Life on the frontline of animal rescue
A look at the challenges and rewards of working in animal rescue, from supporting vulnerable pet owners to rehoming animals and running community clinics.
Challenges
“Honestly, I just want to cry sometimes! It is incredibly difficult to be too hard on someone with 25 unneutered, interbred cats in a mouldy, smelly flat that’s absolutely tiny on the 18th floor, in a block where the lift doesn’t work! Obviously, mental health difficulties are there, and it’s a balancing act. The welfare of the cats is key, and unfortunately most are too diseased to survive. But this person needs support, and says their life isn’t worth living without their pets. So we’re doing more than we’re supposed to, and I’m at Social Services because there’s no one else to shout for them, and if I’m not then they’ll end up losing their home, as well as their cats. They love animals, I can see that, but they just need a little help, a bit of advice.”
“We have to increase costs to stay afloat, but there’s a fine line because we don’t want costs to be too much for people. There’s that constant challenge. Whenever we do our rehoming costs, the fees we charge will never ever cost what we spend on an animal.”
“We’d love to do more on the education side, it’s on our wishlist but we’ve never ever seen so many strays and abandoned kittens. We’re trying to recruit fosterers, trying to serve as fosterers, to get adoptions, but it can be a struggle. Covid blew things up, and even so many years after, we’re still seeing the impact of that.”
Reflections
“I love it here, because people ask me what tasks I want to do. I don’t have much confidence, and spent time steaming uniforms, which my manager said was fine, and also because of my disability, I didn’t want to use the till until my confidence was up. Now you can’t get me off it!”
“Our education officer is a volunteer who loves going into schools to talk to kids! She’s been doing it for so long now, she’s so popular. In fact, one of our volunteers remembers her from when he was in primary school!”
“We have a mobile clinic at set locations weekly, offering means-tested, discounted clinic services. We’ve seen an increase in people using our clinics, because of the cost-of-living crisis, but I have to say it’s my favourite part of the job, and people are so grateful!”
“I meet so many kind, wonderful people in my job, that I forget it’s actually a job. People really, really care about animals, and I feel like I’m in my element.”
“There’s no nicer feeling than rescuing a lame horse and seeing that horse through its rehab, to trotting around a field, without a care in the world!”
“Animals are my life, this is me. People? Nah!”
Previous Page: An inclusion story