Two people have written to me to discuss the disadvantages of returning spayed-neutered animals to the colony.
And today, with the post about foreigners eating dogs and cats, returning animals to the colony takes a backseat even more. A reader even said in view of the street animals being eaten, perhaps they may be better off with a hoarder.
To be killed and eaten OR to live under the hands of a hoarder – it all depends on what kind of hoarder we’re talking about here. It ranges from the kindhearted hoarders who really love their animals (but they just don’t know how to manage their “shelter” and ensure the wellbeing of their animals) to those who blatantly don’t care at all (it’s just an OCD of collecting animals from the streets as trophies). I wouldn’t mind the former if the former is willing to learn how to manage her shelter so that her animals would be happier and healthier.
Personally, I have never returned any animal to the colony because my rescues had all been kittens and I either adopt them myself or I get them adopted. The only cat that went back to being a stray was Joanie. I never got to return her to her feeder because Joanie escaped from my house after 20 days with me (I nursed her back to life from obstructed labour and near-death). Her feeder also did not want to take her back, anyway. I went Joanie-hunting for weeks after that. We spotted her a few times, but she was too frightened to come back. I think she was not comfortable in my small house, maybe because she felt intimidated by my alphas.
Joanie’s experience taught me that some street animals may not be very happy living in a human house, especially when they have lived the free-roaming life before that. Some may adjust, others may not. Also, our circumstances come into play, ie. Does the cat have any affinity towards us? Does the cat feel comfortable with our existing pets?
Take for example, Kimba and Tabs – Kimba ran into my arms from the back alley and made himself right at home. He even slept with me from Day One. Tabs followed my husband back from the street and declared she had adopted our home.
It’s affinity, isn’t it?
So, it’s back to the big “R” in our CNRM.
R stands for Rehome/Return
Rehome comes BEFORE Return – this means we recommend rehoming first, and if that is not possible, only then do we return the animal to the colony. And Return is different from Release. Return means returning to the location we found it and this should be done not later than 2 weeks (the earlier, the better) from the time we remove it from its colony. Any later than that, the vacuum would have been filled by another animal and this animal not only has no place, but may not be recognisable to its friends anymore.
Release means simply releasing the animal anywhere and that’s a strict no-no. This is like what some people do when they try to get rid of strays in their neighbourhood. They catch them in gunny sacks and take them to a far-away place and leave them there. Very often, the adult cats would return (cats have this inbuilt homing device in them) but dogs may not be able to find their way “home”. Some do, some don’t.
I was told of a case of an injured dog who needed amputation. After being returned to its colony (which was a park where the feeder would continue looking after him, it was a safe place), even his former best friends refused to accept him. The pack rejected him. We think it is because his scent (or appearance?) had been altered.
So, the duration of being away is also an important factor to consider. After 2 weeks, better do not return anymore.
So, it’s back to the question of the disadvantages of RETURNING to colony. Yes, it is definitely not ideal for the animal because they will still live as strays, but some rescuers have no choice because they cannot adopt anymore. Their house is full. It is also not easy to find a home for an adult animal, especially the local dogs.
Another option would be to surrender them to a no-kill shelter. But aren’t those also full?
Hence, some rescuers have to return to colony and continue to MANAGE these animals and pray for three things:
1. That nobody complains to the local council and dog-catching contractors do not come on their rounds.
2. That dog-cat-eaters do not frequent that place.
3. The animals get to live on safely (from accidents, abuse, etc.) as “community animals”.
In order for “community animals” to exist and to be able to live on as free-roaming neutered animals, we need more compassion from humans. If we cannot have compassion, then perhaps we need tolerance. And we know that many humans have neither of these.
We are more than happy to open up this discussion and get your views on it so that readers will be able to look at both sides of the argument and decide on what they wish to do with their rescues. Do please leave your comments on this issue.
You may be interested to read these as well:
http://animalcare.my/2011/11/22/the-disagreement-on-community-animals/
http://animalcare.my/2011/11/29/more-on-the-disagreement-of-having-community-animals/
So, if we don’t want to return, we’ll have to adopt or rehome.
Just a few weeks ago, I met a rescuer who said he has decided to RETURN and not rehome because he hadn’t been able to find good adopters.
There’ll always be two sides to the coin and there would never be THE one-and-only right thing to do.
It would then boil down to doing whatever we can, with our best intentions and efforts, and for the animal’s best interest.
Comments
6 responses to “R = Rehome or Return to Colony”
A lot of things in life are not under our control, despite doing our very best. I’m not saying that we should just accept as faith but there really is no better-definite ‘solution’ to managing street animals right now.
And may I also add, if you happen to choose to surrender your animals to a shelter (privately run or big orgs), and the shelter says they are already full, please DO NOT go lecturing them teaching them how to run the shelter and that they should take your animals because they are no-kill and bla bla bla. And please also DO NOT go dump your animals at the front door because they have rejected and told you they are already full. Every shelter has their own limitations. The land and kennels are not endless in which they can take in as many as they want, so is manpower.
I’ve known a rescuer running a private shelter, who is not a hoarder but was forced to take in animals by some inconsiderate and irresponsible people. And very often, these people, as beautifully-promised as they initially were, disappear after dumping their animals there, leaving all the ‘I will sponsor the monthly food bill’ promises behind.
At the end of the day, it depends hugely on the animal itself. Every one is different. Some pets will adapt immediately to a free life as a stray. Some strays adapt well to being pets overnight. Some strays go all crazy when placed in animal shelters. Some find a corner to chill and spend their days waiting for food with a few even longing for human contact. Most of the future lies in the hands (or paws) of the animals so this question can never be answered with any certainty with regards to all animals.
This statement is so true “In order for “community animals” to exist and to be able to live on as free-roaming neutered animals, we need more compassion from humans. If we cannot have compassion, then perhaps we need tolerance. And we know that many humans have neither of these. ”
I know that the ‘community animals’ that i am feeding are merely being tolerated (and not because of any compassion) by the people in my housing area , and for that i am thankful. On our part, we do our best to make sure that these animals do not cause a nuisance or ‘get in the way’. We pick up their poop, we clean up after feeding, we keep the area spick and span. We shoo them away from sleeping near the plants and trees planted on the sidewalk (had a complain from a neighbor that their tree died because the animals were seeking shelter under the shade *roll eyes*, and therefore peeing and pooing there), of course we all know that animals do not pee and poo where they sleep if possible. So we keep our gate open so that they can run in to seek shelter from rain and sun.
In the case of my community animals, i will try to REHOME before i leave, although we think that they would definitely be much more happier to be able to stay on here in this place that they grew up in. Alas, when there is no compassion, i am worried that there will not be any more tolerance when we are not around to ensure all is ‘perfect’. PERFECT in this case is an environment where there is no stray animals at all…Or that there are ‘silly’ people who would go around picking up poop of these stray animals so that they can have their semblance of PERFECT clean environment.
These kind of ppl should stay in a sterile loveless environment…I for one would prefer to stay in the jungle. But that’s just me.
@Bernice: What you said actually reminds me of a far end neighbour of mine, an elderly lady. We don’t have many strays around where I live. The street where I live in is quite quiet generally, not too many cars. So there were a few times my boyfriend decided to bring our dogs to run along the street while he cycled to let them exercise and drain off their energy. And so when they cycled and ran, some dogs from other neighbours came barking when they passed by. It was merely, like, 30-seconds kinda barking, because they only bark when they saw my dogs, and we were only cycling in rounds along the street for like 10-15 minutes. But this elderly lady came talking to my boyfriend, and thought we lived in another street and was there running the dogs, and implied that ‘we’re making lots of noise and we should go back to where we live’. My boyfriend told her we live just a few houses away, and she immediately changed her tone asking my dogs ‘oh why your neighbours cannot accept you?’
After that I sort of understand why one of her neighbours (an Indian lady) with a pack of dogs was a bit reluctant to let our dogs meet with hers. Because of course dogs will bark at first meeting (or even a few times) and I’m pretty sure this elderly lady had made plenty of complaints about her dogs.
I sometimes think that people like this should go live on an island, where they are their own neighbour. Come on, can’t even stand a 30-second bark?
KY, for us R means releasing the dog back to where it had initially come from and not just simply anywhere.
W
Wani, that’s what I mean by RETURN to colony also. Did you read my post? I said no to release, but to RETURN to the same colony in the span of 2 weeks.
See this? Release means simply releasing the animal anywhere and that’s a strict no-no.