Becoming a wildlife rehabilitator
and what you will face:
If you wake up one morning and decide that you would like to become a
wildlife rehabilitator, you first need to ask yourself “Am I sure about
this”. Once you answer that question and if the answer is “yes”, you should
contact rehabbers in your area that have been rehabilitating for many years.
Talk to the rehabbers extensively; be sure to ask a lot of questions. After
talking to rehabbers, you should sit down and discuss this with your family
before you make your decision. You should also talk to veterinarians in your
area, especially if you are considering rehabilitating raccoons. There are a
lot of states that do not allow the rehabilitation of raccoons and because
they are considered a vector species animal, a lot of veterinarians will not
treat them. We are not trying to discourage you from applying for your
wildlife permit, because if you truly want to do this it can be very
rewarding, however, it can also be very sad at times. We, again, are not
trying to discourage you from getting a wildlife permit; there is a
desperate need for rehabilitators. You also need to understand that wildlife
rehabilitation can become very expensive. Most rehabbers depend on donations
and they pull a lot of money out of their own pockets, which puts a lot of
stress on them and their families. You may think rehabilitation burnout is
something that you will see after you have been rehabbing for a long period
of time, well that just is not true! When you do all that you can and you
lose your first animal, you may blame yourself and feel you are not
experienced enough to do this and you want to quit right then. We have all
gone through this and it can cause a burnout. Don’t get discouraged. You
must remember that no matter how experienced you are or how inexperienced
you are: “We are not miracle workers and we can not save them all no matter
how hard we try!”
Dangers of rehabbers getting in over their heads
When Rescuers Need Rescuing:
Too often, taking in too many animals overextends a rehabilitator. As I know
from personal experience, learning how to just say “no” when yet another
person calls and says “I have found a baby raccoon and I don’t know what to
do” is one of the hardest things to do. This is especially difficult if one
is the only or one of a very few people doing rescue in a geographical area.
This often leads to too many animals that need help and too few
rehabilitators to help. This leads to a workload, which can lead to stress
and a state of exhaustion. When a rescuer doesn’t learn to say no, however,
all the animals under that rescuer’s care are put at risk.
Most wildlife rehabilitators don’t have the funding resources that other
organizations do, just by virtue of the fact that many people deem some
species of wildlife as nuisance animals and not “worth” spending millions of
dollars on to save. Thus, most rehabilitators, even if they are able to get
donations end up funding a great deal of the expenses out of their own
pocket. This too can result in prolonged periods of stress and can affect
your health and can result in rehabilitation burnout.
Rehabilitation burnout occurs from a number of factors:
• The time and funds spent on caring for all the animals
• Dealing with the public calling about one animal after the other
• Fatigue
• Being unprepared for the physical and emotional demands of rescue
• Lack of help from others in providing care
Rehabilitation Burnout then
results in:
• Less care given to the animals as the effort becomes too overwhelming
• Declining ability to make decisions in the best interests of the animals
in your care
• Animals appear to be getting sicker because of the declining conditions
• Rehab area starts to look like it should be condemned
• Seem to be depressed all the time
• Start to see more of an unkempt appearance in yourself
• The quality of animal care diminishes
If you or your family starts to see any or all of the above symptoms, you
should seek out other rehabbers to talk to. You should always try to talk to
your family about your feelings; you should also try to understand your
family’s feelings and opinions too, because they are going through this with
you.
If you feel yourself losing control, talk about it with someone and change
something. You can try consulting with your fellow rehabbers about tough
issues. (Remember they are either going through the same problems or have
already gone through the problems).
Here are a few things you can try to help with rehabilitation burnout:
• Learn to say the words, “No, I have no more room” or to draw the line on
how many animals you can care for
• Start to specialize, by taking one species or a few animals that you are
very knowledgeable about, it will help to streamline your time
• To cut down on the stress, take the time to eat right and get plenty of
rest. If you can make the time for the animals, you can make the time for
yourself and your family
• Take a season off, this will give you time to do the research necessary to
keep up with the changes in wildlife rehabilitation, repair the cages you
have, build new cages, or just spend well needed time with friends or family
• Be sure to notify other rehabilitators that you need to take a break for a
season or two, so they will not be referring calls to you
As wildlife rehabilitators we are deeply concerned about the welfare of
animals. As much as we morally feel a responsibility towards every animal in
need, we simply cannot in good conscience take in more animals than we can
physically and financially support. To keep taking the animals in and not be
able to provide the care that they require, ultimately is cruel and inhumane
to the animals in our care, and to the rehabilitators who are trying to care
for them.
You need to make sure that you understand no matter how much you try or how
hard you work, you can never save them all. So, please remember that
wildlife rehabilitators who can’t learn to say “no” have the highest rate of
burnout. It’s just one little word, but one that can make such a difference
in the health and well being of the animals and the humans that are caring
for them as well: No.
|
.jpg)
