...when we call people on the waiting list, several things can happen:
1) they don't respond (the email says they get x days to respond, after which we move on)
2) they respond, saying they no longer need to bring in their chin / animal (sometimes they even choose to keep it)
3) they respond, saying they do need to still bring in their animal, and they set an appointment
It's honestly a wild guess which one will be which. Sometimes, everyone I call will bring in a chin, other times, everyone will have already found help elsewhere (which is fine as well).
You might think this is relative to how much time they've spent on the waiting list, but that's honestly not often the case. Sometimes the people who've waited months are still wanting to bring in their chins, and sometimes people who've been on the list a week have already found a different place for their chins.
I have one person on my waiting list who I haven't officially crossed off yet, but I messaged her back on 11/25 telling her she could bring her chin in, and last I heard, she was working on finding a good day. Before I officially cross her off, I will message her again... but that's another thing. It's been over a month since I messaged her. That means, one of our cages has sat open for over a month, as I've waited for her to get back to me to bring in the chin. I hate to be that kind of person to put a time limit, like "you have a week to bring in the chin..." but the difficulty is that when someone waits this long... I may have been able to bring in another chin and already get it adopted before she gets around to bringing hers in.
And that brings me to my next point... this seems to be one of those things that maybe people don't realize, because everyone always seems so surprised when I say we have a waiting list.... there is quite the need for small animal rescue. My last two people who were paid help have commented that they never would have guessed that there was so much to do / going on with small animal rescue before they worked here. And I assume people with these animals probably often think the exact same thing, that oh they have a guinea pig to give up, and probably not that many people have guinea pigs, so sure we can take it in. Unfortunately... not always the case.
A friend and I have come up with two scenarios (now, before you get mad, this is supposed to be funny, well, funny but true). Either they think that I have so few animals here and there's so NOT a need for small animal rescue that I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs just waiting for people to call so I can jump on it and take in their animal... or they think I have so many volunteers and such a big organization that even if I can't help them, there's a foster who can, or someone else in the organization who can. Obviously, neither one is true. There's plenty of animals here, and there's a significant lack of volunteers, unfortunately. My main two volunteers are people who do the volunteering at a distance (Colette, who helps sew the hammocks / fleece tubes / hanging houses, and Chris, who helps with the website and expos), rather than at the actual rescue. And that's fine! But that's also why I can't bend over backwards to help people, because there is just me, and the occasional paid help.
I did create that program where you can volunteer for a discount. Due to how many people were always asking for discounts, I thought actually that that would be good and people would take advantage. I mean... if you can spare a few hours of your time, it saves money! So far, no one has taken advantage, though I still think it's worthwhile.
Last thing I want to touch on, as far as taking in rescues. Most rescues, and by most, I mean by far the grand majority, require the person surrendering the animal to bring the animal to them. I just had someone yesterday tell me that this one rescue didn't give them the time of day since they couldn't make the drive to the rescue. While I'm sure that is disheartening and all... if the person can't drive the animal to them... how is the rescue supposed to help them? I mean, I feel like that's a valid question. Also... this same person was telling me about how they got this chinchilla to be a buddy for their other chin, but then went on to say that the new chin is aggressive, unfriendly, unsocial... you name it, not the greatest... which is why they want to surrender it. The reason I mention this -- if it was an awesome pet, they would totally be keeping it. So... often times, the animals we get aren't the most wonderful example of what a chinchilla is like...they take a lot of work, a lot of patience, and still may require an experienced home. If someone wants to surrender a really friendly angora, I may just drive to you. But for the average person that wants to drop off the chinchilla that will spend a year+ in rescue due to it's personality (read: attitude) and liveliness (read: squirmy-ness)... my personal opinion is that we are helping that person (who honestly, would probably only be able to find a home for that chinchilla by flat out lying about what it's like), and the least they can do is drive it to us. Sorry if you disagree with that, but at the end of the day, it's my time and resources that are going into these animals, and at the end of the day, by the time many of the rescues get adopted, their adoption fee doesn't even come close to covering what's been spent on them. That's fine, don't get me wrong... but I won't add in the additional expense of going and getting the animal. Sorry not sorry.
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