Animal Talk with Tammy Ven Dange | August 22

Our staff received an emergency phone call about a snake (with legs) in their garden. The caller wanted us to remove it immediately (which is not a service we provide by the way). Turns out that the ‘snake’ was a harmless, blue tongue lizard but the person on the phone couldn’t be convinced otherwise.

We had a caller tell us about a magpie in their backyard that needed to be picked up. It wasn’t injured, they just didn’t want it in their yard.

A caller said that they found a large, harmless huntsman spider in their house and wondered what to do. Our staff suggested that they catch and release it outside near a bush or a tree. The caller didn’t like that suggestion because they were worried that it would be eaten by a bird. This left few options since native spiders are not something that RSPCA ACT rehomes!

A customer asked our staff how much would we pay her to adopt a kitten. They responded by letting her know that she would actually pay us to adopt the animal as it covered worming, desexing, vaccinations, and daily care. Then she said, “But you’re a charity, you should be paying me to help you!” Suffice to say, she left in a huff without adopting anything.

A caller wanted to book their cat in for emergency boarding. This is normally a service we provide in the case of a crisis type situation such as domestic violence, the sudden loss of a home or when an owner had been sent to hospital without anyone to care for a pet. The caller insisted that we take care of her cat because they were about to go on holidays the next day (which was booked months in advance), and she had donated to us in the past.

A man called our shelter to report his lost driver’s license, and asked if we had it. Our call centre asked him a series of questions so that we could search the area. Turns out, he had never been to the shelter before. When asked why he thought we might have his license then, his impatient response was, “You’ve got a ‘Lost and Found’ on your website.”

During the winter months, we usually have fewer kittens available for adoption as cats tend to breed less when it’s cold. One customer asked if could order one in for her. When we explained that it doesn’t work that way, she accused us of false advertising as she pulled a newspaper article out of her pocket from six months prior, saying that we had over a hundred kittens looking for homes.

While the situations at the shelter are often serious and possibly life threatening, it’s a relief to have a laugh at the comical and ridiculous sometimes!  If one thing can be said regarding working at the Shelter is never boring!