Signs of a Bad Animal Rescue
Animals like wolves, wolfdogs, rescue dogs, and big cats are cool. So volunteering at an animal rescue is a great way to become cool, right? If you’ve ever seen Netflix’s Tiger King, you should be at least vaguely aware that there’s such thing as a terrible animal sanctuary. To most of us, characters like Joe Exotic seem almost too outlandish to be real. Unfortunately, similarly insane nonprofit leaders exist all over the US. There’s just something, it seems, about wild predators that brings out the crazies. Here’s how to recognize the signs of a bad animal rescue.
The Nonprofit’s Hierarchy Looks a Lot Like a Dictatorship
One of the first things to look for when volunteering for or otherwise joining a wildlife rescue is the business’ hierarchy. When talented volunteers and employees are promoted to higher positions and bestowed with greater responsibility, this is a good sign. Conversely, If managers or supervisors are unpaid volunteers with little actual power entrusted in them, this is a big red flag. If the workforce seems oddly condescending to brand new volunteers, this is also a red flag.
There’s a reason dictators like to run things the way they do — it keeps them in charge of everything. Every evil dictator from Joseph Stalin to Saddam Hussein seemed to know this instinctively. When every worker is at rock bottom in the social structure, people start to fear for their jobs — or lives, depending on the situation. This naturally creates an environment of paranoia.
Workers who are paranoid about their own well-being won’t speak up when unethical things are happening around them. This can seem counterintuitive, but it makes perfect sense. If you’re afraid for your job, you assume other people are afraid for theirs. By speaking up, therefore, you risk allowing someone else to gain a nice pat on the back at your expense.
Sadly, you probably know at least one person whose personal constitution isn’t what you’d like it to be. When placed in extreme situations, history tells us, they’ll start blabbing immediately.
The Owner Often Threatens To Ban or Fire Workers
Owning a nonprofit is an honorable choice. It’s a sacrifice a business owner can make, in which officers, workers, and volunteers place a higher value on the service they’ve chosen to provide than the potential financial reward of their efforts. Over time, however, some owners start to feel like the lords of their own personal fiefdoms.
“Gather thy poop into baskets, peons..”
If an animal nonprofit has been around for a while, chances are the owner has become accustomed to the praise visitors and other members of the public tend to heap upon them. They may feel like or indeed be small-town celebrities. As you might suspect, this can have the same effect as it has on regular celebrities. They cease to see underlings as devoted, free helpers, and begin to see them as unwelcome moochers. If you see any signs of especially divaish behavior, such as threatening to ban or fire workers for minor infractions, run for the hills.
The Management Uses Time With Animals as a Bargaining Chip
Animals — even big, scary ones, are often cute. They have their own “charisma,” which is why researchers sometimes call them “charismatic megafauna.” Dogs and puppies are adorable friends capable of developing incredible bonds with humans. You might be horrified to learn how much disrespect or straight-up abuse some volunteers or workers are willing to put up with just to keep seeing a beloved animal.
To an enterprising sociopath, the emotional bonds people make with animals are little more than promising bargaining chips to be exploited. Bad people can obtain all kinds of things when taking advantage of empathy, from free labor to dubious sexual relationships.
There Are Obvious Signs of Neglect
An animal sanctuary should be a sanctuary, not a perpetual hell. Though it can be easy to overlook minor signs of disrepair or disorder, these can be the first indications of a much larger problem. Trash strewn about in animal pens or perishable food lying in the open are serious hazards for animals. Most professional rescues find such oversights to be unacceptable. Of course, not every messy environment means the whole sanctuary is bad, but, you find multiple issues, the sanctuary is probably having problems with either staffing or oversight.
Severe problems like extremely skinny animals speak for themselves. Unless an animal has just arrived, it must, by federal law, be fed regularly enough to maintain a healthy weight. Social animals, understandably, must be socialized and given access to human or animal partnership.
People or Animals Are Getting Hurt
To an egomaniac, there’s nothing better than standing in front of a group of people and ordering a large predator around through hand gestures. Nothing, however, is more humbling than a large predator tiring of your commands and lashing out against you. This kind of unintentionally hilarious scenario replays itself all over the world at all manner of ill-run animal nonprofits.
When a wild animal behaves violently, there is almost always something wrong. One or several of the following could be true:
Volunteers, workers, or guests should not have been allowed in direct contact with the animal
The animal was feeling overwhelmed by too much human attention
The animal was insufficiently fed
The business emphasizes direct contact over education
A worker did not adhere to safety precautions
Safety precautions are poorly devised
While you should see injuries as a primary red flag, understand injuries don’t simply happen. Someone is at fault, and it’s most likely the person in charge. In general, avoid dedicating time to a nonprofit that feels “showy,” like a roadside attraction. Opt instead for those that emphasize education and devote sincere effort to providing comfortable homes for animals.
Working on behalf of animals can be one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll ever have. Working for a predator-obsessed egomaniac, on the other hand, can make you feel like you live in a third-world country. Do research before you get involved.
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