Today has been a prime example of how frustrating rescue can be and why it is not for the faint of heart. I laugh when I hear people say they are going to just create a rescue and think its going to be easy because they get to rescue whatever they want. Then where are they in 6 months when they are going crazy trying to manage everything. You basically have to figure that running a rescue is plain and simple running a business except you dont have paid employees that have to do their job, you have volunteers who help out of the goodness of their heart in their spare time. Now I am lucky enough that I have some core volunteers who I can count on timetable in time again, but ultimately as the head of a rescue you are responsible for everything in the end. If someone cant take a dog you are responsible for that dog. If someone has a difficult situation you have to take over that situation. If things cant be paid for you pay for. Excetera excetera. You have to choose to play God between which dogs are rescued and which are left behind. If you do not choose wisely then you are screwed. Some want to take everything they can regardless of ability to handle it all. It sucks but as the head of a group you have to make those decisions so that your volunteers are safe and have the ability to manage the numbers of animals you have. However, when everyone and their mother says they want to help publicly and we put you on the volunteer list, it is assumed that you will indeed help. Apparently that is just so other people thank you are helping. I have a hundred people on a volunteer list and have cut our numbers down to only 15 dogs in foster care from the 44 we had a month ago. Yet, I have the same few volunteers stepping up to take the babies arriving and no one who says they cant foster but would like to help with transport stepping up to actually do so, again. So my four dogs have been stuck at home for 11 hours straight but I must go do the transport myself. I get that this is a holiday week, but I know people are around and considering I spend probably 8 hours a day doing rescue 7 days a week on top of my full time job, being a mom, my own dogs, Im stuck doing this. I know Im ranting but it is because Im frustrated. I had for emergency situations today because people cant be responsible for their own dogs and expect us to pick up after them and now this. My fellow rescuers we get burnt out when we do this year after year. For those that run group, at least reputable groups that do things correctly, we all deserve some sort of major vacation, spoiling time or something. And for volunteers, you know who you are. Time after time you have jumped in and taken yet another or spend your weekend doing rescue. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. For the others who just post publicly that theyd like to help and do not, do the rest of us a favor and just dont because people then assume it is taken care of and they do not step up when they might have actually helped.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 00:30:04 +0000
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