As most of you know, I try to offer advice and encouragement because I believe in helping those who help homeless animals. But today, I'd like to talk about something no one ever mentions: quitting.
Some rescues seem to be teetering on the edge. They can't recruit enough volunteers, they aren't raising enough money, and they are having to do too much with too little.
I keep reading about more animals being pulled out of horrible situations. These derelict facilities are often animal rescues that have gone terribly wrong. In fact, many people fear dealing with rescues at all because they aren't sure if there's a reputable organization behind the cute photos on Petfinder.
How do you know when you're at the end of your rope?
I'm not advocating giving up on rescuing pets, but if some of those people who ended up in out-of-control situations actually took an honest look at what was going on, maybe they could have averted suffering both for themselves and the animals.
If you are struggling to the point that your life is falling apart, you need to step back and consider the wisdom of what you are doing. It is better to gracefully stop taking animals, place the ones you have, and shut down a rescue than destroy your life or harm the animals in your care.
Here are a few clues that it may be time to reevaluate your rescue:
1. You have more animals than space to take care of them properly. If you are starting to feel like your situation is out of control, it probably is. No matter what your views are on big humane organizations, get over it and call an organization like Best Friends or the Humane Society of the United States and ask for advice on humane care before things get any worse.
2. Someone has reported your group to the police, a regional office of the HSUS, Best Friends, or the Better Business Bureau.
3. Your family life is falling apart. The emotional roller coaster of a failing enterprise, particularly one with the life-and-death element of animal rescue and sheltering is hard on relationships. The rate of divorce among people doing humane work is high.
4. Your group has earned a terrible reputation in your community. Unfortunately, word of mouth can work against you. Sometimes it's better to gracefully walk away from a situation and start over than turn around a tsunami of negative public opinion.
5. You can't sleep or function normally because of extreme stress. The stress could be because of financial issues, personnel issues, or plain old burnout from doing everything yourself for too long.
Sometimes we all have to make hard choices. If you are afraid of "failing" consider the animals. Their needs should come before yours.
The health and safety of the animals at your rescue needs to be your number one priority. If you can't care for them properly yourself, get them into a situation where they will be given humane care and the chance at a forever home.