Rude Rabbit, Chinchilla and other Rodent Rescue

[Caroline]

After going to an appliance store a few days ago to buy a dryer my daughter and I were excited to go into the store next door which was a Rabbit and other Rodent Rescue called Rabbit Meadows in Seattle. I was dismayed by the treatment I got from the person who was working there, her attitude when I proudly showed her a photo of our litter of baby chins. I was planning on donating hay to them as the hay I get for my horses is extremely high quality, but changed my mind when she was disagreeing with me about the size of the bale and quality of it (?).
Then I told them about Chris's cute Chin beds etc thinking that they might be interested in something like that to sell and she very curtly said that they only deal with people who do rescues.
Thinking that she was the only person at this organization I wrote a letter of complaint. I was stunned by the reply I received from them.
In her opening paragraph she stated "Most breeders have the sense not to walk into a shelter and begin talking about breeding" Excuse Me? A responsible breeder is going to do their best to ensure that their animals do not end up in homes where they need rescueing! Just in the past year I have rescued or helped in the rescueing and rehoming many animals, from an 18 2 hand Percheron to a box of tiny abandoned kittens.
We are both animal lovers and looking out for the best interest of the animals. In my opinion there is no reason that both responsible breeders and animal shelters can't work hand in hand. My mother, who at one time bred one of the top German Shepherds in Canada and owns a daughter of one of the top German Shepherds in the world has spent countless hours over many years, volunteering at an animal shelter.
This shelter promots having chins neutered saying that it would make them calmer.
"Over the past 22 years that we've been in business we've rescued and had spayed/neutered 423 chinchillas before placing them in new homes. We use veterinarians trained in working with "exotics." None have died during or after the surgery and all went on to live with other chins. In addition, Seattle Animal shelter also has their numerous chins spayed/neutered prior to adoption. Our experience in this area is based on fact and not on "research." The tape recorded that our clerk was suggesting, certainly not insisting that you have a chinchilla neutered that you stated numerous times was "aggressive.""
She then proceeded to point out the small amount that I had spent in their store and the pittance of profit they made off of me. Well, they had little that I needed, I had planned on donating hay to them and I probably would have made a cash donation had I not been treated the way that I was.

 

[Caroline]

Who knows, I may have even volunteered to foster some chins for them in the future.

 

[Magyk]

Well, speaking as a rabbit rescuer, I do get frustrated when I hear about breeders with their rabbits... Not saying that it excuses how rude the staff was, but I am saying I can kind of understand where they are coming from. It can be extremely frustrating.

However, they should not have reacted like that.

 

[Caroline]

Thing is she didn't even know who I was. Yes I breed, but I try to do it responsibly. More often than that I am the person who helps people safely rehome their pets and horses. I am the person who sets the havahart trap to fetch feral kittens so that they can live in a safe home. I am the person who fosters baby animals. Yet when I went into their store I was labelled and later told I should have had more sense. RUDE!

 

[Snickers]

I have called a couple of rabbit rescues to adopt. The first thing was are you going to keep the rabbit inside the house. I said, "NO" I have an area outside where my other rabbit used to live. It has dirt, grass, a hutch, and a tree about 8 feet by 4 feet. Then I was told to read up about rabbits. I told them that I used to have rabbits running around loose in the backyard with the dogs. I was then told I was unsuitable for leaving rabbits outside. How can I be unsuitable when they have over 100 rabbits to be adopted. This was about 5 years ago.

Also when my son was younger we found a cat rescued that also gave up the 3rd degree. We were not suitable because our son was 2 we had dogs. The cat was going to stay inside. Months later they made the news because they were hoarding the kittens and cats in conditions that were bad. They ended up putting some of them down being sick. This was 22 year ago.

 

[Caroline]

That is just terrible! Those poor cats! Two of my cats came from a rescue and luckily the people there were wonderful! My third cat was born feral and I managed to catch him. He is the best cat ever.
My kids tell people that if they want a cat to talk to me and that I can go and catch a kitten for them.

 

[AZChins]

Ehhh...sometimes you just have to not let these types of things bother you. If they're rude, just don't go back...but don't let it get to you because then you are just hurting yourself. Some people just want to fight for whatever reason, they want to be defensive and they don't care if they are rude or mean. It may be because they have issues in their own heads that they must be right to feel like they are good enough or something like that.

We all have to deal with difficult people all the time, but we can choose to just not let them get under our skin. Believe me, I have many experiences with them and it used to really hurt me. I just don't even think about them anymore because most of them are just loud mouth idiots. So many examples to give, so little time.

Animal people get really passionate about things to the point where it can lead to them not thinking things through before they say them. It sounds like that rescue lady shot herself in the foot by acting that way - basically she gave up the donations and word of mouth recommendations that her organization really needs.

 

[Godofgods]

If i worked at a rescue/shelter with a bunch of animals that needed homes, id get really annoyed with breeders too. Breeding and selling kits to homes when theirs already so many kits (or adults for that matter) that are alive and in need... that would really get to me.

That being said, that shelters reaction is uncalled for. People that care for the animals that much should only have one priority.. the animals!

They sound more like their way to into themselves, which really hurts that goal. People will always do things differently from one another. Thats never really going to change. However it does provide a great opportunity to learn from other people that might not do things the same as you. Or educate others that might not be doing as well as they could. As a whole we are always figuring out new or better ways to get things done. And theirs always a chance someone might have found a better or healthier way then you(I) have. Granted not ever encounter with a person will be positive, but its worth a shot.

Automatically ignoring or insulting someone like that for being different, to me generally proves either mental negligence, or being way to self centered. However, once again, if i was working at a place like that, seeing a lot of the scum they most likely see (be it bad ppl trying to get, or scum ppl that some of the animals come from) After a while, i can see how workers would become highly skeptical and potentially arrogant.

So its kinda a double-edged sword to me. But thats just how i feel...