I've been volunteering at a shelter for three years now, and I work at a vet clinic. I get it. Some people are ignorant. Some people are cruel. Some people just don't share my values when it comes to animal welfare. But I think I'm done with the hate-on for "people".
Some people are fixable, in which case being snooty or self-righteous about their choices won't educate them about anything. Some people are not, in which case being snooty or self-righteous won't do any good either. So, really, let's all be honest about it and admit that it's more about feeling good about yourself at the expense of others. This is why I can't hang out in certain animal-welfare forums anymore. There's a point where the kvetching is no longer about letting off steam, and more about making yourself feel special and better than others.
Yesterday we took a phone call from an owner who wanted to know if his accidentally-pregnant bitch can still give birth naturally even though she got hit by a car last week and might have a broken pelvis. My days of hanging up the phone, and saying, "I hate people", are over. (I might have choice words to use about this one person). I'm done with that, because one facepalm-ingly ignorant pet owner is not "people".
I don't even care if it's a reoccurring theme. There's a trend of old dogs being owner-surrendered around the holidays? Bunnies after Easter? Can't take a pet with them because they're moving? Kinda generally sucks, doesn't it? Good thing they have an animal shelter to turn to. You know, a central location of compassionate animal experts who's main job is to shelter and find homes for animals?
Maybe some of these people deserve a handwaving rant in the back of the intake room, maybe some of them really had no other recourse but surrendering their pet at a shelter. Maybe you're tired of hearing the same excuses reasons. When you find subtle ways to punish people who come into the shelter to surrender a pet; Being cold or impolite; Emphasizing the fact that it'll probably be killed if you can't find it a home; Whisking the pet away even if (or especially if) it seems they want a moment to say goodbye. When it comes to the point that no reason is good enough; when you could never see yourself say, "OK, if I were in that situation, maybe I would bring my animal to a shelter", you're probably not being honest with yourself.
One thing I'm tired of is "God, I hate people."
You. Are. People.
You, and the lady who adopted the elderly, diabetic black dog when she could have picked the young, healthy one, and the one who bottle-fed the litter of kittens, and the one who picked up the dog wandering on the highway even though it made them late for work, and the breeder who fosters, and every single one of the people who come into the shelter to adopt or donate towels or money. They're part of this 'people' that you say you hate, too.
If you work at a shelter, that means you get to be surrounded by people who share your values about animals, and who probably have rescued pets of their own. You get to see members of the public every day who come in with the express intention of adopting an animal in need, and you have the self-centered audacity to think you're some kind of lone warrior out there? That you're, the only one out there who really cares for animals, and everyone else is part of the problem?
I'm going to try really hard not to think like that anymore. I hope you do, too.
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