05/20/2026
Saw this comment on another rescue’s post and well… it struck a nerve.
🚨 Rant alert. ⚠️
Yep, this is a long one.
“Don’t take animals if you can’t afford them.”
But if rescues only took animals they could afford without donations, fundraising, or community support…
where exactly would all the unwanted animals go?
There seems to be a growing group of people that look down on rescues and sanctuaries for fundraising, asking for donations, or publicly asking for help to care for animals in need. Yet many of those same people don’t stop to think about what happens to the animals that local shelters cannot take.
Your local government-funded shelters and facilities — funded by taxpayer dollars — have employees, buildings, utilities, internet, phones, adoption fees, budgets, and resources. Even with all of that support, they still cannot take every animal. They run out of room. Some are not equipped for livestock. Some cannot handle special needs animals, medical cases, cruelty cases, seniors, or lifelong sanctuary residents.
So where do those animals go?
They come to places like ours.
And the majority of NON-government-run rescues are not wealthy organizations sitting on endless funding. Most are simply animal lovers who stepped in and stepped up because they saw a need.
Most live paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else.
Most rob Peter to pay Paul every single month.
Most use their own personal credit cards to pay vet bills, buy feed, medications, fencing, medical supplies, and keep the lights on.
And now, in today’s world, many have to become accidental social media experts just to get the word out enough to survive another month.
And then comes the question nobody ever seems to agree on…
What animals deserve saving?
Just cats and dogs?
Only healthy animals?
Only horses that can still be ridden?
What about ducks? Chickens? Geese? Goats? Donkeys? Alpacas?
Do farm animals matter less because they aren’t sitting in your house on the couch?
I struggle with those questions myself sometimes. Because once you open your eyes to suffering, where do you stop? Who decides what life matters more than another? Which animal is worthy of help and which one is not?
Private rescues and sanctuaries step in for the animals nobody else can or will take. The broken ones. The unwanted ones. The expensive ones. The special needs ones. The ones needing years of care instead of a quick adoption.
So for those who criticize fundraising or call it “begging,” I have a genuine question:
What would you like us to do with the animals your local shelters cannot take?
Because ignoring the problem doesn’t feed them.
Judging rescues doesn’t pay vet bills.
And outrage alone doesn’t build fencing, buy hay, or provide medical care.
At the end of the day, the animals still need somewhere to go.
And until there’s another solution, rescues and sanctuaries will continue being the ones saying yes.
And to the ones who openly criticize rescues…
and especially the ones who quietly judge from the sidelines while saying nothing at all…
Yes, we see you too.
We hear the whispers.
We see the eye rolls.
We hear the comments about fundraising, donations, wish lists, and “always asking for help.”
But while some people sit comfortably judging how rescues survive, others are out here at midnight bottle feeding babies, loading injured animals into trailers, maxing out credit cards for vet care, burying the ones they couldn’t save, and getting up the next morning to do it all over again.
So before judging a rescue for fundraising, donations, or simply trying to survive another month, ask yourself this:
If rescues and sanctuaries disappeared tomorrow…
where exactly do you think all these animals would go?
Because the criticism is loud…
but strangely, the solutions from the critics are usually silent.
And maybe instead of criticizing the “other rescues”…
the “other sanctuaries”…
the ones not backed by government funding, tax dollars, payroll departments, or county budgets…
maybe help them.
Maybe skip one coffee.
Maybe donate $5 once a month.
Maybe share a post.
Maybe buy one item off a wish list.
Maybe simply encourage instead of judge.
Because for many small rescues and sanctuaries, it’s not huge donations keeping the doors open…
It’s ordinary people doing small things consistently.
And those small things are often the reason an animal eats that night, gets medication, stays warm, or gets one more chance at life.
