R = Rehome Or Return To Colony

Two people have written to me to discuss the disadvantages of�returning spayed-neutered animals to the colony.

And today, with the post about foreigners eating dogs and cats, returning animals to the colony takes a backseat even more. A reader even said in view of the street animals being eaten, perhaps they may be better off with a hoarder.

To be killed and eaten OR to live under the hands of a hoarder – it all depends on what kind of hoarder we’re talking about here. It ranges from�the kindhearted hoarders who really love their animals (but they just don’t know how to manage their “shelter” and ensure the wellbeing of their animals) to those who blatantly don’t care at all (it’s just an OCD of collecting animals from the streets as trophies).� I wouldn’t mind the former if the former is willing to learn how to manage her shelter so that her animals would be happier and healthier.

Personally, I have never returned any animal to the colony because my rescues had all been kittens and I either adopt them myself or I get them adopted. The only cat that went back to being a stray�was Joanie. I never got to return her to her feeder because Joanie escaped from my house after 20 days with me (I nursed her back to life from obstructed labour and near-death). Her feeder also did not want to take her back, anyway.� I went Joanie-hunting for weeks after that. We spotted her a few times, but she was too frightened to come back. I think she was not comfortable in my small house, maybe because she felt intimidated by my alphas.

Joanie’s experience taught me that some street animals may not be very happy living in a human house, especially when they have lived the free-roaming life before that. Some may adjust, others may not. Also, our circumstances come into play, ie. Does the cat have any affinity towards us? Does the cat feel comfortable with our existing pets?

Take for example, Kimba and Tabs – Kimba ran into my arms from the back alley and made himself right at home. He even slept with me from Day One. Tabs followed my husband back from the street and declared she had adopted our home.

It’s affinity, isn’t it?

So, it’s back to the big “R” in our CNRM.

R stands for Rehome/Return

Rehome comes BEFORE Return – this means we recommend rehoming first, and if that is not possible, only then do we return the animal to the colony. And Return is different from Release. Return means returning to the location we found it and this should be done not later than 2 weeks (the earlier, the better) from the time we remove it from its colony. Any later than that, the vacuum would have been filled by another animal and this animal not only has no place, but may not be recognisable to its friends anymore.

Release means simply releasing the animal anywhere and that’s a strict no-no. This is like what some people do when they try to get rid of strays in their neighbourhood. They catch them in gunny sacks and take them to a far-away place and leave them there. Very often, the adult cats would return (cats have this inbuilt homing device in them) but dogs may not be able to find their way “home”. Some do, some don’t.

I was told of a�case of an injured dog who needed amputation. After being returned to its colony (which was a park where the feeder would continue looking after him, it was a safe place), even his former best friends refused to accept him. The pack rejected him. We think it is because his scent (or appearance?) had been altered.

So, the duration of being away is also an important factor to consider. After 2 weeks, better do not return anymore.

So, it’s back to the question of the disadvantages of RETURNING to colony. Yes, it is definitely not ideal for the animal because they will still live as strays, but some rescuers have no choice because they cannot adopt anymore. Their house is full. It is also not easy to find a home for an adult animal, especially the local dogs.

Another option would be to surrender them to a no-kill shelter. But aren’t those also full?

Hence, some rescuers have to return to colony and continue to MANAGE these animals and pray for three things:

1. That nobody complains to the local council and dog-catching contractors do not�come on their rounds.

2. That dog-cat-eaters do not frequent that place.

3. The animals get to live on safely (from accidents, abuse, etc.) as “community animals”.

In order for “community animals” to exist and to be able to live on as free-roaming neutered animals, we need more compassion from humans. If we cannot have compassion, then perhaps we need tolerance.� And we know that many humans have neither of these.

We are more than happy to open up this discussion and get your views on it so that readers will be able to look at both sides of the argument and decide on what they wish to do with their rescues. Do please leave your comments on this issue.

You may be interested to read these as well:

http://myanimalcare.org/2011/11/22/the-disagreement-on-community-animals/

http://myanimalcare.org/2011/11/29/more-on-the-disagreement-of-having-community-animals/

So, if we don’t want to return, we’ll have to adopt or rehome.

Just a few weeks ago, I met a rescuer who said he has decided to RETURN and not rehome because he hadn’t been able to find good adopters.

There’ll always be two sides to the coin and there would never be THE one-and-only right thing to do.

It would then boil down to�doing whatever we can, with our best intentions and efforts,�and for the animal’s best interest.

Source: http://myanimalcare.org/2012/03/07/r-rehome-or-return-to-colony/

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AnimalCare is a registered society that promotes caregiving to street animals and helps in their neutering and medical needs. AnimalCare has a Medical Fund, Food Fund and Education Fund.

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