Re: Mr. D (and other rescuers...)

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Posted by Mr. D on January 01, 2003 at 15:48:08:

In Reply to: Mr. D (and other rescuers...) posted by Solaris16 on January 01, 2003 at 12:40:17:

Samcin is absolutely correct. There are individuals out there claiming to be "rescues" and/or shelters that are nothing more than "collectors" or worse "resellers" making money (many times illegally) from the re-sale of animals turned in by people no longer willing/able to care for them.

As far as the animals themselves, you spend as much time as you can with them - bottom line. When animals first come in your immediate focus is on any physical or health issues that they may have and you treat them accordingly. As they heal and you work with them you learn their personalities and what each one may want on any given day. They have their own ways of communicating with you and they'll usually let you know to a certain degree what they need - once you learn to decipher their body language. Some of them may want more attention on specific days than others. There have been days that I literally walk around here with a snake or lizard somewhere on my body all day while getting things done. Other days, no one seems to want to have anything to do with me... ;) Weather and seasons play into that as well. Rainy days and winter tend to be slower times for obvious reason.....

It also depends on the amount of support that you have and what you get from the community as well. In our case, we've been able to handle everything up to this point with the help that we've received but, unfortunately, the rescue/shelter aspect of our organization officially closes it's doors as of today. If/when you choose to deal with cruelty cases there are certain things that you have to be prepared for. We received a ruling on the restitution phase of the cruelty case that we were involved in approximately two weeks ago. After submitting expense figures well in excess of $65,000.00 the judge decided that a figure of $1500.00 criminal restitution would be sufficient for the two organizations involved with the case to divide amongst us. Of course, that doesn't even cover expenses for one group never mind both. So you've got to be prepared for any legal shortcomings that may occur as well. We're still going to be taking care of the animals that are currently in our program but in order to ensure their proper care we can no longer take in any more animals. Our education programs will still continue in order to hopefully lessen any future work that may come our way but that's about all that we'll be doing for most likely the next year at least.

One of the biggest things that John and Jane Q. have to be made aware of is that these lizards and snakes that everyone here is familiar with are NOT as easy to care for as the dog/cat/cute & fuzzy community would have everyone believe. That has to be just as much a part of the message that reaches people as proper husbandry practices.

If this is definitely something that you feel that you want to go into in the future, Wendy, I'd strongly recommend that you start tailoring your education towards the non-profit sector. Things like public relations, fundraising, legal aspects and tax law governing charitable organizations, grant writing. Figure out a way to make money advising these groups and their surrounding communities without costing them directly and you'll be a wealthy woman on top of providing guidance for people that may not have a full understanding of what it means to operate a **successful** animal shelter and that it really is a *business* like it or not and needs to be run as such.

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