Random Thoughts on Rescue Topics

 

 

 

Random morning pondering……

 

So, another “rescue’ gets busted for things others seem to get away with, while smaller, struggling rescues get trashed….. The wild, inaccurate stories that are still going around about this LA County rescue are crazy. Funny how the inaccurate stories are the ones that seem to spread while the truthful press release seems to be ignored…..

This situation directly affects the High Desert because now LA county shelters are over full and will not be accepting intakes….. Meaning a lot more animals will be driven out here and dumped…..Thus compounding the problem for shelters and rescues.

There is a lot of flack being said online about rescues having a strong social media presence for people to donate. Many are stating that if a rescue doesn’t have “live stream” cameras, etc no one should donate. They give many other flimsy reasons not to donate. These ideas are not only bad but damage smaller, struggling rescues trying to raise funds to obtain such things as cameras with the ability to live stream around the clock.

I am gonna speak frankly about the rescue I work with for a moment. Using it as an example of exactly what I am speaking on here.

So, in 2023 I was put on the board and discovered a lot of crazy things. Many changes were made in an effort to fix the issues, move forward in a positive direction and build community trust again. However, every step was undermined by social media Karens and the ex-president. The board was in a shit position because of things the ex-president had done and after all this time, we have still not been able to recover from it.

Since 2023, many other bad rescues have been very publicly destroyed, like the most recent one. Our rescue has had several malicious animal control calls. All of which were deemed unfounded. I even filed for open records and then posted the actual reports, file notes from AC etc online for the public to see that those making said allegations were outright lying. But, the social media Karens still choose to believe the lies and perpetuate them to make themselves feel better.

Prior to the fall of 2023, I was doing small, independent rescue with a little support from the public. My passion is giving the seniors and “unadoptables” a place to call home. I am also one of the FEW rescuers who will deal with true ferals. I do not believe that being feral should result in a death sentence. I currently have 4 true ferals, 2 are neutered and 2 girls are on the list to be spayed. Some have followed Spicy Carolina’s story. What I have not told about her story, and the others pulled from that colony is that they could never return to their colony.

Carolina, and a handful of others pulled from the Victorville colony were at risk of being poisoned. Many threats had been made, and I had loaned traps to a friend who lives in the apartment complex. She trapped them and I went to pick them up. One by one many were caught and brought here, spayed / neutered and socialization attempts began. Some responded well and have become the sweetest, most adoptable kitties. Four however, remain true feral.

Now, how does this bad rescue tie in? It is a simple matter of knowing when to say NO. As a rescuer that is the single, most difficult thing to say to someone who is desperate to help and animal. I cry at night sometimes because I have had to tell many people no lately. I have been put in that position because of social media Karens killing our fundraising, preventing potential adoptions and basically spreading tons of lies that I no longer have the desire to attempt to explain since I spent so much time on that in the past.

But I am a problem to them. I prevented these kitties from the very fate that the Lake Hughes animals are now experiencing. I prevented them from becoming a shelter statistic, but somehow I am the problem. They have deemed these kitties unworthy of public support….. Why? Because of things the ex-president has done AND because some of them are true feral and cannot be returned to their original colony.

I am guilty of NOT posting tons of videos online. It isn’t because the animals are in bad shape. It’s because my hands are full during animal care and by the time this is done I am simply exhausted. Requests for volunteers also goes unanswered, or filled with a thousand excuses. I stopped asking for that a long time ago. Some have little understanding of what goes into caring for a full colony.

I will make a poor attempt to explain what caring for a colony consists of.

1.   Being responsible is the first and most important thing. Keep male and female separate until they are spayed / neutered. This means understanding they are escape artists and knowing how to keep them contained. This is not easy of cheap.

2.   Be responsible enough to give them proper shelter. This means shade, safe hiding spaces, heat in the winter, warm beds etc and cool in the summer. The cooling challenges in the High Desert are no joke. Also not easy or cheap.

3.   Proper feeding and watering also should include pool for dogs to cool themselves in the summer, ice packs for the kitties to curl up on, fans, extra shade but proper food and water at all times. The best way to ensure this is tubs they cannot dump over. Dogs are notorious for dumping bowls and smaller water containers over, so a true effort must be made to make sure their summer water cannot be dumped.

4.   Cameras are important for ME. My cameras are cheap WIFI cameras that I can use to check the animals instead of making a thousand rounds per day. Sometimes I will post footage, sometimes not. I do not have any cameras that can live stream yet. One day I hope to though. Installation of these cameras takes time to make sure placement is proper to get the best view. This was great for keeping an eye on Spicy Carolina during her recovery and watching her now since she hides when humans are around.

5.   Socializing is the single most thing that takes a rescuers time, energy and effort. People have zero concept of just how much time this takes. Since I have several who need socializing, my day is spent sitting in their enclosures and allowing them to come to me, when they are ready. I do NOT force socializing on the four true ferals though. I allow them to be what they are. One, Nels, is now allowing me to see him and watch him enjoy the new outdoor catio we just built off their camper. For the dogs, which thankfully at the moment, I have zero except my personals, it means sitting with them, walking them, giving them tons of love since they likely came out of a bad situation. Socializing takes HOURS upon hours a day and is the single most exhausting thing a rescuer does.

6.   Keeping the spaces clean is also important. It doesn’t mean a spotless area because that is impossible, even for someone with OCD. Rescuers know it is messy and our days mean we clean a LOT of poop! It also means we inspect said poop to monitor the health of our animals. It also means sometimes a dumped food dish may wait until the next day to be swept up, litter boxes may wait a day or two to be scooped or changed. But clean spaces are very important for their health! This is also very important in the summer because of flies and the smell.

7.   Emotional health of the animal is important. Giving them challenges and stimulation is important. Animals get bored easily which can turn into massive behavioral problems later on. This is why I have went above and beyond my own bodies capabilities to give them catios, tons of toys and things to occupy them. I am presently working on “electric” dog enclosures and will be testing that in the next couple of weeks. The cats now have a 10 x 10 enclosure for the ones ready for adoption (meaning those already spayed, neutered, vetted and ready to go), as well as the smaller enclosure built for the ferals to enjoy the outdoors safely. Failure to address an animals emotional health usually results in a bad outcome.

8.   Understanding when to say no is important. Lately I have received so many calls from people asking me to pull dogs off the “euth list”. Saying no is difficult, right now I have no place to put a dog since all of my enclosures are occupied. Even if I had one open I have run into the problem of once the dog is pulled little to no support comes in for it and the promise of a foster falls through. I have seen other rescuers end up with dogs that cannot be adopted out after doing such pulls. So, for someone like me, a small struggling rescue with little support and no reliable volunteers, knowing when to say no is very important because the animals care is taxing work and lots of people talk a good game online but behind the screen do nothing.

9.   Struggling to get donations while seeing scam rescues / rescuers using the funds for their personal piggy bank. Yeah, this one ticks me off and I know others see it too. One rescue I worked with, who does husky dogs has a hoard of huskies, no kennel license and blatantly uses donations for personal living. I will not name that rescue, but they are in California and do raise near a quarter of a million per year while the dogs suffer. It breaks my heart to know people will give to such obvious donation abuse while small rescues, like the one I work with, struggle for even the smallest donation. I find it so hypocritical that people preach about spaying and neutering yet ignore requests for donations for such things. How can you preach about it and then send your donation to people using it for vacations, fancy clothes etc? I also see the same people doing this trashing small rescues who do ask for help spaying and neutering…… The hypocrisy can be sickening at times.

 

These are just some of the thousands of things that are important in rescue. Of course, vet care is on that list. So, where does our time go to be on social media? I scroll when I am resting and find it hilarious that some rescuers obviously spend more time on social media than they do with the animals. Then, those same people judge people like me and claim to know everything about me, some even claim to know more about me than I know about myself….. I even watch the self-appointed judges claim to know more about medical / mental than doctors…… I get a good laugh and continue scrolling because those type of people are no longer worth the effort. I have also noticed those type of people tend to group together on social media…. Folie à deux

The one that I least understand though is a “rescuer” who was CONVICTED of animal abuse more than once, spreading obvious lies (proven to be lies), still is believed by the little clique on social media. A good example is how this person made false allegations to animal control. AC found those allegations false and the person who called is STILL perpetuating the lies even though I posted the full AC report publicly.

You see, people do not grasp why I choose to live where I do. Take Lake Hughes as a good example. I know having a rescue means disturbing neighbors. I have lived in areas where dogs barking 24 / 7 is very annoying. I have lived in areas where feral colonies were out of control and the outdoor smell was unbearable. I am also a domestic violence survivor who found that the quiet out here was what I needed.

I do not have much, but what I can do is leave something for the animals once I am gone. I worked hard to get the little that I do have. I joke and tell people this is the animals home and they let me live here because they have no thumbs. In reality, this is the truth. I am trying to get some back bills caught up, establish a trust so that this property goes to furthering the dream of a sanctuary for the seniors and unadoptables. The struggle is real while rescues like Lake Hughes and the convicted animal abuser obviously have more time online than doing the rescue they brag about.

I have seen many good suggestions about how people should determine who they donate to. I agree on transparency, but in my case, full transparency has not resulted in a single donation to assist with spaying and neutering let alone any for daily care. So, I see a lot of hypocrisy there too. No, I do not spend tons of hours making videos or posting tons of pictures. Why not? I am disabled and my body only permits me to do so much in a days time. All of my requests for assistance in getting said pictures or videos have gone unanswered, so few are done.

My question is this….. To those who demand transparency, why ignore the needs after transparency has been given? That is the exact definition of the hypocrisy I am speaking of. It is also narcissism at it’s finest. These people make one unreal demand after another while holding the promise of donations as a hostage. No matter the hoops they will never keep their word, so I have chosen not to engage with them any longer. Sadly, this choice on social media also results in those who follow such nonsense not donating.

Now it is time for me to do morning rounds…. A little bit late today. I will pray that people’s eyes open and see our need to cover spay / neuter for the few left here who need it. I will pray people will be touched to send treats, catnip, wet food for the seniors and anything else they feel touched to donate. Most of all I pray for a reliable volunteer who is as passionate about these animals as I am.

Have a blessed day folks I know I will!

Please see my "about me" page on this blog for information on how to donate!!!!!