06/24/2025
😢
When people hear “animal rescue,” I think they imagine cuddling bunnies in sunlit fields, a bird perched on a shoulder, butterflies fluttering in the breeze. But the reality is not glamorous.
Rescue is long days that are both mentally and physically exhausting. It's cleaning p**p from cages, tube feeding tiny creatures, cleaning maggots from wounds, or continuously looking for people willing to adopt to make space for another. Rescue is arguing with the public and pleading with people to do the right thing. Rescue is witnessing injuries from car strikes, predator attacks, and senseless human cruelty. Rehabbers have dozens, if not hundreds of mouths to feed & care for, all reliant on the donations of strangers. Rescue is taking emergency calls during family trips, earning the quiet judgement of loved ones. People harshly criticize volunteers when the animal doesn't make it or we don't help in the way they expect. In most cases, we don't know the outcome of the cases taken on hotline. But in many, we know how it will end from the moment we respond. Every day is fast paced, high stress, high anxiety, and we lie in bed thinking of the ones we couldn't help. Then people ridicule the work you do and others pile on like ants at a picnic.
It’s a daily battle to balance passion with a personal life, and sometimes the weight becomes too much. The world of wildlife rescue has suffered an immeasurable loss. Our hearts ache for the family of Mikayla Raines and everyone at Save A Fox Rescue in Minnesota. Mikayla dedicated her life to animals, she built a sanctuary from the ground up while rescuing foxes from fur farms. Her loss leaves a deep void in the rescue community. Though we never had the honor of working alongside her, we can see the warmth and love she poured into every life she saved.
To our rescue friends and strangers, we see you. If the world ever feels too heavy, if hope seems out of reach, please reach out to someone for help. We need you. Your loved ones need you. The animals need you.
*Photo from Save a Fox Instagram*
