A Day In The Life Of Rescue

Sometimes people tell me that they envy that I have found a way to do what I am passionate about. I often tell people not to glamorize rescue work , because in fact it is much harder than the Fortune 100 work I used to do. REscue work is emotionally draining and often thankless work, unless of course you take in account the gratitude of the animals whose lives have been saved. That naturally makes it all worthwhile in a day that can be filled with incredible ups and downs. In rescue work I see the best and the worst of people.

For example, this week I received a call from San Francisco Animal Care and Control that they were way over capacity with rabbits and we had to move 4-5 rabbits out to rescue within 48 hours to avoid euthanasia.

I arrived at the shelter on Friday at 3pm and left a little after 7pm after spending time with each of the 14 rabbits at the shelter to make the tough decision about which rabbits should come into rescue and which should be left behind. Hopefully they would be adopted or we could help them during our next round of rescue. The only way we would be able to take the bunnies in would be if we were able to adopt several rabbits to make room or find foster homes. Each of the rabbits has something special about him or her and each has a story. Leaving them behind causes me to lose sleep. I usually cry on the way home seeing their faces in my mind.

We were able to help 5 rabbits that night. First, I helped a lovely couple bond and adopt two rabbits directly from the shelter. What a miracle. They had met one of our volunteers at PetFood express the week before and had come to the shelter to look at rabbits. I just happened to be there and available to help

For our rescue, I selected two other rabbits who had been there the longest, but the choice for the fifth rescue was a struggle. Do I take the super cute, highly adoptable baby lop bunny or the depressed and "suicidal" white lop boy who had been surrendered to the shelter because he didn't like to be held . He was so pissed off at the world that his head was shoved into a corner of his cage and his eyes were dark with sadness.

Rarely do I get the sense that a bunny is so close to giving up on the world and is ready to die. Usually a rabbit like this pulls at my heart to show him that life can be good and people can be kind. Yet this boy had a wall around him and I couldn't tell for quite some time what he wanted. I believe in giving the rabbit a choice and I really wasn't sure that he wanted to be rescued.

I took him out from his cage and sat with him for about 20 minutes. The room was quiet and so I had the chance to let him sense my intentions. I gave him Reiki and energy healing while I explained to him what it would mean to come into rescue. I was literally bargaining with him that life was worthwhile. I felt so much grief being held in his little body that it actually made me a bit queasy. He was stiff and his muscles were all scrunched up. After about 15 minutes I felt him sigh and relax a bit . I put him back in his cage to think about what he wanted. I struggled with the idea of taking yet another bunny who might be hard to place. With his ruby red eyes and deep grief, he was unlikely to be quickly adopted.

I put the baby lop bunny in the box and got ready to leave the room when I looked back over at the white lop boy. He was sitting at the front of his cage. This time when I approached him he didn't run away, but rather stayed at the front of the cage and let me talk with him. He then groomed his face.

So, I opened the box and put the baby lop back and decided to take the white lop boy. The baby lop is sure to find a home very quickly. He is pure, young, cute and almost picture perfect. He would have been easy for me to place and he won't be at risk at the shelter. Who knows...he may even be adopted already as I write this.

I went downstairs with the bunnies coming to SaveABunny for rescue, including the white lop boy who I have now named "Poe" after Edgar Allen Poe, I stopped at the front desk for the paper work. The shelter was closed and it was after hours and I stopped to chat with the staff at the front desk. .

Bundled in a towel on top of the counter was an approximately 4 week old, shepherd mix puppy that someone had just found in a dumpster. He was cold and filthy, had labored breathing and was very skinny. An animal control officer was on route to transport the puppy for emergency treatment at Pets Unlimited.

After spending 4 hours trying to decide which rabbits we could help that day, the sight of the abused little dog on the counter was especially heartbreaking. I felt nauseous and hopeless. Yet on another level I kicked into action. It was just more of the same----a surreal sense of connecting on a deep level with an animal that has suffered so and anger at the people who had caused him such pain. I waited with the puppy and gave him Reiki and soft strokes on his forehead until the animal control officer took him to Pets Unlimited to try to save his life.

I wheeled the cart with the bunnies in their cardboard boxes out to my car, got in and locked the doors.
I cried all the way home for the puppy and for the rabbits I left behind. I didn't sleep well that night or the next. And here I am still not sleeping and writing this entry.

Fortunately , we had several adoptions this weekend, including some special needs rabbits, so chances are I will be able to go back and help more rabbits at SFACC. I also called Pets Unlimited and they said the puppy was stable.

Rescue work is such a juggling act with a precarious balance of life and death. It shifts suddenly and dramatically along with every muscle and breath in one's body and soul.

Without question, this is the most demanding and least glamorous "job" ( I am a volunteer, not paid), that I have ever had. I only wish that there was an end in sight and that rescue work like ours was no longer needed.

Tonight I will sleep better knowing that we were able to adopt out several rabbits to great homes and tomorrow we will start all over again.

I just really want to thank our volunteers and those of you who support our group's rescue work. You make it work. We save lives and make a difference.