face of mass killing and sadness.
What’s hard is having to take time away from visiting with the dogs in order to actually get good photographs.
What’s hard is doing something for 5 hours that realistically should take 2.
What’s hard is coming home and spending the next 15 hours straight editing photographs and/or video.
What’s hard is seeing the overwhelming nature of all of the pictures as a whole render the few people that want to help helpless.
What’s hard is putting pictures up and not having them get the support and networking power that you’d hope they would get.
What’s hard is having to try again.
What’s hard is doing an endless amount of work and not being paid for it.
What’s hard is seeing my girlfriend, who is now a volunteer, cry every single night.
What’s hard is sitting in the dark in front of my computer, editing pictures, and wondering how the dog who is in front of me is doing.
What’s hard is sitting in silence, and having their faces fill my thoughts.
What’s hard is knowing how much of the population simply isn’t even aware that shelters kill.
What’s hard is knowing how much good we could all do if we could simply be honest with one another.
What’s hard is being told that I am a jerk for opposing killing, and that I should feel bad for the people that actually have and make the choice to kill.
What’s hard is having to deal with the shelter apologists that have long sold their principles down the river.
What’s hard is constantly writing about all of the things that Pit Bulls are up against in this world.
What’s hard is dealing with the ignorance.
What’s hard is dealing with the hate.
What’s hard is continuing to go.
What’s hard is continuing to have an open heart.

So don’t talk to me about what is hard.

At the same time, everything that I’ve listed as “hard” is also easy, because I love doing it for these dogs in the hopes that it makes a difference. I love these dogs. That is also hard and that is also easy. There is absolutely nothing in the world more rewarding than when it makes a difference for 1 of them.