Thoughts about rescue work.....

[mastiffmommy]

I have not been on here more than a few mins here and there during the last well almost week now. As most of you know, I work in rescue, and we have had a BUSY time to say the least. It is kitten season (yes work in cat rescue alwell) and most of the time it is good. By no means instant gratification, but most cases end up good. But you also meet a whole lot of people who are jack a..es, potentional adopters who shouldnt even be allowed to adopt a flea. The other day I had one of the not so fun to work with adopters, A guy who cursed me out, told me what a total dead beat we rescue workers were, how we were not fit to make decisions and so on and so on. It happens from time to time, when an adopter gets turned down, that they let you know what a horrible person you are, and I have kinda gotten used to it. The sad thing about this guy, was that the reason he thought we were a sad a.. rescue group, was that we dont let the kittens go to the new home until they are 12 weeks old, and if they are not in a weight to be altered before they go "home" we need a contract with the adopters vet. and for the adopter to have pre paied the spay/nutering. THIS was what ticked the guy off. He had no understanding whatsoever to why these are the rules. I tried to explain to him, that most of the cats/kittens we get in have had a horrible start in life, and need to be mature enough to go on into a family. And the only reason we have all the rules we have to follow is to be as gentle and caring as we can to the cats.

To have spent hours and hours on a case just to have it flushed down the drain because of someone who cant wait another two weeks. I started to think about just how much time that is put into every animal that is rescued before it actually finds a forever home.

The animals come in either from kill shelters where we "pull" them from, it is phone work, emails, letters, and leg work, call and visit, making agreements with, for to how we can pull, how much do we need to pay for each animal etc. Then that has to be constantly followed up to actually get to know when animals that "fit" in that certain rescue group comes into the shelters.

We also get animals through people who surrender them, or feral cats who have been trapped. Or from breeders/horders. Not long ago there were two cases of so called breeders who had to give their cats up because they were so neglected, MCR ended up with about 80 cats in a little over three weeks. In situations like that we are also with the police when the cats are loaded and transported.

After the animals come into our care, they get a good vet checkup all tests run and vaccinations started, they are being transported to foster homes we have by a transport network created by volunteers.

In the foster homes, they are given the love and care they often have never had before, cats that need meds every day several times a day, trips to the vet, soc. some of them dont even come out from underneath something during the first two weeks. Some foster families foster as many as 12 to 15 cats at a time. They "live" cats day and night it is like a 24 hour nursery, some kittens have lost their mom and need bottle feeding.

When the cats are ready to be adopted we put them on different rescue pages, petfinder is one of them.

The other part of the adoption process is when we get applications in, they have to be screened, we check and cross check pers. ref. we check vet. ref. we talk to the adopter on the phone, look into how previous animals have done and been taken care of. we do home visits. Then we try to find the right cat for that precise adopter, and what needs the different cats have. When the screening is done, we post a detailed report on our Board and each and every adopter get to be approved or not, by the rescue committee. We vote for a yes or no, and they need a certain amount of yes to be approved.

Once cat and adopter is matched, there are forms needed to be filled out and then depending on where the adopter is located they either get to go get the cat themselves, or again the transport network is put to work and we transport the cat to its new home.

And then we have a wonderful day, and on the board the Case Manager and foster get to "ring the bells" for another lucky cat.

Most people though never get to know about all the work that doesnt show. But I added up a little and the actual adoption process for a "normal" application is probably 10-12 hours. That is the work most people see, but between pulling, going to shelters, calling, caring for, vetting and all the paper work that also needs to be done. Every dog or cat who is adopted has been cared for and work put towards it, no less than 500 hours, and that is a very very short stay in a foster home included. And most of the time 5 - 6 people not counting the transport who can be several different depending on distance, have been working on that animal.

And sometimes it just sucks to work so hard for the animals and be told all kinds of stuff just because we want to give our babies the best we can. I know this is a long and dragging post, but I just had to vent. I have been putting in about 90 hours the last week and I guess I was not up to taking this guys crap.

If you are still readin, thanks bunches for listening and God bless all our foster families

Marit

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

Marit, You & all rescue workers surely have a place in Heaven....I don't know how you do it...Of coarse I will take in & take care of & find a home for any unwanted, sick, stray or abused animal I come across in my life & I will always do so but to go out & look for these poor babies...I am sure it would kill me to see the things you see every day...You have more heart & soul than I ever could possess...I thank you for taking the time & giving the love that so many just can't...God bless you...& I am proud to know you.

[mastiffmommy]

Thanks a bunch gup.... I really do appreciate the kind words, but dont think I for one min. think people that work for and care for animals in other forms than in organized rescue groups are any less. Not at all, all kinds of caring for animals is equaly important.

I just need a cat or dog to go "home" and a happy ending and Im good again, putting in 90 some hours of rescue and still not find one single dog or cat a new home kinda gets to you.

Marit

[Scootergirl]

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I am constantly made to feel like what I am doing - and it is a lot! (I'm supposed to be working right now, but am instead networking to save 2 dogs scheduled for death row on Friday) is not enough. This usually comes from people who aren't doing anything and need me to "fix" their problem for them.

Another rescuer sent this to me yesterday that sums it all up perfectly:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Average Idiot,

We receive an extremely high volume of inquiries and requests to
accept surrendered animals. To help us expedite your problem as
quickly as possible, please observe the following guidelines:

1. Do not say that you are, "considering finding a good
home," or, "feel you might be forced to," or, "really think it
would be better if," you unloaded the poor beast.

 Ninety-five percent of you already have your minds stone-cold made
up that the animal will be out of your life by the weekend or holiday at the latest.
Say so. If you don't, I'm going to waste a lot of time giving you
common-sense, easy solutions for very fixable problems, and you're
going to waste a lot of time coming up with fanciful reasons why the solution
couldn't possibly work for you.

For instance, you say the cat claws the furniture, and I tell you
about nail-clipping and scratching posts and aversion training, and then you
go into a long harangue about how your husband won't let you put a
scratching post in the family room, and your ADHD daughter cries if you use a
squirt bottle on the cat, and your congenital thumb abnormalities prevent you
from using nail scissors and etc., etc. Just say you're getting rid of the
cat.

2. Do not waste time trying to convince me how nice and humane you
are. Your coworker recommended that you contact me because I am nice to animals,
not because I am nice to people, and I don't like people who "get rid of"
their animals. "Get rid of," is my least favorite phrase in any language. I
hope someone,"gets rid" of you someday. I am an animal advocate, not a
people therapist. After all, you can get counselors, special teachers,
doctors, social workers, etc., for your ADHD daughter. Your pet has only me,
and people like me, to turn to in his or her need, and we are overworked,
stressed-out, and demoralized.

So don't tell me this big long story about how, "We love this dog
so much, and we even bought him a special bed that cost $50, and it is
just killing us to part with him, but honestly, our maid is just awash
in dog hair every time she cleans, and his breath sometimes just reeks
of liver, so you can see how hard we've tried, and how dear he is to
us, but we really just can't ... ."

You are not nice, and it is not killing you. It is, in all
probability, literally killing your dog, but you're going to be just fine once the
beast is out of your sight. Don't waste my time trying to make me like you
or  feel sorry for you in your plight.

3. Do not try to convince me that your pet is exceptional and deserves
special treatment. I don't care if you taught him to sit. I don't care
if she's a beautiful Persian. I have a waiting list of battered and/or
whacked-out animals who really need help, and I have no room to
shelter your pet because you decided you no longer have time for your 14-year-old
Lab.
 
Do not send me long messages detailing how Fido just l-o-v-e-s blankies
and carries his favorite blankie everywhere, and oh, when he gets all
excited and happy, he spins around in circles, isn't that cute? He really is
darling so it wouldn't be any trouble at all for us to find him a good home.

Listen..  we can go down to the pound and count the darling, spinning,
blankie-loving beasts on death row by the dozens, any day of the week. And, honey,
Fido is a six-year- old shepherd-mix weighing 75 pounds. I am not lying when I
tell you big, older, mixed-breed, garden-variety dogs are almost always
completely unadoptable, and I don't care if they can whistle Dixie or
send smoke signals with their blankies.

What you don't realize, though you're trying to lie to me, you're
actually telling the truth: Your pet is a special, wonderful, amazing creature.
But this mean old world does not care. More importantly, you do not care,
and I can't fix that problem.

All I can do is grieve for all the exceptional animals who live short,
brutal, loveless lives and die without anyone ever recognizing they
were indeed very, very special.

 Finally, just, for God' s sake, for the animal's sake, tell the
truth, and the whole truth. Do you think if you just mumble your cat is,
"high-strung" I will say, "Okey-dokey! No problem!"and take it into foster care? No,
I will start asking questions and uncover the truth, which is your cat
has not used a litter box in the last six months.

Do not tell me you "can't" crate your dog. I will ask what happens
when you try to crate him, and you will either be forced to tell me the
symptoms of full-blown, severe separation anxiety, or else you will resort to
lying  some more, wasting more time.

And, if you succeed in placing your pet in a shelter or foster care,
do not tell yourself the biggest lie of all: "Those nice people
will take him and find him a good home, and everything will be fine."

Those nice people will indeed give the animal every possible chance,
but if we discover serious health or behavior problems, if we find that your
misguided attempts to train or discipline him have driven him over the
edge, we will do what you are too immoral and cowardly to do: We will hold
the animal in our arms, telling him truthfully he is a good dog or cat,
telling him truthfully we are sorry and we love him, while the vet ends his
life. Some are not so lucky and will face the gas chamber, depending on the part of the country you're in...a slow, painful death.
How can we be so heartless as to kill your pet, you ask?
Do not ever dare to judge us.

At least we tried. At least we stuck with him to the end. At least we
never abandoned him to strangers, as you certainly did, didn't you? In
short, this little old rescuer/foster momma has reached the point
where she would prefer you tell it like it is:

"We picked up a free pet in a parking lot a couple of years ago.
Now we don't want it anymore. We're lazier than we thought. We've got
no patience either. We're starting to suspect the animal is really
smarter  than we are, which is giving us self-esteem issues. Clearly,
we can't possibly keep it. Plus, it might be getting sick; it's acting
kind of funny. "

"We would like you to take it in eagerly, enthusiastical ly, and
 immediately. We hope you'll realize what a deal you're getting and not ask us for a
 donation to help defray your costs. After all, this is an (almost)
pure-bred animal, and we'll send the leftover food along with it. We get it at
the discount store, and boy, it's a really good deal."

"We are very irritated you haven't shown pity on us in our great need
and picked the animal up already.We thought you people were supposed to be
humane! Come and get it today."