The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

As with all things in life, there is always the good, the bad and the ugly.  Of course we hope we encounter only the good in life.  But such is often not the case.  Life is made up of a fair mixture of all three.

In managing AnimalCare, I seldom talk about the bad and the ugly, because this has been few and far between (touch wood!).  But today, I feel I must share this with all of you.

It isn’t a very major issue, yet I see a need to clarify just how much AnimalCare, with our limited resources that come from the goodwill of friends and well-wishers, can help rescuers and their animals. 

Firstly, our funds come totally from friends and well-wishers.  We are not supported by any organisation at all.  We will help as much as we can as long as we still have funds, and one day, when our funds run dry, we will close shop.  Nothing is permanent and that certainly includes us! 

Secondly, since we only have limited funds, we can only help in the following:
1.  Spay and Neuter.
2.  Medical treatment (a subsidy depending on availability of funds, case-by-case).

Now, here comes the bad and the ugly…

It has been brought to my attention that some rescuers who bring their animals to our panel vets have tried to include other services and products into the bill.  There was one who took products for his own pets, another who asked for extra boarding for his animals, and a few who even asked for high-end branded food, all to be included into our bill!  One rescuer even asked for a future treatment to be included into our bill!

Believe me, it takes all kinds to make the world. 

Luckily the vets and their assistants know we cannot pay for all the extras and have told these rescuers so.  But the point is, such actions are really unpleasant and they just create extra work (and unnecessary stress) for the vets because some rescuers can be quite persistent and demanding.  I shall spare you the unpleasant details.  

I feel bad that these few rescuers (who, unfortunately, come under our sponsorship) have caused such problems for the vets.  I often have to apologise profusely on their behalf, and most of them are total strangers to me.  Yet, our charity is open to all rescuers, and I cannot turn anyone away just because he or she is a stranger.  I know there are many rescuers out there who are very sincere and responsible.   

My purpose of writing this posting (as much as I wish I did not have to) is to clarify that we have to work very hard to raise funds and the contributions we receive have been given based on trust.  Our well-wishers trust that we will never misuse the funds and to maintain this, I have to clarify again that the funds will be used solely for the above-mentioned (two) services and nothing else. 

In the past we have sometimes borne the cost of vaccinations, deworming and detick treatments since the rescuers asked for them, but from now on, I’m afraid we cannot do this anymore.  There will always be that grey line which is easily crossed (ie.  if you can provide this, why can’t you provide that as well?).  

That grey line would have to be a black line now.        

We believe in working together with rescuers to help their animals, so if rescuers need extra boarding, food, vaccinations, deworming, shampoo, detick treatment, vitamins, etc., they would have to bear the costs themselves as we do not have enough funds to help in these.  

And another thing is, rescuers have to please pick up the animals on the agreed time and date.  If extra boarding is needed, please arrange with the vet and kindly pay for the boarding as the vets are also running a business.  Nothing comes for free.  So far, we only had one person who refused to pick up his cat after being spayed.  That was quite a nightmare!  Luckily I managed to get his (adult) cat adopted on the same day.

And since we are on this subject, rescuers also have to inform me and call the clinic if they cannot make it for an appointment.  They need to understand that once an appointment is made, a slot has been allocated for them.  By not turning up, another animal has been deprived of that slot and the vets have also deprived their own regular clients of that slot.  Once, we had a rescuer who booked 5 slots but never turned up for any of them, and never informed the clinic.  The clinic had blocked off the entire day to do her cases.  Ever since that experience, I limited the maximum number of slots to just 3 per day at each vet. 

Once bitten, twice shy.  We must learn along the way…

Then, there are also those who call up the vets or turn up at the clinic with their pets, claiming that they were recommended by me and demanding for a charity rate. Luckily I have a system of informing the vets about our cases, so they know these people were not telling the truth.  Yet, such people do create unnecessary problems for the vets and their assistants.

I must emphasise that we very thankful for the goodwill and trust given to us by the vets, and we hope all rescuers will do their part to help us maintain this goodwill for the long term. 

But enough about the bad and the ugly, now…let’s hear it for the GOOD!

Those who give problems are few and far between – thank goodness!  I am grateful that most of the rescuers have been extremely considerate and responsible.  Some even go out of the way by helping us in return, and contributing back into our fund. 

And, thanks to everyone who has contributed to our fund, we have always been able to settle all our bills very promptly.     

All in, there has been much more GOOD than bad, and for this, I am thankful.

Despite the bad and the ugly, we are very happy to have been able to work together with all of you in helping the animals. 

Here’s to more good times in the future!

Now, I have a GREAT story coming up next….read on, please!

After all, it’s Christmas…a time for joy and goodwill!