09/19/2026
Some of you have seen our posts about Buddy boy. Buddy has become the poster child for our dogs around here, probably because a big ol’ bully breed is about the last dog you’d expect to see on any farm. And no, he does not make a particularly good farm dog. Lol. But he is the best boy. 🐾
There are some details to Buddy’s story I’ve never shared. What happened bothered me for months, and I think part of the reason I couldn’t quite let it go was because it pointed to a much bigger issue—the other side of rescue that few people want to talk about.
🚨 About a year and a half ago, before he was our Buddy boy, a volunteer at a local shelter was desperately trying to get him out because his chances weren’t good. Dogs like him are a dime a dozen in shelters, and this dog had even more working against him. I had never even seen him. I just knew a volunteer was trying hard to get him out and he needed somebody to say yes.
So I did.
I agreed to foster him, get him healthy, learn who he was outside of the shelter, find him the right home and then come back for another dog. I honestly thought Steve was going to be my biggest hurdle. Lol. I thought this might be the beginning of something really special for us—help one dog, find the right home, go back and help another.
I drove the hour from our farm to the shelter thinking I was there to pick him up.
Instead, I was met with, “You can’t just come in here and foster whatever dog you want.”
I was shocked. “I’m not here to foster whatever dog I want. I’m here for a specific dog. One of your volunteers has been trying to get him out and asked me to foster him.”
Then I was told, “Well, you live too far away to foster for us.”
Too far away was an hour. At that very moment, I had four pigs from this same shelter living at our farm.
What bothered me almost as much as what I was being told was the way I was treated. I had shown up to help, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to be treated like I was the problem.
Then they brought him out, and that was the first time I actually saw him. He was in rough shape. His face was partially mangled, but that tail was wagging.
I couldn’t foster him, but I could adopt him.
I filled out ONE piece of paper and walked out as his owner. We named him Buddy. Somehow I was too far away to foster him, but five minutes later I could own him and drive that exact same hour home.
I never went back.
We didn’t stop helping. We continued fostering, taking animals in and supporting other organizations. We just took that willingness somewhere else.
I know things have changed on the shelter end since then, and I think that’s awesome. I’m not sharing this to beat up on a shelter over something that happened a year and a half ago. I also know some people will immediately rush to defend the shelter. That’s fine. But if we can’t talk honestly about the things that aren’t working without everybody getting defensive, you have to wonder why we’re surprised we still have so many of the same problems.
When somebody genuinely shows up ready to help, don’t run them off with nonsense.
And that brings me to something else that’s been on my mind.
🐷 Back in June I went to Texas to visit Melanie @ My Pig Filled Life and that visit blew my mind for several reasons. They care for around 300 pigs alone, and this is a first-class operation. The amount of work and money it takes to do what they do is hard to fully understand until you see it up close. And Melanie works a full-time job on top of it.
While I was there, I asked her how many of their roughly 50K followers give $1 a month. She told me about 12.
TWELVE.
Out of roughly 50K followers. And Steve and I were one of them.
WTH. 🤯
Folks, we have too many SPECTATORS.
Do you think because an organization has 50K followers, some magical check shows up every month to feed 300 pigs? Lol. It doesn’t work that way.
And it’s not always about money. Melanie asks people to come out and hang out with the pigs. Literally, just come spend some time with them. Yet most days, she’s still a one-person operation doing the day-to-day work.
50K people following along.
Where is everybody?
And she’s not the exception. Most rescues are regular people doing this work every single day without a staff, a bunch of volunteers or some magical pot of money.
💵 So pick ONE organization you believe in and give them a dollar. One dollar a month. Hell, give them one dollar every other month. I mean, really?
I don’t give a damn if that dollar comes to Okie Grown. Give it to somebody doing good work near you. Give it to Misfits of Oz Farm in Yale, Oklahoma. The next time you’re headed to Stillwater for a game, drop a dollar in their mail slot 🤷🏻♀️.
And if you can’t scrape up the change for a dollar, ask what you CAN do. How about giving the person running the nonprofit a break for a day? Go learn what it actually takes to keep one of these places going. Show up. Get your hands dirty. Find out what they need instead of assuming you know.
Just do SOMETHING.
Because this isn’t only about donating money. It’s also about expecting somebody else to fix every animal problem that lands in front of us.
Got a stray cat pi***ng on your bushes and all you want to do is complain about it? 🐈 How about helping figure out a solution? Do something besides complain and expect somebody else to take care of it.
And I am NOT talking about the people who have trusted us with animals or the people who support Okie Grown. We’ve actually been very lucky in that department, and we have some really good people behind us. I’m talking about the bigger picture.
And before you jump on me, I’m NOT talking about the legitimate cases. People get sick. People die. Financial disasters happen. Sometimes finding an animal another home really is the responsible thing to do.
But my God, people. We all know they aren’t all legitimate cases. It’s more about convenience.
And who coined the word “rehoming” anyway? 🙄 We sure have made it a convenient word for a much bigger problem.
No, nobody wants to pay you for a choice YOU made. Somebody is willing to take responsibility for your animal and everything that comes with it—food, vet bills and possibly another 10 or 15 years of care. Maybe think outside the box. Instead of asking them to pay YOU, how about you help THEM?
Or donate that “rehoming fee” to a nonprofit doing this work. Ask the nonprofit to help you find a responsible person willing to take your pet, and then how about helping that person instead of expecting them to pay you?
Because passing animals from one person to another while rescues and sanctuaries stay full isn’t solving anything. It’s a Band-Aid on a much bigger issue.
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Well… we all know that one. 🙄
If finding your animal another home truly is your only option, shouldn’t the goal be making that transition easier for the animal AND the person willing to say yes?
And before asking, “Who will take my animal?” maybe ask, “What have I actually done to KEEP my animal?”
When somebody says yes, your responsibility doesn’t magically disappear. If you have the means, help them.
We all know most rescues and sanctuaries are FULL. Hell, we’re full. That’s the whole point.
There are a lot of good people already doing the work. They don’t need more spectators. They need more people willing to do SOMETHING.
Want to talk about it? Let’s talk solutions, not problems. Message us. Come sit on the front porch and let’s talk about what we can actually DO to help. Must like cats. 🐈⬛ 🐈😉
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for today. Lol.
And to those of you who have trusted us with your animals and continue to support what we do—we love you. 🧡
Now I’m going to go feed somebody. 😂
🧡-Trace
& Steve 🤠
