Not Another Rescuer
* Trigger Warning - This Article Mentions Suicide*
It was World Mental Health Day four days ago. I had planned on getting this piece of writing out on that day but the dogs had other plans for me, so please forgive me for being late. I wrote this two years ago when I lost a dear friend to suicide.
Today began badly, I discovered that yet another animal rescuer lost her life to suicide.
My work has drawn me to conversations with vets and their mental health struggles.
I have not been shy regarding my own problems in this regard either. I have shared in the hope of reaching out to others who may be similarly impacted. But, I have never spoken about the pressures on those who take on the mantle of carer through choice & not profession.
The armies of volunteers who work at the coal face of animal rescue. The legions of kind-hearted folks who hold up the dog rescue world. Mostly female volunteers who hold down jobs & care for their families. Sometimes conducting their voluntary roles in dangerous situations, risking their lives, physical health & relationships. Often using their own finances to support the work they do & always devoting themselves to ways of raising the funds they need to support the animals under their care.
Compassion fatigue is a well-documented condition prevalent among health care workers, police, firefighters & social workers. You may have heard it described as the cost of caring. When a person is exposed to suffering & dealing with emergency situations repeatedly, they begin to experience secondary traumatic stress, which when added to burn out results in compassion fatigue.
Imagine that you are responsible for the well-being of a group of dogs. You may be meeting their immediate needs by feeding them, exercising them & keeping their environment clean. It could also be your responsibility to find a kind and loving lasting home for them, deal with any behaviour issues they may have when they come to you and you will have to raise funds to provide for them while under your care.
The dogs that you are looking after are cruelty cases of one kind or another. This is fact & cannot be escaped. Incidences of cruelty increase when you operate in countries with lax or no animal welfare laws. The dogs may be temporarily withdrawn due to their abandonment; they may be displaying fear behaviours from physical and psychological abuse. They may have upsetting physical injuries or conditions because of neglect or assault. In more cases than you might imagine a dog under your care may have been sexually abused. This is a mother load to deal with.
Lets add a new phenomenon into this already heady mix of stress and anxiety. Internet abuse.
Without a doubt it has become fashionable to have a go at causes for good on social media platforms. We see it often and have been on the receiving end of it ourselves.
A carer might be accused of begging. Some trolls will even berate an organisation for attempting to create income streams so that they do not have to ask for donations. They may be criticised for unimportant details such as a dog not having a blanket (when they don’t need it) or for not being on grass or even for being on grass!
Or telling you that you are not doing enough.
And, the most annoying one is when someone is telling you they can do “it” so much better than you are while not lifting a finger to help.
We have seen the legitimacy of organisations called in to question publicly and accusations of dogs in need shown not even being real.
Carers are empathetic people who have compassion and sensitivity in bucket loads. They are driven by the need to make life better for others. They are often perfectionists who push themselves to achieve the best outcomes possible for the animals in their care. These character traits make them incredibly successful but equally make them very susceptible to compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue can present in a number of ways. Because we are all unique there are no one size fits all list of symptoms. You may be feeling helpless, angry, numb, sad, anxious, worried. You may find concentrating problematic,or you may withdraw socially. You may feel depressed.
If compassion fatigue goes unrecognised and unsupported it can lead to a state of mental pain so bad that the sufferer just wants to make it go away.
Suicide makes that pain stop.
We absolutely must be better at recognising when our fellow carers are not themselves. We must support each other and most of all campaigns of hate targeted at carers online must stop. I am shocked to see online groups dedicated to hating on animal rescue organisations. How awful is that.
The target of this online abuse may have lost a patient that morning. They may have just received a dog who has been poisoned, raped, or shot. They may have just sold their car to pay the vet bills that month (yes, it does happen) they may be feeling less than adequate even though circumstances are beyond their control. And, your words may be the final straw.
The carer who lost her life today made the decision to leave her pain behind because of online bullying
She was coping with all the stresses & strains that come with caring but the bullying was the last straw. I would like to see a change in the law to make online bullies accountable for their actions when someone dies because of their behaviour. The world is not a kind place full of benevolence. We cannot afford to keep losing people whose vocation is to care for others human or animal.
Today I am thinking about the rescuer who is no longer here with us. Wondering how her family are coping and what will happen to the animals she cared for and feeling angry that we have lost one of our own. Again.
If you work or volunteer for one of the larger charities you may well have access to counseling to help you. I hope that human resources have already discussed this subject with you and drawn your attention to their policies regarding safeguarding your mental health.
If you are being subjected to online abuse please report it to your line manager right away. They should be sympathetic and understanding. If you are a lone rescuer there are places you can go for advice and support. We would be very happy to signpost you to those organisations should you need them. Please don't be alone, please do not be embarrassed or feel like you will be judged by reaching out to someone for help. There is no shame in struggling. You are important and we want you to be happy and healthy in your rescue work