Stressmagnet Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 A rather interesting blog post that came up in my FB feed: The Fatal Epidemic of Animal Rescue Workers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Reminds me of Sophia Yin. Very sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) This is a big problem and one that not many animal welfare organisations address leading to the turnover of good staff Edited April 28, 2015 by Dame Aussie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rascalmyshadow Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 It's about time the real stress of rescue is being recognised and support/councilling being available, it is often emotionally, mentally, financially and physically draining. Even fostering/rescuing on a small scale takes its toll so does working with other people's animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 There's a guy called Nathan J Winograd who has made a film about reducing the numbers of healthy animals killed by shetlers. If the shelters are run differently - more animals can have homes found for them, and fewer healthy animals are killed and the shelter staff feel like they're doing some good. I think the ACT shelter is on this path? PETA don't like him very much. He dropped them right in it for running shelters with high kill rates. I've found on their website that they don't think anyone should have a pet. So that makes it a bit hard for them to find pet homes. I'm a bit fuzzy on what Nathan's method is for achieving his results but I do know that bringing the shelter animals to the people - helps find homes faster. Visiting the shelters can be very stressful for everyone - I know - that's where I got my current dog - it was really horrible, and oppressive feeling. I had to steel myself up to take only the right dog for me home. Got really lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I agree Mrs RB there's a lot shelters can do but let's not go too far in the other direction either where DA and HA dogs are adopted out to the average family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Absolutely TSD- unfortunately see it all the time. There is a serious lack of support when working in animal welfare and unfortunately some of the stress and poor treatment of people comes from within the shelter- co-workers, bosses, committees etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Cosmolo is right. Often its awful/abusive members of the public and colleague's/managers/lack of support which are the issue more so than the animals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*kirty* Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 No kill to me means not killing healthy, stable animals. It doesn't mean rehoming sick or aggressive animals. I think this gets lost on some people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 (edited) No kill to me means not killing healthy, stable animals. It doesn't mean rehoming sick or aggressive animals. I think this gets lost on some people. Yes, Winograd's U.S.-centric book is used like a bible in some circles. And the 'no kill' message gets translated into literally save everything with a heartbeat. I think there's a lot of factors that go into burnout and the vicious infighting between rescues, activists, members of the public and pounds; doesn't help. Rangers for example, get absolutely slammed if they mark a vicious dog as not for sale. Some crazies go as far as death threats. And I've seen it. NFS dogs getting all the attention while the other dogs get ignored until the last moment if at all. Then there's the poor vets. Edited April 28, 2015 by Powerlegs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbedWire Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 No kill to me means not killing healthy, stable animals. It doesn't mean rehoming sick or aggressive animals. I think this gets lost on some people. Yes, Winograd's U.S.-centric book is used like a bible in some circles. And the 'no kill' message gets translated into literally save everything with a heartbeat. I think there's a lot of factors that go into burnout and the vicious infighting between rescues, activists, members of the public and pounds; doesn't help. Rangers for example, get absolutely slammed if they mark a vicious dog as not for sale. Some crazies go as far as death threats. And I've seen it. NFS dogs getting all the attention while the other dogs get ignored until the last moment if at all. Then there's the poor vets. I like to give my vets presents to let them know I appreciate them. Sometimes it must be so tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 :) I'm sure they appreciate that. It must be a hard and thankless job at times. That poor vet up in NT, Jenny Wells... what she must have been through to go so far off the edge. A tragic example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 There was a situation in one welfare organisation where a few volunteers stormed the vet clinic one day and told the vet in there that if they *#*##** euthanased that dog (had shown aggression in multiple contexts including a home environment- dog had been returned) they would #*#*#*#* kill them. You'd think those volunteers would be asked not to return wouldn't you? They continued to volunteer. And the dog wasn't euthanased. The culture WITHIN some animal welfare organisations is truly disturbing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbedWire Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I think some rescuers are clearly disturbed before they start rescuing. Rescue seems to attract some unstable personalities who need to bolster their egos by showing the world what good people they are. If you read some of the Rescue facebook pages some posters seem to be in their own little world and have their own mission to save everything and to attack anyone who disagrees with them. It's quite scary. Please I said 'some' so don't jump on me. I know that many rescues are well run by very stable responsible people and they do a great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dame Aussie Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 There was a situation in one welfare organisation where a few volunteers stormed the vet clinic one day and told the vet in there that if they *#*##** euthanased that dog (had shown aggression in multiple contexts including a home environment- dog had been returned) they would #*#*#*#* kill them. You'd think those volunteers would be asked not to return wouldn't you? They continued to volunteer. And the dog wasn't euthanased. The culture WITHIN some animal welfare organisations is truly disturbing. That doesn't surprise me at all. I've witnessed similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I'm not ashamed to say there is a reason for me only lasting 7 years in rescue... I got out when I realised that "doing good" isn't always good for one... I'm still plenty happy to support those tireless souls who are out there day after day getting the job done right though... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_PL_ Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I think some rescuers are clearly disturbed before they start rescuing. Rescue seems to attract some unstable personalities who need to bolster their egos by showing the world what good people they are. If you read some of the Rescue facebook pages some posters seem to be in their own little world and have their own mission to save everything and to attack anyone who disagrees with them. It's quite scary. Please I said 'some' so don't jump on me. I know that many rescues are well run by very stable responsible people and they do a great job. 'Some' yes, but more than enough to go around! :D I bailed from FB anyway, it was exhausting and I can't afford to waste the time. Some of the stuff going on was so wrong but prepare for a kick up the butt if you point it out. There was a situation in one welfare organisation where a few volunteers stormed the vet clinic one day and told the vet in there that if they *#*##** euthanased that dog (had shown aggression in multiple contexts including a home environment- dog had been returned) they would #*#*#*#* kill them. You'd think those volunteers would be asked not to return wouldn't you? They continued to volunteer. And the dog wasn't euthanased. The culture WITHIN some animal welfare organisations is truly disturbing. That doesn't surprise me at all. I've witnessed similar. :eek: And they didn't get the boot? Too scared of a full-on war? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trisven13 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) I'm not ashamed to say there is a reason for me only lasting 7 years in rescue... I got out when I realised that "doing good" isn't always good for one... I'm still plenty happy to support those tireless souls who are out there day after day getting the job done right though... T. Yep 6 years was all I had in me. Once I realised that the people I dealt with were making me irrationally angry I realised it was time to stop. I think for many people who I worked with at the time, who still are heavily involved, there is a real belief that if you stop all the animals will die and that keeps you going. I've proven that others will step up and, even if they don't do it the way you would, animals still make it out alive. Rescue is soul-destroying and horrifically hard. Edited April 29, 2015 by Trisven13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melzawelza Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 It's a huge problem in the industry, and it's partially fueled in my opinion by the idea that 'if you love animals you'll work tirelessly day in day out for no financial gain, cut off everything else in your life and focus completely on rescue'. It's not healthy and it makes it so hard for people to say no or stand up for their own emotional wellbeing and self-care. Team Dog is looking to run some compassion fatigue workshops for the rescue/shelter community hopefully this year. I can pop back in and update the thread with the info when it's organised if anyone is interested? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmolo Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 Super idea Mel- would be very interested in the content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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