To everyone who bashes animal shelters

CatDawg

I've seen a lot of bashing of shelters on here (particulalrly DSPCA) and it angers me so much I have to post a thread.

Anyone bashing the DSPCA or any animal recue/shelter should be ashamed - you obviousdly have NO idea of the hardships involved in running an organisation like this.

"It's like a circus"? - yes most places involved in working animals are - believe me I know!
"Some dogs were "reserved"? - shock horror! How DARE a rehoming shelter actually find homes for animals!

Be grateful our country has a place like this - they are few and far between.

Speaking as an Irish Veterinary Nurse; I can appreciate the work involved and won't be taking any of the comments by the ignorant bystanders posted on here too seriously - I hope no one does. Maybe it's not perfect; but it tries bloody hard with very very limited resources.

This is a country of animal abusers and animal cruelty - You may beg to differ but I see it at work everyday -Lack of Animal welfare is Ireland's shame but imagine how much worse it would be without fantastic places like the DSPCA.

Keep up the good work DSPCA, you are a true asset to this shambles of a country and I applaud your hard work.

Discodog

I would totally agree. Even worse much of the bashing is based on rumour & misinformation. Most of the Rescues are too busy to read these boards & defend themselves.

All Irish rescues are desperately overworked & dreadfully underfunded. As a country we allow our government to pass the buck & negate its responsibilities.

The simple facts are that thousands of dogs, cats & other animals would die every year if it were not for the rescues.

PeakOutput

CatDawg wrote: »

This is a country of animal abusers and animal cruelty - You may beg to differ but I see it at work everyday

would you get a grip, shock horror, person on the front lines sees the worst of the worst

people who run places like that should be congratulated and lauded for their efforts(im assuming we are talking about volunteers here) that dosnt mean they should not also have to face criticism.

if someone sees something they dont like in a place like that they have every right to complain, if its a legitimate complaint it should be dealt with accordingly if its blatantly obvious its just a complaint from a busy body it should be dealt with accordingly

this idea that any group is above criticism is a joke

they try to do a good job, im sure they do a good job, thats no reason to not try and do a better job

crazyderk

I have limited experience with the DSCPA, and i could only imagine the hardships they have to put up with, and i imagine they are doing the best with what they have. I attempted to deal with them once, I say attempted, I went to adopt a cat on the Aug bank holiday weekend in 2008. I travelled up to the DSPCA and found them closed!
I pulled this off their website

Public Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 2.00pm - 4.00pm Saturday 11.00am - 1.00pm
By Appointment: Monday to Friday 9am - 2pm & 4pm - 5pm Saturday 9am - 11am

I cant recall if they had this by appointment thing going on back then!
and I cant recall if they opened on a sat (i don't think they did but cant be sure)

I think the opening hours are a bit short and should be treated a little bit more like retail hours and be a bit more unsociable to suit the needs of potential adoptive people!

although im actually pretty happy they weren't open, we ended up going to ASH down in Wicklow and found our Kitten, I couldn't possibly picture having a better cat!

the hours above have improved a bit alright I'll give them that, but they could be better!

golden8

CatDawg wrote: »

I've seen a lot of bashing of shelters on here (particulalrly DSPCA) and it angers me so much I have to post a thread.

Anyone bashing the DSPCA or any animal recue/shelter should be ashamed - you obviousdly have NO idea of the hardships involved in running an organisation like this.

"It's like a circus"? - yes most places involved in working animals are - believe me I know!
"Some dogs were "reserved"? - shock horror! How DARE a rehoming shelter actually find homes for animals!

Be grateful our country has a place like this - they are few and far between.

Speaking as an Irish Veterinary Nurse; I can appreciate the work involved and won't be taking any of the comments by the ignorant bystanders posted on here too seriously - I hope no one does. Maybe it's not perfect; but it tries bloody hard with very very limited resources.

This is a country of animal abusers and animal cruelty - You may beg to differ but I see it at work everyday -Lack of Animal welfare is Ireland's shame but imagine how much worse it would be without fantastic places like the DSPCA.

Keep up the good work DSPCA, you are a true asset to this shambles of a country and I applaud your hard work.

Couldnt say it better myself. I have voluntered in a rescue centre not the fundraising end but the day to day working of a sanctuary. I know what goes on and get tired of people critising shelters. At least they do something what would it be like if they were not around (well it would be utopia that no animal get abandoned/mistreated etc. With shelters now having to operate on a even tighter budget due to the current climate and more animals perhaps ppl should volunteer and see what goes on behind the scenes.

boomerang

Thing is crazyderk, the people who show you the animals and go through the rehoming procedure with you are usually the same people who do all the feeding, cleaning, medicating, exercising, etc. In our place, the staff are there from 9-5 but visiting time is 11-3. 9-11 and 3-5 is crazy busy getting everybody fed and kennels and cat units clean. They couldn't possibly get all the work done if they had an open door 9-5. I take your point though.

IvySlayer

CatDawg wrote: »

This is a country of animal abusers and animal cruelty - You may beg to differ but I see it at work everyday -Lack of Animal welfare is Ireland's shame but imagine how much worse it would be without fantastic places like the DSPCA.

Keep up the good work DSPCA, you are a true asset to this shambles of a country and I applaud your hard work.

It's ironic as you give out to ignorant people yet you make stupid comments about this country. It's not a Third World Country and it will never be. Animal cruelty exists in every single country.

You see it at work everyday - What else are you going to see???

Discodog

IvySlayer wrote: »

It's ironic as you give out to ignorant people yet you make stupid comments about this country. It's not a Third World Country and it will never be. Animal cruelty exists in every single country.

You see it at work everyday - What else are you going to see???

By every possible comparison Ireland has a shocking record in Animal Welfare & is arguable one of the worse, if not the worse, in Europe. Cruelty does exist everywhere but most other countries have law & enforcement to police it.

It is now 100 years since we introduced a basic cruelty law. We are facing an election where no party is proposing new law because it is not a vote winner. Many third world countries have far better animal welfare laws that we do.

TooManyDogs

crazyderk wrote: »

I think the opening hours are a bit short and should be treated a little bit more like retail hours and be a bit more unsociable to suit the needs of potential adoptive people!

Like Boomerang said part of the reason for short visiting hours is volunteers need to be able to clean out and feed the animals which is no small feat and takes hours.

But another reason, and the reason the rescue I work with only opens 4 hours a day, is that strangers coming to see the dogs gets them really wound up, some get really excited, some are afraid so hide, some hate men/kids/puffy hair so bark the place down. It's simply not good for the dogs and volunteers sanity to have visitors there all day long.

Discodog

If you are going to dedicate 14 or more years of your life to an animal surely you can find time in a 4 hour daily slot to go & choose it.

crazyderk

TooManyDogs wrote: »

Like Boomerang said part of the reason for short visiting hours is volunteers need to be able to clean out and feed the animals which is no small feat and takes hours.

But another reason, and the reason the rescue I work with only opens 4 hours a day, is that strangers coming to see the dogs gets them really wound up, some get really excited, some are afraid so hide, some hate men/kids/puffy hair so bark the place down. It's simply not good for the dogs and volunteers sanity to have visitors there all day long.

That actually makes a lot of sense, I never thoight about it like that, especially getting the animals riled up!

They still could however open on a sunday and perhaps close on a weekday!
More unsociable yes but more convenient for potential adoptees!

TooManyDogs

crazyderk wrote: »

They still could however open on a sunday and perhaps close on a weekday!
More unsociable yes but more convenient for potential adoptees!

That is true, the rescue I work with opens on a sat and sunday plus bank holidays but closes on a Tuesday so gives plenty of chances to come up.

Cole

Well said OP. The vast majority of people involved in rescue work are doing great work.

PeakOutput wrote: »

this idea that any group is above criticism is a joke

Agreed, but I think the OP was talking about the constant "bashing" that rescues sometimes get, often unfairly. I'm not without my criticism of certain aspects of the animal welfare effort in this country but I would always try to be balanced and objective.

IvySlayer wrote: »

You see it at work everyday - What else are you going to see???

What a ridiculous comment.

A veterinary nurse is involved in the treatment and care of animals. Of course they are always going to have to deal with animal cruelty, given their profession, but not with the regularity that the OP and her colleagues have to.