We get emails from people pleading how DESPERATE they are--attempting to exploit our sympathies in any way they can. Many will go well beyond exaggeration and actually weave a tangled web of lies. They always want me to call them right away, and jump in and rescue the animals NOW. I email them back and ask them for details/clarifications, so we can carefully assess the situation. I spend all this effort gathering up the information in order to help, and then… within 24 hours, when we make a rescue commitment, they suddenly disappear without a trace. As "desperate" as they all were for our IMMEDIATE help, we never hear back from over 90% of them.

People just don't get that every minute we waste trying to track them down and get an answer, delays us helping another animal in need--a duck or goose on a pond, in the cold, who may not last another day. Sometimes these people will respond back a month later--a whole month! Surprised to discover they have been long since removed from the waiting list--how could this be?

We learn from all these encounters and experiences, though. One interesting tid-bit is whenever an email comes through saying "DESPERATE" or "IMMEDIATE" or "URGENT SITUATION" or "ANIMALS WILL DIE" or is written in ALL CAPS, it is a red flag that the person will most likely fall off the planet during correspondence and a rescue will not likely result.

Another red flag, is what we refer to as "Title-Flashers."  Someone who emails us through our website's email, but actually makes the effort to copy and paste their work email signature (to flaunt their job title) into the email to us is known as a Title-Flasher. They think this will sway us into wanting to help them more than anybody else because they are "important people." I always laugh when we get one--it's like going fishing and pulling up the boot. Title-Flashers normally vanish soon after we ask them our first question. Apparently, we are not supposed to ask any questions, we are just supposed to hop to it. And don't let that fancy title of theirs fool you (that's what they want); they are also the least likely to make a donation. Oh, if I had a dime for every Pharmaceutical title that has come our way via email… Wha ha ha!