Some years back a man was walking on the beach near a city called Tyre (Lebanon). While walking in the shallow water of the Mediterranean Sea he noticed something he hadn’t seen before. With every step it became more noticeable and vibrant. Upon further investigation of where this stunning hue originated, he found that the snails he was walking on had the awesome substance coming from their bodies. Curious, he cracked one open to find only a miniscule amount. He procured enough of the substance from the snails to dye a garment to show his family of this new color. In doing so he realized it took about 250,000 snails to make only one ounce of dye. Little did he know this new found color would be the envy of the world. The labor it took to produce this color would only be afforded by the “Elite”, the “Royal”, and the “Aristocrats” of the world. For a commoner to possess this color was unheard of and often resulted in punishment and even death. Purple had become the most expensive color of the age. I is told in the Bible that Christ was mocked for being King of the Jews as they placed a purple robe on Him while He hung on the cross.
Fast forward to today.
Purple is no more expensive than any other color in the spectrum. You can find purple in any fabric store on the planet and there is no thought of being “Royal”. But the animals that find their way to our doorstep have a different thought. We take in the homeless, we take in the stray, we take in the feral, the unwanted, the sick, and the needy. The animals that we take in will not have a chance if left alone. Easy??? NO! Do they all live??? NO! Time consuming??? YES! Every person at Valor has an everyday job and works as much as anyone else in the world. Its difficult, at times, to get up at 4:00 AM to do chores and/or give medicine and then be up all hours of the night only to get up and do it all over again the next day. Its a passion! A passion we have chosen. Our goal is to “save them all”. Is it possible? Maybe not but we will strive and fight for that goal until we have nothing left. We will sit with them all night if we have to but we will not let an animal die alone. We will do everything possible to give the animal every possible chance to live. Yet, at the end of the day, if there is nothing that we can do and life is just not an option for the animal that we have done so much for, that animal will take its last breath……….and we will grieve. These animals were the unwanted and the overflow. Treated like the common folk of centuries ago. So to the animals that pass, we wrap them in a purple blanket to remind us that they deserve every chance to live and every chance to be adopted. It will also let the world know that the animals will always have the status of “Royal” if they show up on the doorstep of Valor.