Rescue Journal

pretty frustrated tonight

Carol  ·  Oct. 24, 2012

it was two full hours in the mp room after work tonight...a hour for wilma to feed, medicate, get her up for a walk around and a pee plus settle the other guys...and then another full hour in the mp room cuz riley was utterly gross again tonight. i did manage to shower her on my own...i just let her lay down in the shower and kept washing and soaking and washing and soaking til i got the old urine smell off of her coat. then i drained the shower out...dried her and turned her and dried her some more before getting her back to her clean bed.
still it was a helluvalot of hard work to do on my own.

but here is the thing...riley can't help that she can't get up on her own and sometimes pees where she lays...but that doesn't mean that we can walk away and leave her like that...she has a right to be clean and dry and comfortable. if the smell of her really bothers me...with her far more sensitive nose, i know it bothers her even more.

and so do i put down this ancient utterly sweet and very alert and interested dog simply because her legs are weak and her bladder leaks? or do i just bite the bullet and make absolutely sure she gets without fail the care that she needs...even if that care needs to be given at the end of a long work day for me?

caring for these old and physically disabled animals really is not easy..it is brutal and constant hard work. this isn't a place to sit on our laurals (or asses) and brag about how great we are. every single day, i see how and where we could do better in some small or large ways for them...sometimes having to think of really big solutions to problems..sometimes as simple as just being willing to give them a really good bedtime bath.

this is what we promised them..myself and every single volunteer and paid staff...that we would do our best for them...not just on some days, not just when we feel like it but as often as we possibly can.

jenn got an email today from someone who just wants to volunteer to pet animals..well... ALL of us would just like to sit around and do that! but ALL of us put much more into here than just that! maggie takes the extra and stinky gawd awful laundry, mo and ko get dirty and soaking wet every weekend out in the barn...tammy chokes herself with bleach to make sure those cat areas are spotlessly clean, derek and jen scrub down and move all of the furniture, helga brings the cats special foods and takes their laundry home to do, penny and marta stripped down the rabbit rooms, ann takes care of our paper shit, curt fixes my computer, brenda, lynn, diane, shawn, erin and dionne scrub the crap out of the house..i could go on and on and list a twenty more folks who clean, fundraise, walk dogs, update petfinder and websites, bring in donations, take pictures, wash windows, build/fix stuff, answer emails, write grants, give tours, foster more senior and special needs saints animals in their homes, and even change my bed that the dogs wrecked! AND we ALL somehow manage to even pet and love the animals too!!!

tonight i am frustrated by how hard and never ending this caring work is...but..i am still going to do it.

Comments

Marta

Carol I thank you, your staff, and all the wonderful volunteers and people who love these animals .

And am so grateful there is a place like Saints out there who will care for and love all the animals we have here. And wish even more people knew about the wonderful work and miracles done here not only in the lives of these animals but the life changing work done in our lives as well being a part of their world even if it is only for a day a week in my case.

I love what you wrote and will make my promise to do the best I can for them as well.



Thanks for allowing me to be a part of Saints

Marta

Maggie

I'm also available to help...just send out an SOS and I'll jump in the car. As you can see there is a lot of help available and many hands make lighter work

Carol

oliver is not 100 years old and while he can't walk, he can pull himself away from his pee...riley can't move herself away from the wet spot,...she doesn't have the strength so she is stuck soaking wet til we come along and help her.

i don't mean to be ungrateful or unkind abbey to reject any offer of kindness for our animals but the reality is as curt said...this is not a petting zoo. and these animals need a ton of care. there is not a moment when someone doesn't need a clean bed, a drink of water carried to them, a poop or pee cleaned up, a brush or a walk or a bath. how unfair is to our army of blood, sweat, and tearing, reliable and constant volunteers to make them do all of the hard and icky and back breaking stuff, while someone else comes in and gets all of the soft and warm and fuzzy stuff? how about helping them with the hard work so everyone has some extra time to cuddle and pet?
we do have tours every saturday and sunday for folks who want to come by and see and socially interact with the animals. but our volunteers here are part of a team who work and commit to together in caring for them and that is really hard work. and we do have volunteers here that have physical challenges but all of them find some empty niche they are able to fill. many folks in our society do just want that easy and good feeling experience of the warm and fuzzy dream but turn and walk away from the reality that these animals do not live and thrive on love alone...they actually need someone to roll their sleeves up and help them have a good and comfortable life and home.


thx for the reminder you guys that i can call for help. i am just so used to being on my own at night, unless it is a crises, i don't think i can manage on my own...i don't actually even think of sending out a please help me plea..i just find a way to do it on my own...too independent i suppose.

Leila

Oh Carol, you are so much better than I am. Oiver pees all over himself everyday - he has become quite a leaky guy. I do not bath him every day. He gets bathed 2x a week because I take him into Mestisos. Otherwise he and the rest of the house live and smell eau d' Oliver. Sometimes I feel guilty reading what you do for the animals when comparing it to what I don't do for my guys.

Abby

Carol,
I appreciate the hard work you and all your volunteers do for these animals, I didn't like how you belittled the offer that person made to come in and visit with your animals. Perhaps that was all that person could manage at this time, maybe they have a physical, or mental impairment that keeps them from being able to do physical labour or help out in other avenues.

In reading your blog these past couple years I am always both inspired and amazed at the care and warmth you and your staff display to all the animals you support, perhaps that individual just wanted to take part in whatever way they could. Reading a blog post about how inadequate that gesture was probably wasn't the response that person expected to their offer of love and compassion.

Curt

Just volunteer to pet..... like you said earlier in the month (this is not a petting zoo) that is funny.

Michelle

And me as well, Carol. I am here most every night. I see the light on in the mp room but I don't want to just come knocking on the door getting everyone upset. Please just call, or yell and ill come arunnin

lynne

and i can come up too carol i guess i just do not know when you need extra help but i am always happy to help out. i guess it depends on the hours you work but maybe we can run by a schedule of what you need and work out something. i sometimes feel you do not like to bug people but i would like to help you beyond sat. i know you are doing the mp room by yourself next week on certain days, maybe i could help you out there. will talk to you on sat.

Shawn

Carol, give me a call anytime you need help in an evening. I can help with bathing or bedtime. I would love to be there at SAINtS, and a break from school stuff!