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A slight gripe about rescue centres

L

loobie_lou

Mama Doe
Hey all,

I'm probably going to be hated for doing this thread, lol, but I just wanted to put my thoughts forward about the pet shop//breeder or rescue centre to get rabbits from.

I bought my recently deceased rabbit, Chloe, from a pet shop in Liverpool... so, after she had been pts I decided I would get a rabbit from a rescue centre, so I set about locating all the ones in the North West and contacted them all.

Some got back to me saying I was out of there catchment area for a home visit, and some never got back to me at all. The one I ended up going to were very helpful prior to my visit and, when we arrived the lad taking us round was obviously very passionate about the rabbits (although maybe a bit too much as the rabbits were overweight... in particular this netherland dwarf which, no word of a lie, resembled a fully grown cat!!!). I'd chosen the rabbit I wanted to re-home... he had to be single because his plums hadn't dropped, therefore he wasn't able to be neutered, and this put alot of people off. So they took my details, and explained to me about there procedures.

Now, I understand that everyone has to have a home visit - and I was totally fine with this... but the centre were kind of alienating me because I'm a student, despite me explaining to them that although I was a student I am a massive animal lover and I'd opted to go through a rescue centre because I wanted to make a difference, as opposed to incorrectly lining a breeder/pet shops pockets with money when I didn't' believe animals should be sold for profit.

After visiting and choosing my rabbit Hawys and I set off back home, and I have to be honest but I was gutted. I was left feeling like I wouldn't be able to rehome one of their buns because I was being steriotyped - as I'm a student. The centre were pretty much insinuating that because I am a student I may well return it when I move and they'd be in the same situation again... but does this not apply to everyone who has an income? On the off chance that they may decided to move away?

So, with this in mind and in desperate want of a rabbit to look after I ended up buying Jamie from P@H... and Kitt from another pet shop - and, thankfully, both are doing great.

I just wondered if anyone else has ever had problems? I think the work that these centres do is all right and just... and I think they do amazing things, but I just felt completely put off. Surely someone who is going to be irresponsible with their pets wouldn't put themselves out and search for various rescue centres and be willing to put in a donation of over £50? AND offer to sponsor another rabbit that couldn't be re-homed.

xx
 
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Hmmmmm, I know what you mean...when i was looking for the buns I contacted my local rescue centre and they would never answer the phone even, I left voice messages, and also offered to work free of charge there for a wekk as I had been made redundant, and wasn't due to start the new job for another week. I e-mailed them aswell, but they never got back to me! No wonder they always have lots of animals there!

When we were thinking about getting a cat, we went to our local RSPCA, where we were met by a very abrupt lady, who, when we said that we were looking for an approx 1-2 year old cat who would like being an indoor lap cat most of the time, she asked why we wouldn't be letting the cat out and then said she didn't have any cats of that age! :roll:

We are actually going to let Boo out when she has been with us for 6 weeks and we have escape-proofed the garden, but what I wanted to say was that I wanted a lap cat more than a roaming cat...but she was so abrupt she didn't wait until I had finished so I went to another rescue!
 
I completely appreciate that there has to be strict vetting, but animals with some centres, will never find there forever home because some people are just too judgemental.

I'd have been only too happy for someone from Animals in Needs to come and have a look at the arrangement I had for the bun I chose... but they said they'd check when they dropped him off. So, it was almost like if I wasn't good enough with what I could offer him that they'd have brought him on an hour and a bit trip for nothing but to cause stress.
 
I know how you feel about posting on this subject, I did the same thing recently and ended up feeling very 'got at' by some people, received some unpleasant mails too, all I asked was a simple question

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=93950

I am a foster mum for my local rescue and I am practically a rescue anyway having 'rescued' quite a few recently, the reason for my post was not to 'get at' anyone but to see if we as rescues could learn anything, I am always willing to be educated, I certainly don't know it all but would like to learn and I find the best way to do that is to 'talk' to people, whether they be other rescuers, homers, fosterers or whatever, as far as I am concerned it's the rabbit's welfare first and foremost, but there are obviously people who think they know it all, do it all right and what they say is law because they are always right..............not the case in my experience.

I'll bet if I had asked the same question about breeders I would have been a hero

Good luck and I hope some of those who are quick to judge will take the time to read, inwardly digest and maybe think a bit.
 
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Hey Snowy, thanks for that :D

I think it's obvious that things work better when people pull together and swap tips etc etc, so your thread was very valid.

I'm not trying to get at any one rescue for this though, and I'm not really critising either... I just want rescue people to know that they can't simply discriminate one person by their expectations.

Out of interest, what kinds of things do rescue centres look for on a home visit?
 
loobie_lou said:
Hey Snowy, thanks for that :D

I think it's obvious that things work better when people pull together and swap tips etc etc, so your thread was very valid.

I'm not trying to get at any one rescue for this though, and I'm not really critising either... I just want rescue people to know that they can't simply discriminate one person by their expectations.

Out of interest, what kinds of things do rescue centres look for on a home visit?
Click to expand...


Well, at least one person understands what I was trying to achieve:lol: :lol: , it certainly wasn't meant for anyone to 'criticise' but unless we know what people think and what we are doing wrong then how can we ever learn, and I don't mean wrong as in bad I just mean some things could be done better.

On a home visit we look for accomodation and environement, but it's more talking to the prospective new parents and establishing they know what they are taking on eg. veterinary care, food, cleaning, holiday arrangements etc.etc. and finding out if the person is capable of looking after a bunny, after all, we don;t want to rescue it from one bad situation and put it into another!:shock:
 
I think some people get so used to seeing animals come in badly treated that they become anti-people and loose their people skills (or never had any in the first place) it can be very disheartening and upsetting, especially when there are so many nice rescues on here that are willing to arrange bunny runs etc.

Some people who work with animals need to remember that there are still good people out there.

Before I got Faline I tried my only local rescue in cumbria, and was due to go look at a doe, which they had recommended to me. I made an appointment for the sunday and when i rang sunday morning to confirm it was ok I was put off coming and the woman was quite rude to me.

I got Faline from a breeder instead, as she isn't show quality.
 
I would like to explain a few things about rescue centres. All the rescue centres I know of are run by either individual people or collectively by a few people who are all volunteers. If I look at ARC which is the rescue I am involved with we have separated everything into small sections to make life easier for us all and to allow for more flexibility.

All the main people who are involved with adoptions and accepting animals with ARC all have families with 2 to 4 children, all work a minimum of 25 hours a week in mainly demanding jobs and many are one adult houeholds.

I am very aware of the issue of people ringing and not being able to make contact with me very easily, there are many days I am around in the daytime and also in the evenings and am easy to contact. There are also periods of time when I work 3 or 4 days in a row, when I am working I do 12.5 hour days and spend up to 3 hours travelling. When I get home I need to clean out animals, check them all for problems, check any phone calls I have had and any messages which have been left and then prepare supper for my boys for the following day if I am working and also prepare their lunch boxes. Now I am syringe feeding babies before I go to work and when I get home.

Unfortunately after I have done all this it is always too late for me to start ringing around in responce to any phone calls that have been left for me. Most of the ARC people communicate via email for this reason! If I am working 4 days in a row I often am unable to contact them until the 5th day which is usually too late for many people.

I often get home to find two or three phone calls from a person who wants to visit tonight or tomorrow. When I manage to get back to them it often happens that they have already been to a pet shop and obtained an animal as they couldn't wait ... even 24 hours. Many people only leave mobile phone numbers and don't appreciate that it is the volunteer who pays the phone bill in many rescues which is why many rescues dont ring back until the evening time to try and keep their phone bill as low as possible. Many people object if you do ring and ask them to ring you back for this reason.

Only today I have had a phone call from someone interested in a neutered male piggie to pair up with their lonely female, she wanted to visit tomorrow, unfortunately I am working tomorrow. She was most upset that I could not change my day of working as she wanted to get a companion pig for her piggie tomorrow, not today or not next week. Incidently this piggie has been living by himself for the past 6 months. I offered her the option that I could do this afternoon but this is inconvenient with her as she needs to go to Tesco's :? Any day next week is too late as she needs a companion now.

I average around 10 emails a day to answer including many follow up questions from people who have adopted from ARC, these I tend to do as it doesnt mater what time of the day I reply.

For me there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do and the problems associated with being a shift worked means I have no set pattern of when I will be at home to make my self available and to enable tme to advertise the times I am available as these change from day to day.

If all rescues could afford a rescue centre where there is paid staff to man phones between normal office hours and answer general enquires then this would not be a problem for anyone. If you have suggestions about how rescues can make themselves more accessable I am sure they would be grateful for your suggestions, I know I would be.
 
jrn1310 said:
I average around 10 emails a day to answer including many follow up questions from people who have adopted from ARC, these I tend to do as it doesnt mater what time of the day I reply.
Click to expand...


:oops: :oops: Maybe I should only send you a weekly digest then.....:lol:

But well said. Many people think that a rescue centre has to be open 24/7 and are not willing to be flexible themselves.

I am not sure if all or many rescues are prejudiced against students, and if yes, what the main reasons are. They may be concerned that you can't afford to pay vet bills. I did not have any rabbits while I was a student, because I did not have the space in my tiny apartment. And I did not want to ask my parents to pay the vet bills for me. But a lot of students here have enough free time to get a job and earn their own money, it all depends on the individual. I would ask all the necessary questions, but not say NO to every student straight away.
 
jrn1310 said:
I would like to explain a few things about rescue centres. All the rescue centres I know of are run by either individual people or collectively by a few people who are all volunteers. If I look at ARC which is the rescue I am involved with we have separated everything into small sections to make life easier for us all and to allow for more flexibility.

All the main people who are involved with adoptions and accepting animals with ARC all have families with 2 to 4 children, all work a minimum of 25 hours a week in mainly demanding jobs and many are one adult houeholds.

I am very aware of the issue of people ringing and not being able to make contact with me very easily, there are many days I am around in the daytime and also in the evenings and am easy to contact. There are also periods of time when I work 3 or 4 days in a row, when I am working I do 12.5 hour days and spend up to 3 hours travelling. When I get home I need to clean out animals, check them all for problems, check any phone calls I have had and any messages which have been left and then prepare supper for my boys for the following day if I am working and also prepare their lunch boxes. Now I am syringe feeding babies before I go to work and when I get home.

Unfortunately after I have done all this it is always too late for me to start ringing around in responce to any phone calls that have been left for me. Most of the ARC people communicate via email for this reason! If I am working 4 days in a row I often am unable to contact them until the 5th day which is usually too late for many people.

I often get home to find two or three phone calls from a person who wants to visit tonight or tomorrow. When I manage to get back to them it often happens that they have already been to a pet shop and obtained an animal as they couldn't wait ... even 24 hours. Many people only leave mobile phone numbers and don't appreciate that it is the volunteer who pays the phone bill in many rescues which is why many rescues dont ring back until the evening time to try and keep their phone bill as low as possible. Many people object if you do ring and ask them to ring you back for this reason.

Only today I have had a phone call from someone interested in a neutered male piggie to pair up with their lonely female, she wanted to visit tomorrow, unfortunately I am working tomorrow. She was most upset that I could not change my day of working as she wanted to get a companion pig for her piggie tomorrow, not today or not next week. Incidently this piggie has been living by himself for the past 6 months. I offered her the option that I could do this afternoon but this is inconvenient with her as she needs to go to Tesco's :? Any day next week is too late as she needs a companion now.

I average around 10 emails a day to answer including many follow up questions from people who have adopted from ARC, these I tend to do as it doesnt mater what time of the day I reply.

For me there are not enough hours in the day to do everything I need to do and the problems associated with being a shift worked means I have no set pattern of when I will be at home to make my self available and to enable tme to advertise the times I am available as these change from day to day.

If all rescues could afford a rescue centre where there is paid staff to man phones between normal office hours and answer general enquires then this would not be a problem for anyone. If you have suggestions about how rescues can make themselves more accessable I am sure they would be grateful for your suggestions, I know I would be.
Click to expand...

I completely appreciate everything you have put in your reply, I can imagine that everyone at any given rescue centre is very busy... owing to the work being voluntary. I only wish there was somewhere close to me and I would dedicate a lot of hours helping out any way I could.

Obviously not plausable but I think the government should fund rescue centres to have at least one paid member of staff - this person being expected to deal with the admin side of everything. I guess if this was ever suggested they'd just approach an RSPCA stance, or lax stance, of putting the buns to sleep :cry:
 
Bavarian Bunny said:
:oops: :oops: Maybe I should only send you a weekly digest then.....:lol:

But well said. Many people think that a rescue centre has to be open 24/7 and are not willing to be flexible themselves.

I am not sure if all or many rescues are prejudiced against students, and if yes, what the main reasons are. They may be concerned that you can't afford to pay vet bills. I did not have any rabbits while I was a student, because I did not have the space in my tiny apartment. And I did not want to ask my parents to pay the vet bills for me. But a lot of students here have enough free time to get a job and earn their own money, it all depends on the individual. I would ask all the necessary questions, but not say NO to every student straight away.
Click to expand...

I can see exactly where you're coming from with this. Both of my bunnies are insured and my partner and I are setting up a joint back account for the rabbits when she moves to Bristol in September - for any additional costs to be transferred as she wont be able to be with them. I also work and earn £400 a month. I just felt like they didn't give me a chance despite me saying exactly what I was going to do. I've only had them for 2 weeks and already we've paid for their first vaccination, 2 new hutches/indoor cages, a massive pen for them... I'd say we've spent a good part of £300-£400 sorting them out. Student or no student, some people are totally dedicated to animals... other people are not. Could another way of assessing this situation ... relating to vet bills etc ... but having them sign a contract to say they will pay for pet insurance and necessary treatment (spaying and vaccinations, etc) and, maybe, for them to show proof of income using bank statements, etc?
 
I agree with Snowy and Janice.. especially people's impatience..we can't be available all the time or instantly yet I too have people who want an animal NOW!

And as Snowy's other thread said ..there are good and bad rescue's and we all have slightly different ways of doing things ..so perhaps if you are not happy with your local rescue try further afield..most of us will rehome outside out area with help in ther homechecking department by kind volunteers:D
 
loobie_lou said:
I only wish there was somewhere close to me and I would dedicate a lot of hours helping out any way I could.
Click to expand...

You can help many places even if they are not that close to you, some rescues may appreciate help with keeping websites up to date, posting animals on external websites. Doing distance things like thank you letters, applying for grants, there are often office jobs which can be done from a distance.

It might even be designing forms for a new rescue, compiling information sheets for a relatively new rescue so they can print out and give out with any rabbit they rehome. You may find that there is a rescue near but too far for you to reguarly visit which would appreciate someone to go in and look at what they are doing with 'new' eyes and make suggestions for improvement and then help them with making these changes. Sometimes I dont notice how the edges of a bottle are going green or dont have the time to shift hutches to sweep behind them as often as I should.
 
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honeybunny said:
I agree with Snowy and Janice.. especially people's impatience..we can't be available all the time or instantly yet I too have people who want an animal NOW!

And as Snowy's other thread said ..there are good and bad rescue's and we all have slightly different ways of doing things ..so perhaps if you are not happy with your local rescue try further afield..most of us will rehome outside out area with help in ther homechecking department by kind volunteers:D
Click to expand...

As explained in my initial post, I contacted loads of rescue centres within a week... by e-mail and by phone. Many of the ones who replied were unable to rehome with me because they weren't near Liverpool - this included ones who were in Manchester, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and some in Yorkshire. It wasn't like I was just sticking with the one... I'd done my research on the centres, and I'd looked on rabbit rehome. I wasn't after a specific type of rabbit... when I went to the centre I found myself wanting the ones that had been there the longest, lol.

Regarding home checking... if anyone ever needs any done in the Liverpool area... or the Wirral, I can definately do this.
 
jrn1310 said:
You can help many places even if they are not that close to you, some rescues may appreciate help with keeping websites up to date, posting animals on external websites. Doing distance things like thank you letters, applying for grants, there are often office jobs which can be done from a distance.

It might even be designing forms for a new rescue, compiling information sheets for a relatively new rescue so they can print out and give out with any rabbit they rehome. You may find that there is a rescue near but too far for you to reguarly visit which would appreciate someone to go in and look at what they are doing with 'new' eyes and make suggestions for improvement and then help them with making these changes. Sometimes I dont notice how the edges of a bottle are going green or dont have the time to shift hutches to sweep behind them as often as I should.
Click to expand...


Thank you, I shall look on rabbit rescue and compile a list of rescues in the North West, and even North areas and see if I can help in the ways suggested :D

I've even planned my retirement, lol... and I've not even graduated uni yet. But I'm planning on teaching until I'm around 55, then retiring and having a rescue centre for all small animals, lol. I can see it in my head. Looking back I so should have gone in to animal care... I feel more compelled to support animal causes than human ones :?
 
I don't know how popular that would be with people, to ask them about their income etc.. I often see people on Freeads, looking for a bunny, preferrably for free and with a cheap hutch, because they are single parents or otherwise cannot afford to buy a new hutch. Then I would be a bit concerned about how they want to pay vet bills, and if they will take them to the vet at all, etc..
I think you can never be 100 % sure that the bunnies will get everything they need and vet care etc.. You can ask people to sign a contract, but most rescues are too busy to ask the new owners for updates, or do a follow up homecheck a few months after the adoption. Most experienced rescue people know what to ask people and can usually tell from their answers whether they are suitable or not. There are only very few rescues who have set extremely high standards for rehoming/homechecks, most are willing to compromise to a certain extend.
 
When you really want a bunny it can feel like ages until you adopt one even if its just 24 hours!:shock: :lol: But the waiting is worth it. I always say to myself, if anything ever happened to me and my rabbits were given to a rescue, i would want them to do all the necessary checks, be good people who take it slowly and ask the right questions, so that they only went to a secure loving forever home together. So, in turn, if doing that means me waiting a while, thats fine :D

Not everyone looking for a bunny is as nice and clued up as you guys - so they have to go through some kind of filtering (I am assuming this as I don't work at a rescue!). They're rules aren't to insult or hurt you just to protect the bunnies. :D
 
Romy said:
When you really want a bunny it can feel like ages until you adopt one even if its just 24 hours!:shock: :lol: But the waiting is worth it. I always say to myself, if anything ever happened to me and my rabbits were given to a rescue, i would want them to do all the necessary checks, be good people who take it slowly and ask the right questions, so that they only went to a secure loving forever home together. So, in turn, if doing that means me waiting a while, thats fine :D

Not everyone looking for a bunny is as nice and clued up as you guys - so they have to go through some kind of filtering (I am assuming this as I don't work at a rescue!). They're rules aren't to insult or hurt you just to protect the bunnies. :D
Click to expand...

:thumb: Correct, some people are very impatient and usually, not always, means they are impulsive and we all know what happens to bunnies when got on impulse!!:shock: :shock:

Making sure people fully understand the implications of taking on a bunny or two can be time consuming and we MUST make sure as best we can that every bunny goes to a loving hime where he/she will be cared for at ALL times and that takes time to establish, we have had people in the past (so has Jill) and many others probably, they talk a good talk but when you investigate they haven't got a clue and so 'filtering' must be done.

But, at the end of it all........the bunny's welfare comes first
 
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