This was my No. 1 (EVER) favourite movie since young and it still is. I must have watched it 30 times at least and I dare say, I probably memorised every part of the dialogue and knew exactly what’s coming up next in every scene and who was going to say what.
Apart from learning some better English and more correct pronunciation of this elusive language, I think I learnt many other things from this movie.
On the subject of rescuing animals, allow me to draw an analogy to something that was said in the movie.
Remember the part where Prof Higgins had successfully transformed Eliza Doolittle from a “piece of squashed cabbage” (marketplace unrefined flower-girl) into a “princess”? Colonel Pickering asked him, “Now what are we to do with the girl now?”
The professor pondered over it, suggested a few things, and finally, in his typical I-couldn’t-care-less manner, said, “Why can’t we throw her back into the gutter and let her be a flower-girl again?”
That’s exactly it, when it comes to rescuing animals.
We pick up an animal from the street, taking it away from its “space”, for whatever reason, and I assume, it is always for a good reason. But do we have a plan for it after that?
The PLAN.
Do we have a plan?
We NEED to have plan.
Who is going to provide the medical treatment?
AnimalCare – ok, please apply and abide by our policies. We will help.
Who is going to foster the animal after that?
Who is going to adopt the animal after that?
And if nobody wants to adopt the animal, what are we going to do?
We adopt the animal?
Or, in Prof Higgins’ words, throw the animal back in the streets? Return to colony?
How long has the animal been taken away from its colony? Can it still survive if it is returned?
These are pertinent questions that we must address or at least, have a plan for, after we pick up the animal.
I know our intentions are always good.
I know we may not be able to have a plan WHEN we pick up the animal.
But we NEED to address all these questions AFTER we have decided to take responsibility for the animal.
RESPONSIBILITY – that’s the keyword here.
I met one of my longtime friends recently and he used to be a rescuer. Now he tells me he has learnt. A rescuer is not just someone who picks up an animal off the street. A rescuer has to follow-up and have plans for the animal after that.
Precisely my point.
We are here to help, but we can only help you in sponsoring/subsidising the medical treatment. We can help publicise your animal for fosterers and adopters but we do not guarantee.
Please have a plan, when you next pick up an animal.
There is a whole community of animal caregivers and animal-lovers out here, in the numerous blogs, facebook pages, etc. Seek help, by all means, but don’t EXPECT it.
And when all else fails, remember this – WE are RESPONSIBLE for the animal.
As my vet always tells me, albeit jokingly, “How many times have you interfered with nature?” (referring to my own rescue of dying baby animals, refusing euthanasia, giving treatment no matter what it costs, etc.)
I know. Many times. But I take responsibility for my “interference”.
So, what I am saying here is, by all means, save the animal, but please have a plan for it after that.
Please do not dump the animal on someone else.
We are responsible for the animal that we pick up from the street.
Comments
10 responses to “Reflections from My Fair Lady”
Which mean if there is an injured or sick animals better not to save it unless we have a plan for it, right?
Save it AND have a plan for it.
KY, your thoughts in this post remind me of the well-meaning people who post comments on rescued strays on Petfinder.my.
Someone will scoop up a kitten from a drain or a puppy from the side of the highway. The next day they put up a desperate plea on Petfinder: HELP! I can't keep an animal in my apartment/house/dormitory. My husband/wife/parents are furious. If someone can't adopt this animal TODAY, I'll have to take it to SPCA or PAWS.
Then the real storm starts.
NO!!!! SPCA or PAWS will kill it! You should keep it! Or call MDDB! Take it to Furry Friends Farm. Find it a good home, even if it takes 6 months — surely your landlord and spouse can be patient. You can't just dump the poor animal!! You should… You should…
I would like to point out: The shelters euthanise because they are completely overwhelmed; they have no other choice. MDDB is currently facing staggering debts to vet clinics — tens of thousands of ringgit. (Frankly, I'm surprised the vets will still extend them credit. Bless them.) Furry Friends Farm is also filled WAY beyond capacity, to the point where quality of life is at question.
I know people mean well for the animal, but sometimes the person who picked it up really cannot keep it for dozens of valid reasons. So what are their options? Try to find a miraculous adopter very quickly, put the animal back out onto the streets, or surrender it to a shelter where it will quite probably be euthanised. It's a MISERABLE choice, but you're correct, KY, when you say that we need to give those options some thought before we pick the animal up. We can't assume that someone else is going to take over the responsibility.
If we don't have the ability to foster an animal, perhaps indefinitely, maybe the best thing is to say a sincere prayer for the creature's well-being. And do whatever we can to support the rescue groups who work so hard.
Thanks, ManekiNeko, and this reminds me of the little emaciated kitten I saw a the food court some weeks back. At that moment, I couldn't find a plan for it. I could not take it home as it may be carrying some disease which may be deadly to my cats. It was a Sunday and the vets were all closed. So, I did the next best thing I could – bought chicken meat and gave it a meal. The next few days, I went back to the food court to look for it. I could not find it anymore. That was all I could do at that time.
Sorry to prattle on so, but there you've raised another extremely important question to consider: Many strays have diseases and parasites that can spread to our pets. If you bring a stray animal into your home,you really must keep it isolated from all your pets, or you're putting their health at risk. Do you have the space to set up an "isolation ward"?
Vets recommend isolation. What I do is to bring the animal straight to the vets's for a check-up, then do the necessary at home (isolation in a room), or board at clinic, etc.
'If we don't have the ability to foster an animal, perhaps indefinitely, maybe the best thing is to say a sincere prayer for the creature's well-being. And do whatever we can to support the rescue groups who work so hard.'
ManekiNeko, this is, unfortunately what I do. Occasionally if I see an animal starving, I'll give him/her food and water too, but that's about the best that I can do. And all animals that I see on the road, I say a prayer for him/her. There are no proper shelter in Penang at the moment. And I don't feel right picking up animals and call up a rescuer to ask to place in their already overwhelming private shelter. I collect food donation on a monthly basis from my friends and family for several rescuers running private shelters. I know if I ask if they can keep the animals that I pick up, chances are they won't say no. But it's just so not right. I see many stray animals daily. How do I ask them to keep when they are already handling an average of 100 animals each?
I've helped rescuers to rehome animals too. Sadly it's not always successful and I've had very urgent cases that after days and weeks of phone calls and networking, we still couldn't find anyone to adopt or foster. Both me and the rescuers have done everything, seizing every single opportunity to find fosterer/adopter, but none of it worked. I felt really helpless at that time, and really felt for the rescuers too.
That is why we must actively CNRM. Spay-Neuter is the long-term solution to this seemingly "endless" problem.
I agree on spaying and neutering. I know many independent rescuers are already doing this, which is very encouraging.
There are also many who have experienced spaying/neutering the animal and later found out that the animal, being a stray, has been caught/shot by the authority.
It is said that the authority will act upon complaints from the public. If this is the case, I hope people understand that their complaints actually lead to unnecessarily death.
That is, unfortunately, true. I have spoken to my local council to please spare the lives on notched-ear animals, but to no avail. I was told to stop the complainants – here's where education is needed.
(1) Spay-Neuter to control the population, which in turn, might reduce the no of complaints.
(2) Educate the public about kindness to animals.
Both of the above are already our missions.