Every single day, I say a little prayer to thank all my guardian angels and the universal Law of Karma for bringing genuine rescuers, caring animal-feeders, well-wishers and supporters to AnimalCare because without them, there would be no AnimalCare and we would not have the opportunity to help these animals.
But once in a blue moon, we get strange characters.
Here’s one….
1. This person contacted me on 7th July, which was the day I had the all-day event in my college, so I had no internet access until late evening. He was desperately looking for help to get a vet for this rescued dog, allegedly rescued from a grocery store where the workers were ill-treating the dog. Since I had not responded, he contacted MDDB and MDDB directed him to their vet.
2. When I saw the picture of the dog, I thought it looked like a lost pet because it had a collar on it. The dog looked mixed-breed too. I asked if he had put the collar on or the dog had come with the collar. He then said the grocery store people put the collar on the dog. That’s strange….the grocery store people were ill-treating the dog, and they put a collar on the dog? Oh well, never mind. I left the matter to rest. I said I’ll blog under lost and found.
3. He then writes to me saying he needs to pay the vet, which to me, was strange, especially when MDDB had already taken in the dog. So, I contacted Wani who explained that their vet will NEVER ask for any payment from any rescuer once the animal is under the care of MDDB. MDDB will settle the bill. Makes sense to me, because that’s how any animal NPO will function. We do that too. We settle all the bills.
4. I told him what Wani had told me, in case he did not know. Furthermore, I need original receipts before I reimburse anyone.
5. He then writes to say he had already found a lady-adopter for the dog. So I thought all was well. I told Wani he had found an adopter, but Wani said she had not been informed.
6. Then he writes to me asking if I could sponsor a doghouse, toys, collars, a bed, food, etc. because the adopter would like to buy the dog these things. I told him we only sponsor spay-neuter for strays and subsidise their medical treatment. Once the animal is adopted, we do not sponsor anymore.
7. There was no news after that, and I thought all was well.
8. He wrote again last night, desperately wanting to speak with me on the phone. I am currently having exams in college and I have no time to take calls. So I told him to just email.
9. He wrote a long mail lambasting Wani and MDDB’s vet. According to him, the vet had not done anything for the dog, and he had now taken the dog out to his own vet and asked if we could sponsor the treatment.
10. I contacted Wani who told me he had taken the dog out and their vet found him (the person) extremely difficult, demanding and arrogant. Their vet had already treated the dog for an ear infection, which was all that was needed. Wani then sent me his facebook link where he mentions the dog has been given a clean bill of health except for some treatment that will last 2-3 months, and that the dog is now adjusting to a new life in its new home.
11. So I sent his own facebook link back to him and said we do not sponsor treatment for an adopted animal.
12. He then questioned my criteria for an “adopted” animal and proceeded to say the dog has not actually been adopted YET, but the adopter is awaiting the medical results to see if she would LIKE to adopt the dog. He said I owed him an explanation on why I am not sponsoring the treatment for his dog.
13. I could not believe the audacity of this person and was deciding whether to just ignore him or to reply, so I chose to reply very briefly saying it is our sole discretion who we help and who we don’t. That would be my final word to him. For a person who is seeking help, I would not give him very high marks for diplomacy or courtesy!
14. Then he shot me nasty emails all night, which I have chosen to ignore.
And why am I blogging this when I should be doing more useful things (plus having tons of final exam papers to mark on a 72-hour deadline)? I think it’s important for us to know that there are such people around and we should be very careful.
If he harasses me some more, I’ll report him to the police.
And by the way, in our earlier correspondence, I did also tell him he could surrender the dog (who looked real nice) to the local shelter as they could help him find adopters. Branded and semi-branded dogs get adopters quite easily at the shelter. He said he called the shelter and he lambasted the shelter manager for being rude. I have just called the shelter manager and there was no such caller.
It is sad that we have such humans around. Sometimes, it is because of such humans that we need to keep revising our policies and make it even more stringent, and sometimes the genuine rescuers lose out. But we are accountable to our donors and we are responsible in seeing to the correct and proper use of the funds.
If only humans, like animals, do not have that third lobe in their brain which enables them to scheme, plot and do evil, life would be so much better, wouldn’t it?
I had better go mark my papers now.
Have a good day now, and may our guardian angels keep dishonest humans at bay. We want to help the genuine ones.
Comments
6 responses to “The good, the bad and the ugly”
I am quite worried about the dog which is under his care now…who knows if he plans to threaten mddb/animal care by dumping the dog if we dont sponsor fund etc..
Pray for that dog..
Judging from what has transpired, this person is obviously trying to con AnimalCare. He was seeking help from two NPOs and hoping both NPOs would sponsor the medical cost for the dog.
He even has the nerve to ask for an explanation why AnimalCare declined to sponsor the treatment for his dog. He certainly has a skin thicker than the coffin.
He sounds like an idiotic person to me making use of the animals to get money for himself. He has no right to ask the NPO to justify why he is not being sponsored. People like him is what I call the ‘sampah masyarakat’ good for nothing except scheming in their mind how to cheat people off their money. However, if he needs sponsor to devoice himself I am happy to sponsor him. Please tell him that.
I am worried for the dog and hope it can be taken away from him. I am doubtful that he can provide a decent living environment for this dog but that is so much we can do. Let us pray for the well being of the dog.
KY, he tried it with MDDB and when it didn't work – he tried to arm twist Animalcare. As you know, I do not have your patience and have a very very short fuse. I shouted back when he raised his voice and started to make demands. I also said he should come to the clinic with us and make the allegations directly to the vet. He refused to do this. This is the second time that MDDB is facing this sort of a problem with a jobless white, male foreigner who thinks he can bully his way through. I am not a racist but merely stating a fact. The last time this happened was when I sent a message telling an Australian jerk to sod off for calling me names for allegedly not helping him rescue a mother dog and her puppies. He came to our adoption drive in Jaya One and threatened to assault me. When this happened, my fuse did not blow but exploded instead and I told him that I will give him a sound smacking if he does not leave the place. Sometimes I think some of the psychos we encounter bring out the worst in me. Is it worth it KY?
W
What we do is still worth it, W. Can't have the rainbows without the rain. I can only hope that my guess is right, that the dog is his own dog. From the FB page, it looks like the dog is well taken care of. Maybe he just wanted to get funds from both sides to buy things for his dog, which is not ethical at all, because our funds are for stray animals and not pets, and we certainly do not sponsor toys, beds, doghouses and food. Only medical needs.
He must be out of his wits, mentally-ill fellow.