HUMAN CONTACT
This has been a really tough rehab season for me
personally. I have come the closest I’ve
ever come to quitting this year and probably not for the reasons you might
think. Not because most of the money
that it takes to support these animals comes out of my own pocket. Not because I haven’t had a single day off in
three years. Not because my back hurts
daily. Not because week after week I
have to reschedule visits with my one and only grandchild because an animal
needs help. All of these things I can
handle. So why?
I have had to sit down and ask myself, “What is wrong? Why is this year so different than years
before? Why do I dread answering the phone?”, and really think about what is it
that is getting to me so badly this year over previous years and I have finally
figured it out. The dreaded “REHABBER
BURN OUT” is hitting! OH NO
Anybody who has worked with wildlife rehabilitators can tell
you that the “burn out” rate among rehabbers is quite high. Other rehabbers have often warned us of this “rehabber
burn out” due to the volume of animals we take in (which is higher than most
individual rehabbers), “you better be careful or you’ll burn out”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard
this, and honestly, it has never been a concern. We know where our limits are and we stay
within them.
Most attribute this “burn out” to the toll it takes on a
person to continually watch animals suffer and die. That has to take its toll on a person, right? I’ve often wondered what the real reason is,
because, as rehabbers, we see animals suffer and die, but the successes help us
through the heartbreak, so we can go on and help the next animal. If death creates burn out, why don’t ER doctors
burn out as quickly?
This summer I think I have finally figured out just why the
burn out rate is really so much higher in wildlife rehabilitation than in other
areas and the reason has absolutely nothing to do with animals or the care we
provide to the animals or the money it costs us or the loss of personal time it
has cost.
The real reason I have personally come so close to “rehabber
burn out” can be attributed to one thing and one thing only…..
HUMAN CONTACT
Let me start by saying I do not mean ALL people. Many people I speak to are very nice and
truly just care about wildlife. The ones
I’m talking about are not those. These are
people that do not want to be inconvenienced or told that their assumptions are
not correct.
And the majority of this human contact is not even in
person, it’s over the phone. After
decades of doing wildlife rehabilitation, I am STILL constantly amazed at what
people will say to me over the phone as I am honestly trying to help the best I
can. In fact, the way that people behave
over the phone has gotten exponentially worse in just the last few years.
I won’t go into the names I’ve been called, or the threats I
have personally received, but some examples of things that I have personally
been told numerous times over the phone are listed below:
1.
My tax
dollars pay your salary!
o
Typically this is said by somebody who has
called about a small animal that is in need of help, but is not considered dangerous
to handle. We have usually just informed
the person that we would be happy to give the animal care, but they would need
to transport the animal to us.
o
The reality is, not only do NO tax dollars pay
my salary, but I don’t get paid, in salary or otherwise to work with these
animals. Never have been paid for
working with these animals. Every dime
of money that comes in here goes directly to animal care.
o
And it rarely matters how well or nicely I explain
this fact, the person will still be very hateful and insist on getting their
way.
o
The reality is that there are a few
rehabilitators that do get paid to do this, however, they work for very large
facilities and because the facility is so well funded, they have the luxury of
working ONLY with the animals and not having to answer the phone and deal with
the public.
2.
The guy
that works at petsmart told me that you are wrong!
o
This is one I’ve gotten a few times when
explaining to a person that a bird is a fledgling and the best thing that they
can do for this bird is to leave it alone and allow its parents to continue to
care for it.
o
And now I’m left to argue with a person who
chooses to believe a person that has a few months of experience selling pet
toys to people over my own decades of experience dealing with the species we
are actually discussing. Talk about
disheartening!
3.
Well,
I’m just not comfortable with that. (this is a “nice” way of the person telling
me that they aren’t going to do what I just said they should do)
o
This is typically said by a person who has been
told to leave a fledgling bird or a parked fawn where it is, so that the
natural parents can still care for it.
o
I realize that leaving babies alone is not what
humans do with their own young, but whether a person is comfortable with it or
not, for many species of wildlife, it IS the best thing for them.
o
So now I’m supposed to be more concerned about
how the human feels than what’s best for the animal?
4.
If you
cared you would come get this animal.
o
Typically said by a person who does not want to
transport the animal to us, but wants us to come and pick it up.
o
Given that we cover 28 counties within this
state, if we were to go and pick up every animal that we get called about…well,
that would be physically impossible, there just aren’t enough hours in the
day. But, if we tried, the animals that
are already in our care would not get care.
o
This is honestly, just a mean thing to say. There is no other way to word it, it’s just
mean. I do care. In fact, I care enough not to hang up the
phone as this person starts their abuse.
THAT is caring!
5.
It’s
your job, not mine
o
Actually, the word “job” implies that a person
is paid to perform a specific set of tasks, so this word really does not apply
to what we do here.
o
For one, we
are not paid, for two, not even my permits require me to do anything. They simply ALLOW me to do things if I so
choose.
o
Honestly, you could not pay me enough money to
deal with the amount of abuse that I put up with on the phone. If this was a job, I would have quit long,
long ago.
o
In all reality, caring about nature should be
the job of every human! Not just mine
because I choose to help.
6.
Oh,
that’s too far, I’m not driving that far.
o
Typically said by a person who lives some
distance (often within 30 miles) of us and does not want to take the time to
transport the animal.
o
I always wonder if that person realizes that the
road is the same length in each direction and that they are dealing with just
one animal, we are getting called for upwards of twenty animals a day, all in
need of transport.
7.
Well I
made the phone call, I’ve done my part.
o
Typically said by a person who does not want to
transport the animal to us
o
I always wonder if I have then done my part by
answering that call?
8.
I’m
going to report you.
o
This was said to me by a woman who brought us a
song bird. At the time that she brought
the bird, she was handed a post card with explicit instructions on how to get
updates on the animal’s progress, which included emailing and NOT calling.
o
When she called for an update (which she’d been
told not to do), as I tried to give her the update, she kept saying “I can’t
hear you”, so I told her that she should try to call back later. THIS she obviously heard, because that is
when she started screaming this into the phone, “I’m going to report you”.
o
All I could think was, “report me for what? Caring for the bird?” I’m not required to
give updates to anybody other than those who hold our permits (being state and
federal government)
o
And she did report me. In fact, this woman, who could not follow the
simple directions on the card she was given, was able to obtain phone numbers of
government officials that I’m not even sure how to get. All JUST to complain that I didn’t give her
an update. An update I actually tried to
give her even though she didn’t follow the directions and even though I am not
required to give anybody updates.
9.
Well,
what am I supposed to do then?
o
How does one even begin to answer this
question? What are you supposed to do as
you look at an animal in need that you won’t transport to the proper
person? I just don’t know.
No, I am not going to quit rehabilitating wildlife. It sure isn't the animals' fault that some humans are selfish. But I do now understand better what “rehabber
burn out” is and how it is caused.
And people worry about contact with animals? Give me an angry bear over a human who feels they are entitled simply by being ANY day of the week!
