Volunteers and staff

Thanks for all the comments from yesterday. Despite the sad circumstances of Kiki's death, it would have been much worse for Kiki's life if there weren't such a committed group of volunteers and staff dedicated to trying to make it better. The ending was tragic but we are priviledged, as Cathrine reminds us, that we live in a place where we don't have to face that tragedy on as enormous a scale as in most other parts of the world.

Every volunteer plays an immensely important part in ameliorating an unkind situation for the animals at TAS but as volunteers, we're lucky we can come and go as we please and not have to face making life and death decisions on a routine basis. I think this allows us the advantage of being able to bond with the animals more so than some of the staff. We know we'll never have to look the creature in the eyes if it comes down to a decision to euthanize.

I don't think it ever becomes an easy thing to do, to take the life of an animal at the shelter. I think what happens is that the staff learn to put up walls as soon as that possibility rears its ugly head. Don't get too close to the animal. Don't talk to it. When it's out of sight, keep it out of mind.

A couple of nights ago, I was leaving as TAS was closing for the day and one of the animal control officers came in with a kitten in a crate. It had been discoverd by a city resident who had called TAS to pick it up. Inside the crate, a small white kitten looked back out. It was hardly a handful. It's head was misshapen and looked like there was blood on it. It held its front left leg up at an awkward angle. Worst of all, it looked like its left eye had either ruptured or was highly infected. Everyone thought it looked like it had been hit by a car. No one thought it would be make it through the night and as soon as they realized that, their walls went up. There was still sadness and there was still compassion but the sadness and compassion were tempered and kept in check. A decision was made to bring the kitten to a late night vet who would decide on whether or not to immediately euthanize.

As it turned out, the kitten may very well have been hit by a car but its main problem was that it had acute encephalitis. It didn't seem to be experiencing any pain, at least it wasn't noticeable and it was kept alive for a day to see if there would be any changes in its condition. But, on the second day, when the kitten could no longer right itself after falling on its back, someone at TAS made the necessary decision and the kitten was euthanized.

I guess I heard about the euthanasia pretty much immediately after it happened and when I told some of the staff who hadn't heard about it yet, I could see the same reaction I saw the other night. First the sadness and compassion and then the walls came up to fend off an overflow of emotion. They still had their jobs to do. I could just walk out.

I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks for the comments of support but really, I hardly get my feet wet in the never ending effort to do right by these abandoned animals. It's really those staff members who put their hearts and souls into animal rescue that deserve the recognition. They do what I could never do.