What's missing from this picture?

No one was more surprised than myself when this middle aged grandmother won one of the very first Golden Paw awards a couple of years back!  
Me and my big mouth may have been influencing people, but certainly have not always been 'making friends' with any of the (then) independent branches around the province.
Even odder ... at that time in a fit of pique, I had not even renewed my membership for the next calendar year.  
Oddest of all of course was that back then I was still annoying the provincial board with formal proposals asking them to support such things as TNR and Anti Tethering Legislation.  That I now save my breath to cool my porridge is a testament to what can happen to communication lines when intelligent people with sources all around the province are expected to swallow a pat glib line.
But I am wandering afield ... as I am wont to do in my meandering way!  This morning, when we came back from the woods, I was perusing the list of this years Golden Paw Winners.
No question about it .. Nancy Northcott deserves a lifetime achievement award for her tireless dedication on behalf of both the SPCA and Second Chance Charity.  
Even better, these awards are an excellent opportunity to thank 'media partners' for providing such life saving publicity in mainstream media outlets.
Best of all, one would be hard pressed to find anyone in the animal loving community who does not applaud and appreciate the special and significant role played by Inge Sadler and her rescue Pick of the Litter Society.   The only surprise there was that it was year three of the awards before this was acknowledged!
Yet ... there is something missing from this picture!   Where was the nomination and the award for The Nova Scotia Lost Dog Network?    NSLDN was formed in January of last year.  In the first year they were responsible for reuniting four hundred and seventy dogs with the families who already loved and wanted them.  Since then, they have gained bragging rights for at least another hundred Happy Endings!
What does that mean in realspeak?  Why of course that these numbers represent more than the simple sum of all the 'home safe n sound's!  Each and every one also prevented a myriad of Unhappier Tails after the infamous 72 hour hold was up.  Even better, each and every one kept a rescue slot free for genuinely homeless dogs!
Best of all of course is that this valuable resource is a no cost community service that is completely powered by volunteer Love!
To put this into the proper perspective, as of this writing, the Nova Scotia Lost Dog Network facebook group has five thousand, two hundred and seven members.   Whether one still calls it Metro or the Provincial Animal Shelter, the NS SPCA shelter page has 3022 members.
Does size really matter?   Well .... I have been told that this years AGM was the smallest one ever in terms of attendance.
What time is it?   It is always time to remember that grassroots support ... or lack of it ... is always the game changer.   At the end of the day, the 'street cred' for any Non Profit group in never more than the sum of its membership!