The Myth About Animal Rescue

As you can see in the photo, Jack's wounds have closed, though he has lost his left eye. Most of his fur had grown back, his arthritis had improved with daily massage, with gingly oil but somethings will not improve e.g. his lost up and down teeth, broken incisors and perhaps absence of some of the molars, given his age though the rescuer claimed that he is only 7 years old. Looking at Jack's skin and nail conditions, our estimate is that Jack is minimum 10 years of age, then again we could be wrong. We handed him back to his rescuer, through a pet taxi service and that chapter ends in my life.

But, that does not end the myths about animal rescue. To those of you who generally do not follow animal rescues, yes, animal rescues exists. Sometimes animals need to be rescued when they are in danger, e.g. swept away by floodwaters and hanging on for dear life or caught to be sold in illegal exotic meat markets; perhaps chained and abused at the backyard of some homes. These rescued animals are usually let off into an environment where they are safer or where people may be able to feed them once a day, if in the case of dogs and cats.

What animal rescue is NOT is where a self-claimed animal rescuer picks up an animal off the road (if injured and dying, that is humanity, if found just sitting by the roadside, that is when the myth starts), sends for check at a vet, takes to social media and starts begging for funds. Inhuman is when an animal is abused, beaten or injured and supposedly rescued, sent to the vet and the rescuer starts begging for money. This is the myth. To a large extent, we have such suspicions on Jack's case, because a lot of things did not add up. Will write about this at the end of the article.

Do take note that no one puts a gun onto the head of any human being and say, rescue the animal or you will be shot. All animal rescuers do it on their own volition. Some are silent about it - very noble; others take to the social media to lash at every human being using all the cuss words in the universe because he/she was asked to rescue an animal. Don't rescue and make it your problem, turn a blind eye and walk away, no one's gonna shoot you. You are not obligated to rescue anything. Live your life. Scoot!

But something deep lurks beneath all that animal rescue - the hunger for money. Almost all rescuers will claim that they had used their own funds and became pauper when rescuing animals. Believe me, there are genuine ones who do that, but most, after sometime would have wisened up and start seeking funds before even rescuing animals. It is relatively easy to gather funds for a purportedly `noble' act on social media and eventually it becomes a source of income. Such a good source that rescuers can even afford overseas holiday with the money. This is certainly not a myth.

The more badly injured the animal is, the more funds the rescuers will be able to gather. This is not a myth - a fact. We suspect Jack's case might be so. We could have taken up a case to investigate or walk away - we chose to walk away and focus on our lives. Jack has his fate written for him, he shall live according to that. If any agency investigates it should be the DVS or Suara Haiwan Malaysia, not us. Honestly, after having fostered and nursed Jack back to better health, and undergone such devastating drama by the pet taxi owner, we are not bothered anymore.

So, why am I writing about the myth in animal rescue? Money is usually hard earned. Yours and mine. Why part with it to fund someone else's life - the life of one who claims to rescue animals, keeps them in his/her house, sources for funds continuously? Why?

If an animal needs rescuing, let's say a female dog with six or eight puppies is found on a road divider with vehicles zooming past on both sides. That place is not safe for the mother and puppies. There are a few options - relocate the mother and puppies to a safer place (yes, find the place) if it matters, find a feeder or just feed till the mother moves her puppies elsewhere again and perhaps much later return to Trap-Neuter-Release and Manage (TNRM). In this way, the pressure in not on anyone and one does not need to beg on social media for funds after taking the mother and puppies home. Did the dog say it wants to live in a house? Did the dog ask for a lifetime commitment? Did the anteater say it wants to sleep on a bed? No, all animals should live in their own environment. There is a survival, social and justice system in the wild, only humans did not know that. The animals did not write them, nature did and for time immemorial animals have lived like that, so why change the equilibrium now? Human beings assume that animals want to live in houses, no, animals want food once a day, mate and live free. That is the law of nature. If you choose to have a pet, fine but do remember that it is a lifetime commitment.

So, why people take the trouble to rescue animals which have survived on their own? There is only one answer - money. If an animal is picked up by a rescuer when people highlight a case, money can be made by the rescuer, vet, pet taxi and foster. Only the adopter would not make money in this value chain. If an animal is picked up with injuries, once the animal recovers, it should be released to the natural environment where feeders can feed the animal once a day, in the case of a dog or a cat. Puppies can be put up for adoption for they cannot survive on their own without assistance but trying to get adopters to adopt especially a grown dog does not make sense. That was what was attempted by the rescuer in the case of Jack. If the animal is an injured falcon, once the falcon can fly, set it free. It knows how to survive, so why turn it into a pet? If the falcon returns to visit once in a while, great. Else, say a prayer and set it free.

Go to Facebook and do a search for `animal rescuer'; you will find thousands of them, if not tens of thousands. It is likely that 9 out of 10 animal rescuers are Malaysians of Indian origin. Now, before you call me racist, I am also a Malaysian of Indian origin. It is also highly likely the 9 out of the 10 does not have a full time/regular job or source of income and very minimal education. They probably live off donations or seek payment when someone adopts animals under their care. So, go figure. I am not inciting racial tension here but that is the reality. One well-known animal rescue centre sources for donations through multiple channels like FB and Simplygiving.com. I had approached them before to suggest a better way of raising funds than to beg for money, but they never took any interest in that. It was much later that I discovered that there were a few court cases against them for misappropriation of funds. Well, if you have read till here, you would be able to figure out a lot by now. Donations are for specific purposes, not for the individual pocket or lifestyle, let alone for someone's holiday.

So what did not add up in Jack's case?

1. Jack was kept at the vet for a very long time after he was rescued and treated. He was kept in a cage where he ate, slept, peed and pooped. The cage was his home, while the cash register clanked away. The pet taxi owner claimed that Jack was her rescue and that she visited him daily. But the day she was supposed to send him to my house, suddenly she claimed that he was down with serious skin problems and oh, dear, what a discovery - she visited him daily but did not now about the skin problems?
2. A day before the other rescuer contacted me to ask if I can foster Jack, the pet taxi person posted in social media that oh dear, there is a distemper virus outbreak at her home among her dogs! Distemper virus is usually found among strays at factory areas. Why would a dog in her home suddenly contract the virus - well some money was made for the treatment of the dog that was supposed to be down with the virus and the fact that her home was no longer conducive for Jack was established. So, now that the charges at the vet had reached RM 2,153, funds need to be sourced and of course filled in concerned pockets plus Jack can no longer be there. He had to be dumped somewhere. Enter the foster. I was kind enough to foster him fro free where other fosters would charge minimum RM150 a week. Hey, that's money.
3. Had I said no to fostering Jack, he would have been sent to Sitiawan dumpsite with his open wound. That was what the main rescuer told me. She said that when I told her that I needed to see his condition first before deciding. If he was beyond my ability to care for, I would have said no. The pet taxi person was supposed to arrange for the viewing. That did not happen (surprised?) and as Jack could no longer be at the vet, I was informed that he would be sent to the dumpsite if no one fosters him. I am a risk taker, so I said send him over and immediately there was a message from the pet taxi person that oh dear, Jack had bad skin issues. Really? Thought you visited daily?
4. Jack was sent to my home and my care for him began. The pet taxi person did not visit Jack even once during the time he was under my care though she claimed he was her rescue. His skin issues were extremely bad, his open wound was short of contracting maggots though been stitched up. A packet of antibiotics was dumped along with him and that was it. But anytime I raised a concern about his health - his arthritis etc, immediately she would respond and offer to take Jack to the vet. Apart from that not a peep from her asking about Jack's condition. She was supposed to drop off some NexGard tablets, it never happened. The other rescuer told me that she had paid her for them. One NexGard costs RM75 for a dog of Jack's size, RM225 had gone into the pet taxi person's pocket. Now, do you see the pattern? By the way RM 2,153 was paid to the pet taxi person to settle the vet bill, not to the vet directly - do you need further imagination?
5. Jack was with me for a month. It was somewhat challenging because he trusted and loved me but did not like our gated community. So, many times during walks he had tried to leave the place. He would attempt to leave through the guard house and when I tried to steer him away, he would stop smack in the middle of the road. That was pretty stressful. I highlighted this to the main rescuer many times but she just brushed it off. I told her that given his age and the possibility that he may not live very long, he should be let to run free. I felt bad for Jack as he sought freedom. In gated community, house rules do not allow pets to run freely. Mixed breeds like Jack are high energy dogs, they are not ideal as car porch or home pets unless adopted when they were puppies. Thus, I rented a land space for my own dozen as they would not be ideal for a landed property like mine. at the land, they have a huge area to explore and monkeys to keep them entertained. Later my suggestion to set Jack free was sensationalised over FB and I was called many names, plus the pet taxi owner has launched personal attacks on me, specifically, character assassination. I could have sued her but she was already begging for money over FB, what can I get from that suit? Only my lawyer would be laughing all the way to the bank!
6. Closer to leaving my home, Jack developed toothache, yes, the pet taxi person jumped up and said she will take him to the vet the next day. The next day was Christmas, vets were closed but she volunteered to take Jack to the closed vet! You see the pattern now? I was worried because before we established that Jack had toothache, I though his end was near because he started salivating so much, stopped eating and wanted to be let out. I highlighted my concerns to the rescuer and immediately I was accused of poisoning him! Commonsense - why would I nurse him for a month and then poison him? Lack of education which gives good commonsense can cause a lot of damage, you know. Then I asked them to take Jack back since his wound has almost completely closed and not wanting further issues with me being accused of poisoning him. I was told that he would be sent to Sitiawan dumpsite since no one wanted to adopt him or even place him at their land. Oh, bother! Such was his fate.
7. We prepared ourselves to be with Jack for longer time in case the rescuer did not take him back - we took Jack to our land to see whether he can survive if push came to shove. Jack knew he was in other dogs' territory as soon as he got off the car. My dogs came to smell him and peed around him to establish that he was in their territory. He was off the leash, roamed for a while and slept off under the car. That night i.e. 27th December, I made an offer to adopt Jack but was declined. The rescuer said she would find a good home for him. Funny, she still had high hopes though no one wanted him from the beginning. For records, up to the time of writing this article, no one had adopted Jack. In the meantime, a lot was happening on social media, I was accused of sensationalising Jack's case by offering to adopt at the last moment. Out of sympathy I agreed to foster Jack and out of sympathy I offered to adopt. Since the rescuer wanted him back, we sent him off with the pet taxi person on 28th December. He is at her home now.
8. She makes daily posts about how healthy he is and how happy he has been since she took him. We are happy for him and we are also elated that she makes such posts because now that Jack is in the limelight, he cannot be sent to the dumpsite or injured further or sent elsewhere. Some netizens who have been following Jack's case told me that they will keep an eye on Jack and the pet taxi person can rest be assured that they will watch her with hawk eye because after all the accusations she had made of me, the ball is in her court that Jack should be safe and healthy till the end of his lifetime.

Perhaps, it is Jack's karma that he should be given due care till the end of his lifetime or her karma that should something happen to Jack under her care, the truth may make her a total beggar.

Animal rescue should be limited to rescuing them from danger and releasing them into natural environment. Young domestic animals can be adopted but with a commitment. Whoever adopts must remember that the moment you are asked to pay for the adoption, you are filling the pockets of unscrupulous people who are out to make a buck. you can choose to walk away. No one is compelled to rescue animals, vaccinate or spay them. When someone does it on his or her own volition, there is no sense in asking others to pay for it or to seek reimbursement from adopters.

So, animals do not need care? They do and we can contribute in a different way:

1. When highways are built, fight for animal overpasses like they had done in some developed countries where animals can cross safely without getting hit by vehicles
2. Advocate for animal recovery centres run by the state or appointed NGOs where animals are brought in for treatment and released into managed environment upon recovery. These entities must be monitored under PPP initiatives as we know that anything solely attempted by the government may become a white elephant.
3. Learn about animal social system before calling rescuers to rescue them. Animals which belong to a family or group need not be taken into care because their social system would provide the basics that they need - ability to scrounge for food, to fight off other groups, raising the young etc. If one from the group is injured, release back to the group upon recovery, need not put up for adoption. That could well affect the mental health of the animal.
4. If you live in a community where there are strays, do consider feeding them, plus if you can neuter/spay, do so to control their population. There are NGOs that do this and you can reach out to them for help, need not engage independent animal rescuers who would probably do all that I have written above.
5. Please think a zillion times before adopting a pet - some people dump their pets when the use is no longer there. Pets are a lifetime commitment.
6. Breeders dump their animals when breeding capacity diminishes, so do not shop for pets. They are a lifetime commitment, not Christmas present. When there is no demand, the supply will also reduce. Have you seen how dogs are displayed at pet shops? Some have bad eye bags from crying.
7. If you really need a dog or a cat, adopt from credible NGOs or go to any pound or shelter and take one from there. Walk the entire journey with the pet, that way you will bond well together. Pay for their needs like vaccination, spaying/neutering, de-worming and de-ticking using your own funds. That way you will know that it is a commitment that you must set aside some funds for every year.

I know of a person who had rescued an injured praying mantis and nursed till the insect was well enough to fly off. I also know of another person who took a dog with broken leg to the vet and released the animal from where it was taken, upon recovery. To me, that is the true animal rescue; that is not a myth.