Interesting article about dog rescue agencies and the history that has lead society to where they are today. Written from the perspective of a US big city mentality, it has insight into the current collective psyche driving the business.
Applies to Canada as well.
https://www.thecut.com/2021/07/why-a...=pocket-newtab
July 19, 2021 by Allie Conti
Excerpts:
Quote:
Adopting used to be a good thing that good people could do. These days, you're probably not good enough.
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The rescue dog is now, indisputably, a luxury good, without a market pricing system at work to manage demand. A better analogy might be an Ivy League admissions office. But even Harvard isn't forced to be as picky as, say, Korean K9 Rescue, whose average monthly applications tripled in 2020.
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Then came The Ad, released in 2007, it featured close ups of three legged dogs and one eyed cats rescued by the ASPCA over a wrenching rendition of Sarah McLachlan's "Angel". The commercial warned that "for hundreds of others, help came too late." In just a year, The Ad raised 60% of the ASPCA's annual $50M budget. The organization was reportedly able to increase the grant mioney it gave to other animal-welfare organizations by 900% in 10 years. It is difficult to overstate the emotional hangover The Ad inflicted on millenials and members of Gen Z. Janet M. Davis is a historian at the University of Texas at Austin, where she lectures on animal rights to a demographically diverse body of students- everyone from cattle ranchers to vegan punks- most of whom cry when she shows The Ad in class. "It adsolutely brings down the house," she says. "Every time".
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The resuce mutt had become not just a virtue signal, but a virtue test. Who was a good enough human being to deserve a dog in need of rescuing?
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Posting about your rescue dog on Instagram is an indirect way of broadcasting that someone out there deemed you morally worthy enough to be chosen.
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