It’s easy to get discouraged and think, “I am just one person – what difference can I make?” Especially when it comes to the millions of dogs sitting in kill shelters across America – after all, you can only adopt so many yourself.But Sara Cross didn’t feel that way. When she saw a picture of a dog named Kevin on Facebook, who was on death row, she decided to do something about it. Even though she lived in a one-room apartment, she started fostering dogs.
“Once you start it’s hard to stop because the deluge of dogs about to be killed for no other reason other than overpopulation is never-ending and completely overwhelming,” says Cross.
That is how Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue started – one dog at a time in a one bedroom apartment.
Think it doesn’t make a difference?
Four years later – 1,400 dogs have been rescued!
“I always say that rescuing dogs from high kill shelters is like trying to empty the Mississippi with a tea cup and you feel very disempowered and you think well there are world leaders or big nonprofits or somebody will do something about this,” she says.
But what has Cross Discovered?
IT’S US. The people. We are the ones that are going to do something about it, she says.
At first, she explains, it was just her. But now there is a network of dozens of foster homes taking in dogs for Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue.
So one person can make a difference. Cross started out alone but she isn’t alone any longer. It just took one person willing to step up and take the job. And while 1,400 doesn’t seem like a lot compared to the estimated 2.4 million dogs that are put down each year according to the Humane Society of the United States, it could quickly add up if more people followed Cross’s example and led the way to more rescuing and foster and less kill shelters.
(H/T: Upworthy.com)
