This is taken from a blog written by Jennifer Williams, president of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society (http://www.bluebonnetequine.org/), which serves Texas and Arkansas. According to Jennifer, it is saying "no:"

"If you want to work in rescue, you had better learn how to say the word "no". It is a hard word to say, and it is a painful word to say. I am so lucky that I ran the first
rescue I was involved with for years before we had to say no...  When we
started BEHS, we were in a different place. Many of the founders were
well-known by law enforcement (for the right reasons!) and we got calls
starting the month we opened BEHS. I also announced our formation at
the 2005 AQHA Convention as a precursor to a talk i gave there. So our
name was out in the horse industry in a big way. In March 2005, our
first full month of operation I had to say no to law enforcement. A
county in AR called us and wanted our help seizing 20-30 Arabs. I
WANTED to help, but we did not have insurance. We did not have money
for vet bills. We didn't have foster homes to take the horses. We
hadn't received our IRS determination letter yet. We just weren't
ready. I hated saying no and offered to help with advice and expertise.
But that's all I had to offer.

After our first year of operation, we started saying no to most "donated" horses. These are the
horses owner cannot keep and want a rescue to take. Some people call
them "dumped" or "abandoned". In some cases, I really ache for the
owners. They lost a job or have to move or are getting divorced and are
really in a difficult spot. It is hard to tell them no. Other people
just want to 'get rid' of a dangerous horse or ill horse they don't want
to treat or euthanize.

Now, we turn horses away every week...  What we do not have is enough foster homes. We don't have a place to put these guys, and without that we just cannot help...And I know
that the future for these guys is pretty dim if we can't help them...

Saying no is hard. Saying no hurts. Saying no can cause me nightmares. But if we extend ourselves
too far and cannot care for the animals we have, then a lot more animals
will suffer. If you want to run a rescue or work in a rescue, you must
learn to say no. And say no often."

(for the full text, go to http://behs.livejournal.com/)
 





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