Animal Rescue, the rescue, shelter and care of horses, dogs, cats or any other animal in need, is not played out like a soap opera that focuses on melodrama and sentimentality. Neither does it jump from one dramatic storyline to another on a weekly basis to keep deeply caring animal lovers engaged.
Animal rescue is not just about selling drama to the ignorant and the empathetic or showing pitiful videos of a horrifying, gut-churning rescue that feeds the savior complex of the public and fires up their need to send in a slew of donations.
It is also not just about animals that can no longer be looked after by their owners, whether due to lack of money, ill-health, a death in the family, or a change in circumstances.
The lion’s share of animal rescue, is volunteers and staff working 24 hours a day, every day to rehabilitate an animal in need. It is paying enormous amounts of money for feed, vet care, medications, as well as utilities, facility maintenance and upkeep. It is mundane, incredibly expensive and not at all as sexy as it is portrayed on social media or television.
It’s about the constant struggle of animal rescue’s trying to garner donations that cover the boring, day-to-day costs that keep the rescue running. But that’s tedious. It’s dull. It’s uninteresting. It’s not entertainment. So the drama-addicted donors who paid so much to save last week’s sensationalized rescue move onto the next episode.
And there lies the tragedy.
