08/21/2026
Some people have friends.
I have a fellow rescue-warrior, sister, and board member who sent me thisāand honestly, it could not describe the world of animal rescue for me any better.
Because when the call comes in, there is no ābad time.ā There is no āIāll get to it tomorrow.ā There is no clocking out.
2 a.m.? Weāre coming.
5 a.m.? Weāre coming.
Middle of a holiday, family dinner, important meeting? Weāre still coming.
And over the years, we have done some absolutely crazy s**t to make it happen.
Iāve charged into water.
Iāve climbed and jumped over bridges(not the golden gate type but scary enough on my own level)
Iāve crawled into places we probably had no business being (great idea with my blatant fear of spiders being well knownā¦but I do it)
Iāve chased, climbed, waded, searched, and felt my way through the wild trying to get my hands on an animal that desperately needed help. (Yes you read that right. For someone who refuses to sleep in the barrington house Iāve slept in an open field watching a live trap over night)
Iāve shown up exhausted, soaking wet, covered in mud, bleeding, freezing, filthy, hungry, and completely out of our mindsā¦especially if I havenāt had wineā¦because there was an animal at the other end of that call. (Might I add I donāt smell like roses)
Do I always know what Iām doing?
Absolutely fu***ng not.
Do I always have a plan?
Not even remotely.
Do I understand how I got myself into whatever situation Iām currently standing in?
Usually not.
But thatās life. Thatās the world of rescue.
My teamā¦my boardā¦my CHOSEN sistersā¦my backbone. This is how we operate:
We bring snacks.
We bring wine (or vodka)
We bring blind confidence.
We bring questionable decision-making, ridiculous determination, and the kind of loyalty that looks at an absolute train wreck and says:
āOkay. Where do you need me?ā
That is rescue.
It is messy. It is exhausting. It is heartbreaking. It is hilarious. It is terrifying. It is inconvenient. It is completely and utterly consuming.
And sometimes, it is two people standing in the middle of absolute chaos, looking at each other and realizing:
Wellā¦ this is our problem now.
We may not always be able to fix the whole train wreck.
But I can promise you this:
WE will never have to face it alone.
To my rescue sisters, my board members, my fellow crazy people, and every person who has answered the phone when everyone else was asleepāwe make s**t up as we goā¦but we got this (I think),Meredith Clark Karen Brown Lisa Marie Hoffman Jen Allen
