Animal Welfare, Human Welfare & Why We Should Care About Both

Over the years, we have met many individuals wanting to help animals here in Sri Lanka without a real support system in place. What starts out as helping one or two can quickly become 10 or 20 animals. Trying to care for multiple animals, many of whom are sick or even dying, is stressful enough. But when the numbers keep creeping up, that stress can turn into suffering for both the animals and the people.

We all need to know our own and others’ limits working in animal welfare. The capacity to provide care is based on numerous factors, including space, funding, skills, existing commitments, veterinary availability and both the physical & emotional support available. Dumping animals on those who are already trying their hardest is never the answer and is letting both the animals and those rescuers down. Dumping is not just physically placing an animal at someone’s gate – it can be emailing, tagging on socials, texting or phoning an individual until they feel that they have no choice but to try and help.

If an individual is already caring for multiple animals and they say they are full, this must be respected. It’s unfair to ask them to take on just one more, or to send them multiple messages telling them unless they do, the animal will die. This is a dreadful burden to place on the shoulders of those who already care deeply and give so much of themselves.

I receive such messages all the time, and whilst I have the support of a dedicated team, I still find it overwhelming some days. We, of course, help as many animals as we can, but we have both financial and resource limits, and we simply cannot say yes to everyone (a subject I also cover in the blog Why Running a Charity is Like Running a Business).

There is always strength in numbers. Whether you run a charity, volunteer or are just affected by the plight of a single dog on the roadside, we need to remember to care about each other as well as the animals themselves to ensure we all have the strength to overcome the many challenges we face daily.