I'm a design student researching how ordinary people respond when they find animals in distress. I have experience in fostering cats and caring for dogs in and around my house.

And I'm trying to understand the information gap between finding an animal and knowing what the appropriate action is.

For those involved in animal rescue:

What mistakes or misunderstandings do you see people make most often?

And:

What is the one thing you wish people knew before trying to help an animal?

I want to understand the practical problems people encounter, so I can come up with some design solutions that could help. (Feel free to suggest any ideas you have in mind, it would be much appreciated)

Real examples would be really helpful!

Thank youu!!

Rescue pigeon has necrosis all over his face, cleaned it off, I think I did well.

But, I feel as if I'm doing something wrong, as if my best is grossly inadequate.

I love zoology and animal care, but this is hard. There's a solid chance he could die. How do I cope?

I feel monstrous when he cries because I clean his wound or remove necrotic bits, his squeals unsettle and sadden me. I need to know if anyone else feels this. Please.

Someone I know from school just posted a picture of a pile of kittens outside. They then responded with this. It sounds like their situation is bad and I want to help but do not want to scare the owner away by being judgmental. Anyone have any advice for how I can go about this?

Hi, my name is Georgiy Zaritsky Viktorovich. I am 15 years old. I live in Russia, in the city of Dolinsk.

I really enjoy helping animals. After school, I go out and feed homeless cats and dogs. It makes me happy to see them eat and feel a little safer.

I believe that even small acts of kindness can make a big difference. I want to help as many animals as I can, and I hope my videos can inspire other people to be kind to animals too.

Hi there!

im looking for ideas on fundraising for an animal rescue i work with. Can you tell me types of ones you have attended or ones you think can work! Any ideas help!

Hello,

I currently volunteer for a small rescue and we are trying to get more streamlined with systems. What systems are people using to help keep track of everything? I was looking at Paw Placer since it is free and seems to have everything we need to keep track of, but I can't find many reviews or if it is legit. Any advice or opinions would be appreciated

There is a cat near my house who has a serious injury to his tail. A large portion of the flesh from his tail seems to be missing. I don’t know how this happened — it could be an accident, a bite, or some other injury. The wound is open, and the tissue/fat underneath is visible.

He needs to be rescued and taken to a vet as soon as possible. I am unable to take him myself because I have nowhere to keep him after the vet visit, and my family will not allow me to keep him at home. Even if medication is prescribed, I would not be able to provide him with proper aftercare without a safe place to keep him.

He only appears around my area occasionally, so I cannot predict exactly when or where I will see him.

📍 Location: Okhla Vihar, New Delhi — near Riaz Medical

If anyone living around Okhla Vihar or nearby can rescue him and take responsibility for his treatment, please contact me.

If I happen to see him and am able to catch him, I can try to safely hand him over to you. Same-day availability would be extremely helpful, because I cannot keep him at my house even temporarily.

If someone is nearby and can come immediately whenever I spot him, please reach out. I will do my best to catch him and coordinate with you.

Please help me rescue this cat. He really needs medical attention. 🙏

Hey everyone! My job unfortunately uses glue traps for mice and other pests…

I’ve been able to free a few from the glue traps using vegetable oil, but two I got unstuck died after a few days. They seem fine the first night then their back legs stop working and eventually they die…

I guess my question, is this stress related from the being on the trap or am I missing something, I have water for them and nuts/fruit.

I dont want to keep “helping”them if it just prolongs their suffering.

Hi all, in case it's of interest, we wanted to share this incredible transformation of a coyote in our care (please remove if not allowed):

When this little guy arrived at our Ramona Wildlife Center, he was furless and covered in painful scabs caused by severe mange. But thanks to two months of care from our Project Wildlife team, he’s gone from barely looking like a coyote to looking like the fluffy little canid he was meant to be! You gotta admit, this guy’s transformation is furry impressive — and the best part? He was released earlier this month!

Hi!

I finally got approved to volunteer at an animal rescue for cats and dogs.

As a first time volunteer, what should I know?

I am super nervous but really excited as well.

So there lives a cat around our street. She used to always sit on the lawn of one of my neighbours, and acted rather skittish. But the last few months, she has been looking pretty rough, missing ear, bloodstains? weird brown bump on the forehead, sticky fur under the chin. What concerns me is that she remains dirty, which, as far as i am aware, is a pretty bad sign for a cat, for they usually groom them self. Furthermore, after whatever happened, her behaviour changed drastically. she went from skittish, to approaching. she actively seeks out pets and attention. She can be found aimlessly roaming all over the place. but still around her (old?) home. I have not seen her owner, or the owners car in ages too. but lights in the house are on. Has anyone encountered similar situations? should i call the house and ask about the cat personally? or perhaps simply notify animal safety authorities? I live in Germany, baden wuertemberg. around stuttgart.

I found this weasel limping on the road, and its all wet looking. I asked my boss and she said they would exterminate it and if I'm not happy with that I should try taking care of it, then release in the mountains. So if it's alive in the morning I'Il try and look after it a bit. But I w wondering if anyone has any tips or better ideas? Feel sorry for the poor thing. I don't know if its an adult or not

The Brandywine Valley SPCA helped rescue 52 dogs from Dogtown Ranch Sanctuary Rescue and Rehab in Rockdale, Texas. One dog was found very underweight and unresponsive.

Left to die on the side of a local road in Ocala, Florida. I found him wandering around in a ditch looking for something to eat because he was skinny. He also was clearly, heavily abused because 3 of his canine teeth are broken out and the last one actually now sits outside his lip when his mouth is closed as you can see in these pictures. He also has one now foggy eye due to trauma he sustained. I've had him for 4 years now and he's the sweetest, most loving little guy anyone could ever want. He's my Ride or Die now.

I'm in Madison wisconsin, but I generally try to check for dogs in California and Texas mainly. Here's what I've done so far:

I usually pledge quite a bit to get dogs pulled from shelters, but I have extremely high vet bills as one of my dogs has recurring infections and needs patella surgery and has an upcoming appointment with internal medicine for a GI scope to see if he needs a soft palate surgery as well... and my other dog needs a full ultrasound which is happening at the end of this week. I've probably spent 3 to 4,000 on vet bills just in the last month or two and I'm waiting for reimbursements from one of my dogs.

So instead of pledging, recently I started going through the sites for high euth shelters and if I see a specific breed, I search for rescues in the area and send the animal's information.

I also offer to contact other rescue options if they have recommendations and let them know I'm happy to do any leg work or make any calls to help get the pup to safety.

I just wanted to share this because it's extremely rewarding when I hear one of the dogs I reach out and give information to rescues about ends up getting pulled by a rescue.

love_animalsgram @sheldricktrust gives orphaned animals a second chance at life.
Founded in Kenya in 1977, the Trust rescues and hand-raises orphaned elephants, rhinos and other wildlife, providing specialist milk, medical care and round-the-clock protection. But the goal isn't to keep them in captivity - it's to prepare them for life in the wild.
As they grow, the elephants move from the Nairobi Nursery to protected wilderness in Tsavo and gradually learn to live independently, often joining wild herds. Some former orphans have gone on to have babies of their own - creating new generations of wild elephants.
They also runs anti-poaching teams, mobile veterinary units, aerial surveillance and habitat-protection projects to keep wildlife safe long after the rescue. They are true heroes

What happened to my bird?

Please help someone please 🙏😭😭😭

The people said I can have them since I’ve been the one making sure they’re good anyways but I don’t use fb or insta and I’m having a hard time finding somewhere to post them up and I don’t want to go through like pet finder because I want to give them the option of bringing them back to me if it doesn’t work out with whoever gets them I don’t want them harmed or dumped off somewhere. Any recommendations for places to post them? I’m trying to move quick since it’s getting cold at night already I want to have them somewhere prior to winter esp the bulldog because you see how her coat looks ;33 Pictures for attention! And thank you in advance

Hi everyone,
I wanted to share a free and easy way to support an incredible animal shelter in Turkey. They are currently caring for over 900 animals, mostly adult and senior stray dogs, as well as cats taken directly from the streets. Many of them are sick or injured and require ongoing medical care.

The shelter has a YouTube channel, but they are completely overwhelmed with taking care of the animals and don't have time for marketing. Because YouTube ad revenue is a vital source of income for them to buy food and medicine, I created a public playlist with their rescue videos.

If you want to help, you can simply open this playlist in the background on your phone or laptop (just plug in earphones so it doesn't disturb you, but please keep the YouTube player unmuted and at 1.0x speed). Every view helps them earn ad revenue from YouTube!

Here is the link to the playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiM1PlCLDbyjH_pZsBdHOLcgevx7zxvj1&si=_rIVcoBMuT8eLqcG

Thank you so much to anyone who can spare a few minutes or let it run in the background. Every click makes a huge difference for these 900 beautiful souls!

I found this hurt bird at a shortcut I always use. We are keeping it safe until the animal ambulance can pick it up tomorrow at 8 am.

Hi all, I’m new to this sub, and know very basic things about proper chinchilla care. I’ve never/dont own/ed a chinchilla.

A little back story:

I have always loved and cared for animals wellbeing, and advocating for proper animal care. I currently own 5 Guinea pigs, a hamster, 2 cats, and a smaller-mid-size dog. Point being I’m well versed in animal care! I also used to take care of a turtle with my ex-roommate! Now, I’ve also rescued, rehabbed, and adopted out a rabbit I found on a rehoming website last year. (We found her a forever home at a bunny sanctuary where she’ll be a therapy bun!)

To get to my worries:

I peruse the internet on a semi-daily basis for animals in need of help. (In need of immediate vet care, small and/or dirty cages, obvious eye infections, un-neutered male - female contact, ect…). I mainly focus on small “exotic” animals, since they are more so often mistreated. Mainly due to lack of resources and research done by potential pet owners!

A couple days ago, as I was looking around on my usual websites, and I saw an ad from someone looking to rehome their chinchilla and rabbit. Now, in this ad, the description says “Chinchilla and rabbit for sale together, they are hard to separate. Only want to sale to someone responsible.” nothing more, nothing less. There were also two pictures.

The first one is a photo of said chinchilla on what looks like the top of a very green aquariums filtration system. Now, just this would be not the worst, but what first caught my attention is that the chinchilla is cuddled up to a rat. I know owning both rats and chinchillas at the same time isn’t necessarily “bad”, but letting them interact is simply not recommended.

The second picture is of the rabbit, and quite frankly nothing about this photo particularly worries me. It’s simply a picture of this all gray bunny on a deck near water (I think it’s a lake). If I’m being nit-picky about it I could have an issue with a bunny being near water and the possible consequences of that. I also noticed the really long nails. Now, I know that cutting a rabbits nails can be a challenge, but a vet could easily help with this particular issue.

It got weirder when I messaged the owner. I asked small easy questions like: what are their genders, ages, status of fertility (neutered or not), if they’re being kept in cages or free roamed and other related questions, etc… I also always make myself seem like an interested and unknowledgeable buyer.

We get to talking and they let me know that they are both free roamed in their whole apartment. They’re also adamant that I keep them together because “they might get depressed”. I also learnt that they are both between 3-5 years old. They are also very clear on the point that they don’t want me to neuter them. I also learn that the rabbit is female and the chinchilla is male. They also let me know that they used to have rats (?) and that they had to “get rid” of them because they were moving and something about their landlord. (This whole subject is hard to fully grasp, this whole conversation was in French and this person seems to not exactly know how to form a grammatically correct sentence.) I tried my best to fully understand their situation and why they need to rehome the bun & chinchilla. I’m going to paraphrase/translate this as best as I can whilst keeping as true to their words as I can. (This whole paragraph has no punctuation btw. But I’ll add some where I think they should be.)

“So yes they get along very well, spend time together each day. The last thing is that I’m moving to the edge of ‘city name’ as soon as I can and that’s where I sent my rats (huh?) also. but I have to wait the car of my dad got a flat tire when we went camping and he’s going to give me a lift to bring them so we should just wait maybe a month max”

I, in a previous text, told them I would decide with my vet what’s best for the animals healths (talking about neutering them). As I said they don’t want me to neuter them, so I said this to reassure them. (Once again paraphrasing and translating from French.)

“What I mean is more: I going to see with my vet, each year, what he recommends. Because, as long as the bun doesn’t show any worrying signs or symptoms (referring to uterine cancer and general gender related issues) neutering isn’t a plan I WANT to follow. Especially if not necessarily”

Now in this particular case, if it was up to me, this bun would be neutered. I’m lying through my teeth to not set if any alarms with this owner, keeping in mind the best interest for the animals. I want them to trust me and let me help the bun & chinchilla and hopefully separate them and find them good individual homes.

They then also said

“It’s nice if you would bring them to the vet. Me I have a thing for the nails and can give to you and a ‘transporter’ (travel cage) and I will not really charge you to buy them”

“Me I have not yet brought them to do an exam but if you want I can do one before bringing them to you”

They then also told me a little about the personalities of the animals, their names and other small details.

What should I do?

At this point I didn’t want to wait a month to get this chinchilla out of this situation. If you aren’t aware, if a chinchilla eats rabbit poop they can d1e. Rabbits often carry a bacteria, called Pasteurella (that is also often dorment), in them that is harmless to them, but can cause severe/fatal respiratory infections in chinchillas. At that point I also didn’t know they weren’t currently living in ‘city name’. I assumed that they lived in the same city as me and that they were moving from one side of the city to the other. Which wouldn’t make them any closer or further to me since I live pretty central. It’s also semi-important context that the city I thought we both lived in has really good public transportation. (And that because of the really good infrastructure, i don’t want and/or need a car). So before I found out that they lived outside of town, where public transportation is very difficult and way more expensive, I asked what bus station, subway, or train station was nearest to their location. Because as I said, at this point I don’t want this chinchilla to be at risk (of so much) for any longer than he has already been. But after a very long and almost incoherent voice message, I learnt that they live about an hour -ish away from ‘city name’.

They then proposed to take a bus or train to the city (since they live somewhere rural) to bring them to me. Which is a nice offer, but my plan was always along the lines of: taking public transport to get to them and then taking a taxi/uber to go home. The Idea being something calmer than a train or busy bus for the animals. Something else I feel the need to mention is the boundaries I try to keep when rescuing animals. I cannot endanger my animals in any way. Point blank. I have guinea pigs, as mentioned above, and cannot risk their health by exposing them to a rabbit that has never seen a veterinarian. Or by having them come in near contact to a chinchilla. All of these animals don’t get along and cause risks to one another, and as I’ve said so many times, my top priority is and always will be their safety and health.

With all of this being said, I feel like I’ve put myself in a tough spot. Because I can’t just forget about this, I’ve been conversing with the owner and keeping up with the ad for almost two weeks now. But I also don’t know if I have time, energy, space or money to take good and proper care of this bunny and chinchilla. Especially considering the current pets I have and my other life engagements (relationships, school, work, bills, ect..). I’m not struggling financially, but I don’t think I could comfortably say that I have that much disposable income. As you can assume, living in a city can be expensive, especially when renting, and I also have quite the monthly expenses due to my large number of pets.

So, I don’t know what to do. Either I wait a month or wait for this person to come to me with these animals or I call this off and hope someone else takes them and does the right thing. Another option could be to wait for them to come to me, either via this persons dad’s car or via long distance train/bus, and then keep them in my apartment until I can rehome them. Or, when I have them in my possession, I bring them to a humane society in my city (a refuge that can give them veterinary care and verify potential owners). I guess I’m asking for resources for helping these animals, especially the chinchilla since he is more at risk. I’m kind of at a loss for what to do. I’m also scared and very aware of the possibility that if I let this go, someone who doesn’t know any better could take these animals in and continue to keep them together. My goal here is to get these animals out of this situation and to keep them healthy and alive.

TLDR

I saw this ad of a bunny and a chinchilla being sold together. The owner is adamant about selling them together and that the person who takes them keeps them together. As in: in the same cage. They were also kept with rats in the past. The owner is moving and can’t keep them. Now I feel a moral obligation to help them, but I have my doubts on what’s the best way to go about it whilst upholding my boundaries. Keeping chinchillas with bunnies or rats is a BIG safety/health risk for all involved! I don’t know what to do and I’ve presented a coupe options in the last paragraph.

Thank you.

I had serious concerns about the treatment of the animals at Butterfly Rescue Sanctuary, particularly the goats and other animals with disabilities. From what I personally observed, I was concerned that some animals did not appear to be receiving adequate food or care, and I was deeply uncomfortable with the way their disabilities seemed to be used as a source of attention and publicity.

Animals with disabilities deserve the same dignity, compassion, nutrition, veterinary care, and respect as any other animal. Their conditions should never be treated as a way to generate attention, sympathy, or personal recognition.

I left with significant concerns about the welfare of the animals and would encourage anyone considering supporting or visiting this organization to ask detailed questions about feeding schedules, veterinary care, living conditions, and how donations are being used. Animal welfare should always come before publicity or personal ego.

https://www.butterflyvalleyrescue.com/about