July 29, 2008Comments are closed.attitude, shelter procedure
Imagine you’re on the surgeon’s table counting backwards from ten and the doctor about to operate on your leg let slip that legs aren’t his specialty.
As your eyes are closing his words echo in your mind, “arms are actually what I’m best at – I’m completely self taught on legs, but I think I’ve got the hang of it…”
Would you have climbed on this table today and let them operate on you had you known? Given the choice I’m sure you’d rather a doctor who’d invested time and resources into becoming the best doctor they could be. Not someone who knows a bit about arms, hacking into your knee.
Of course this would never happen, because in the world of doctoring education is parmount. The many different parts of the human body are all examined and researched and doctors attend conferences both here and abroad to be keep up with all the latest developments. Some become specialists in certain parts and can advise other doctors out in the world. In other words, doctors never stop learning.
So how, when we hear of groups sending attendees to rescue conferences could we possibly think that the money is a waste? Presently in Australia there is no rescue qualification – the very least we can do is use a percentage part of our rescue budget for self education. Just as you wouldn’t trust a self-taught doctor to keep you safe, our rescue pets shouldn’t be forced to trust their lives to rescuers who aren’t constantly developing themselves.
This years No More Homeless Pets conference in the US includes sessions on dealing with difficult people, helping hoarding situations, fundraising, puppy mills, online pet profiles, overcoming obstacles of adoption, rescue transport, feral cats, keeping pets with their families, corporate sponsorship, desexing clinics, public relations, increasing lost pet return rates, fighting dogs, horses and bunnies, fostering programs, how to say no, and partnering with animal control.
While it might be beyond the reach of many in rescue (which is why we’re scrambling to get a grant to pay for someone from PetRescue to go and report back to everyone), it’s important for everyone to support those rescues who are able to spare the resource, to attend. In fact a smart rescuer would be contacting these people and begging them to share their new knowledge.
When it’s possible send at least one person along from your rescue to local conferences and trade shows to network with people who are specialists – they want to help you. Where you can arrange to send staff on exchange programs with rescues from another area or even another state.
Money spent on education is not taking resources from the animals – in every single way it’s learning to help them more efficiently.
