In a way, working animal rescue is playing God. We get to decide which shelter animals get pulled for rescue, essentially leaving the remaining animals to try to get adopted, but more likely, to die.

Once we pick the animals we think we can place, it's playing God again, deciding which family is worthy of this animal. Of course we have criteria, selected by experience not guesswork, things like holes in fences, previous animals who died under strange circumstances, unwillingness to spay or neuter, having 'gotten rid of' other pets, the list goes on and on.

Often, I don't have to ask about any of this--people will spill their guts if you listen long enough. So yes, we play God in deciding if these people are worthy of our animals. We're all about saving lives, but more importantly, making sure that the lives we save spend their days surrounded by love and respect. Is that so bad?