Thursday, January 24, 2013

The *Unusually* Rude

I'm back from my four day family visit with The Parents.  It's always nice to see them, but just like any trip that takes me away from home, I'm happiest when I arrive through my front door.  As always, my son took care of the family pets and our hardworking volunteers took care of the rescue in my absence.  It's definitely getting easier to leave knowing that everything will be *handled*. 

Very few things in rescue make me visibly angrier than when an adopter mistreats one of our volunteers.  While I was away, we had an adopter not show up to an appointment to meet one of our kittens in their home.  No phone call.  Nothing.  Just didn't show up.   People don't realize that our volunteers  MAKE TIME for the appointment.  They  clean their house, and fret about their beloved foster leaving their care.

Yesterday, we had  an adopter stay at a foster parent's house until after 11 pm - FOUR HOURS!  In the end, she pulled out catnip and the cat became overly stimulated  and bit her really hard - drawing blood.   Needless to say, she didn't take the cat home.  But c'mon - FOUR HOURS?  I had to wonder how long she would've stayed if the cat hadn't bit her.  (*snicker*)

I suppose this blog post isn't a plug for fostering.  But I must say that in the 20 years that I've been doing this, I think that we've only had about 5 unpleasant incidents like this.  People are generally kind, courteous and very very polite.   I have no qualms about telling an adopter that the "interview is over" -  especially if they aren't going to adopt. 

The good news is - we had NINE adoptions while I was gone for the 4 days!   I was busy updating the files and working the administrative crap stuff today.  So much going on and the rescue phones have been busy. 

As I'm about to push "Publish" on this blog post, I hesitate because of the negative comments (above) regarding fostering.  But I've always given honest viewpoints in this blog and will continue to push "Publish" without soft-pedaling the text.  

I couldn't complete this post without saying how much I appreciate those of you who give an opportunity for a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th...) chance for  any  animal to be loved once again.  Every foster parent who gives their time, their home, and their heart to the unloved, unwanted and homeless animals deserve to be treated with respect, care and kindness.  In our rescue, I wouldn't have it any other way.

8 comments:

Wednesday said...

I don't think your comments are negative, you're just being real. It is always better to have a realistic expectation of what you're getting into rather than being hit with a dead fish!

The Lady said...

I foster dogs. I don't think what you said should scare anyone away from fostering. Fostering can be wonderful, and difficult for so many reasons. No harm in being honest. You've shown us a ton of the good times.

MoB said...

i really appreciate those who put in so much effort for these defenceless animals. Yup, those who are rude just need a good wake-up call.

Debbie said...

I love fostering!! Yes, you get the odd person every so often, but we do it for the love of the animals(dogs and cats)
99.9% of the people I have met fostering with you or the dog rescue are wonderful people.
So, on to the next foster....

Donna said...

I prefer honest posts. Good and bad. Hey, whatever happened to boo boo?

Devon said...

Fostering is awesome! I would hope someone wouldn't be turned off of fostering because of situations like that. They're so rare.

I encounter jerks in my daily life too and they have nothing to do with fostering. That's people for you.

Anonymous said...

4 hours??? That woman sounds a little off. I want to foster when I have a bigger place and the only thing that puts me off a little bit is having to deal with the public (I worked in customer service for years and hated it)...but I still think it would be worth it. Also, when I worked at PetSmart it was better than a lot of the other places I worked because the customers were all pet lovers and just seemed generally nicer and happier. So this doesn't put me off - I like the honesty, like everyone else said.

Devon said...

Anonymous: You can foster in any size place, I have a tiny apartment and I foster, as long as you have enough toys for exercise and entertainment they don't need much space. Better to live in my tiny apartment than die at the shelter. Only down side is I can't have 10 fosters!