Who rescues the rescuers?

If I posted up tomorrow here on this blog or on Facebook or wherever that I was overwhelmed, things were not going well at the rescue, funds were low, I was in over my head, I felt I really needed help, it would be interesting to see just how many people in the animal rescue community would step up to the plate and offer genuine help and support. I'd like to think many would, but I wonder.

Who rescues the rescuers? In the light of recent events, it's a question that needs to be asked. What happened in Cork is wrong on so many levels, yet it's a good opportunity to take a look at the world of animal rescue and see how things can and do go wrong so easily from the best of intentions.

Running a private animal rescue in Ireland is extremely rewarding but also immensely challenging. Looking in from the outside, it must look wonderful and very appealing to some people. Devoting your time and energy to taking in the waifs and strays, nursing them back to health and finding them new forever homes where they will be loved and cherished. But it is much more than that. Running an animal rescue is also about fundraising, marketing, public relations, people skills, communication skills, creativity and computer knowledge. If you're lucky you'll find wonderful volunteers who will help with all of the above free of charge, if not, you have to do it yourself.

Animal rescue is also about endless cleaning of pee, poop, vomit, snot and hairballs. It's about having a basic understanding of the animal you are rescuing and some knowledge of disease and infection control.

I believe most of us start out with the very best intentions. Unfortunately there is no manual to tell you what to expect when you set up a private animal rescue, so it can come as a shock when your phone starts ringing non-stop with calls from the public requesting help with unwanted, stray and abandoned animals. You find you are being stopped in the street, cornered in the supermarket, and once the address of the rescue gets out into the public domain, you will regularly come home or wake up to find boxes of kittens outside your door or dogs tied to your gate. There will be no courtesy phone call from the owner to apologise for leaving them or to offer a donation or give any background history as to their health, personality, or spay status. You are on your own.

You find you are being threatened and emotionally blackmailed if you say you don't have room/funds for more animals. "If you don't take these f***king cats/dogs, I'll starve/drown/dump them," is something you'll hear on a regular basis. With some callers, it's just an idle threat, with others, it's deadly serious. Emotionally it takes its toll. Saying No is difficult as you are acutely aware that in some instances you are the only hope these animals have to stay alive, but say no you must. You must know your limitations, what you can do and more importantly, what you can't do. You will be abused for it. "Aren't you the rescue?" "Isn't that your job?" "You're always out collecting money but when we need help, you can't do anything." The public mistakenly believe or care less that the rescue has endless money, endless time, tons of volunteers and acres of space when in truth you could never have enough of all four.

Couple this with seeing animals suffering the most appalling neglect and abuse on a regular basis. This too has an effect on your emotions. You wouldn't be human if it didn't. Shock, sadness, anger, frustration and outrage are emotions you experience on a regular basis and have to learn to live with and find ways to process and cope with in an effort to continue. Some days are filled with tears of joy but others are filled with tears of sadness.

Throw into this mix the less than complimentary comments from other rescues about what you're doing, what you're not doing, what you should be doing and how you should be doing it and is it any wonder some crack under the pressure.

Under such pressure, it's easy to cave in, make a wrong decision, take a rash chance and suddenly it's all unravelling before your eyes. It can happen so easily. "What's one or two more cats?" you think as you juggle animals in your minds eye. You've two cats going to their new home tomorrow, so yes you'll take those five being threatened with starvation. So you take them in but the home for the two cats falls through, then a fosterer has an emergency and can no longer foster that mum and 6 kittens for you and you have to take them back. Meanwhile someone dumps another mum and litter of kittens at your door. Suddenly you are overwhelmed and out of your depth. You appeal for help but none is forthcoming. You flash urgent messages on Facebook and animal forums begging for foster homes but everyone else is up to their eyes also. That fundraiser you planned didn't bring in as much funds as you'd hoped, some of the volunteers didn't show up. Now, some of the animals are getting sick and you can't afford the vets bills. You feel sick with worry and stress, getting out of bed in the morning is getting harder and harder.

Who do you turn too?

All of us who work in animal rescue in Ireland have so much in common, our experiences are the same. Talking to each other should be an avenue of support and understanding, but is it? We should be able to lift the phone and talk to someone in the same field who will listen, understand and not pass judgement, but can we? Or will we be met with criticism, derision or taunts of "told you so."

If we feel a fellow animal rescuer is in difficulties and needs support, is a heart to heart with a cup of tea at the kitchen table too much to ask or expect? Is rolling up our sleeves and lending a hand beyond our capabilities? After all, we are all in the same boat.

If a bit more compassion and support for our fellow rescuers were two things to come out of what happened in Cork, then at least something good would have been salvaged from that tragic situation.