Rat Rescue :: I want to run an animal rescue

I want to run an animal rescue

So, you think that you fancy running an animal rescue? You think that it is all about sitting around playing with cute animals..? Then think again…

Before you even think about running an animal rescue, there are some things that you must consider:

1. You will never have a holiday again or even an overnight stay away. In fact, you'll never have a social life again as when you start to take in more and more rats - most that are ill or with 'problems' - you'll either be nursing them or trying to tame them. My last holiday was my honeymoon in 1999. I have not had a break since then. You will make plans for a family meal or a night out with friends and you will have to cancel as one of the furries in your care takes a turn for the worst or you get called out to an emergency rescue case.

2. Unless you are affluent, you will have to work for yourself as you will spend every other day at the vets and, unless you work short hours, there will be days when you'll be late home from work and won't get to the vets in time. Your boss will also get fed up with you having to leave work early due to having a sick animal or having to do a homecheck etc. It does not help your career and without a job, you cannot afford to do this!

3. You will need at least £15,000 a year of your own money available for vets bills, rat accommodation, food, petrol to do home checks, phone calls, collecting animals etc. Donations from people are on very thin ground, despite what you may think

4. You will have to be thick skinned when you get people who call you up at 2.00am and demand that you take your rat or guinea pig ..or when you get home from work to find a cardboard box of rats dumped on your doorstep (even though you don't give your landline number or address to anyone - you are still found!)

5. You will have to restrain yourself from punching someone's face in whose badly abused/neglected animals you are taking in

6. You will have to be prepared for people turning up at your home to dump or collect a rat, walking around your home and seeing that you have a TV and clean hair and them automatically assuming that you don't need a donation.

7. You will have to be prepared to have no other relationships as you will have no energy for them. For example, we have 30 odd rats here. Each one I have an individual relationship with. It is especially emotionally draining and sad when you have a very sick one. Each animal is special and each relationship with them special. Imagine having 30 needy friends, all vying for your time 24/7 - would you cope?

8. You will have to be prepared for people generally treating you as public service - turning up two hours late to dump an animal on you or never turning up at all, leaving you wondering whether the animal has been let loose somewhere. You’ll lose sleep over it.

9. You will do home checks, find the perfect home for a furry and get the new owners to promise to keep in touch as you will want to see how he or she gets on in their new home. Some people won't and it eats you up.

10. You will spend hours on the PC, typing notes to people and on the ‘phone giving help, advice etc - and 9 times out of 10 you never even get a thank you.

If this is what you really want, why not try it out first by being a fosterer - maybe you should consider this in the first instance rather than jumping straight in. I have no life except 30 relationships which are very sad as the rats are either ill or problematic, and no money.

Imagine spending your next seven years getting up at 5am to clean out five cages every day, feed, medicate, nurse furries etc, before sitting at your desk at 9am to try and earn some money while squashing in emails, vets appointments, fundraising, home visits, collecting abused animals etc. If you get to bed at 11.00pm you will be lucky and then you will not sleep as you will worry about the sick and sad animals in your care.

Imagine that scenario every day for the next seven years – EVERY day. Sick and dumped animals still need help on bank holidays, at Christmas, on your birthday. Animal Rescue is relentless – 24/7 365 days a year – with you having no real help or support or no one to rely on.

Don't get me wrong, it is so rewarding to bring an aggressive or timid animal round or help a sick one. What they give back to you is amazing. It's the people and the lack of understanding such as "Oh, you sit around all day playing with furry animals" that gets to you. It isn't like this at all, it is bloody hard, relentless and most of the time, really sad.