This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
(Header image created using microsoft co-pilot)
There was no centralist today which meant that it fell to me as co-driver to take any incoming calls. I was apprehensive about doing everything ‘on my feet’, though thanks to my driver who I now work with happily, some of the apprehension dissipated.
Deceased Cat Collection
An appointment had been made for someone to pick up his cat. She’d been found underneath someone’s car on a drive, and understandably the owner was distraught to hear about it.
Preparations
The cat had already been washed and dried, and she lay on a table in a special room set apart for owners to pick up their dead pets. Dim lighting, diffusers, flowers, candle, cuddly toys for children to take home and business cards for someone who can help with the grieving process. A towel covered the cat so the owner could see her in his own time, and an extra covering over her leg where some blood still showed. As far as I could understand, the blood wasn’t hers, but belonged to another cat which somehow got transferred when the cats lay next to each other in the freezer.
Comforting words
Neither I or the driver had returned a pet to their owner in this way so the co-ordinator gave us a few pointers about what to say and how to say it. I paid particular attention here because I’m sure this would be different with Dutch people than it would be in England, and I certainly didn’t want to upset anyone at this sensitive time. All that said, the co-ordinator joked this was good practice for me…for when I need to pick up my cat(!) I must admit this is a fear I have – a rescue / call-out for my own cat whilst I’m on duty. Then again, at least I’ll be there first hand for my little feline.
Memento
I remembered some hair of the cat can be put into small ribboned plastic bottles as a memento for the owner. The co-ordinator advised I ask the owner which part of the black and white cat they’d like the hair from. (Typing this reminds me I saw an advert for a taxidermist on the side of the ambulance. Or was it a taxi service?)
Admin
Unfortunately there’s administration too – the co-ordinator thankfully completed the relevant form and advised us of the options open to the owner – take their cat home in a cardboard box, let us bring the cat to be “destroyed” (what a horrific thought), or have her cremated. In each case there are costs involved, some up front.
The co-ordinator pulled out some cardboard boxes and lids which needed we folded into shape. Everything set up, it was now a matter of waiting until 15:00 for the owner to show up.
Note: From here, the events of the afternoon shift mix through each other, but I’ve grouped them together per animal.
Rearrangement
A phone call came in. It was the cat owner who couldn’t come in today after all due to work, but tomorrow morning was fine. We made an appointment for 10:00 am. The delay in collecting the cat meant she needed to be placed back into the freezer because cats decompose quickly.
When I picked her up I was surprised at how cold she still was. We tagged her, placed her into a crate, and then into the freezer. But I thought of a problem. The on-site shift tomorrow starts at 09:00, and even if they take the cat out of the freezer as soon as they get in, she wouldn’t have enough time to thaw. I mentioned this to the co-ordinator and she suggested moving the appointment to 11:00.
The owner’s work schedule meant that we needed to phone him back at 15:00, which we did, and he was happy to oblige. I changed the appointment in the calendar. Moments later someone strolled through the door asking to pick up his cat; he had an appointment at 15:00!
Mistaken identity?
I was shocked! I’d confirmed the name of the cat with the gentlemen on the phone, and yet this different chap was claiming the same cat!
The driver and I got to the bottom of it; this guy was the cat’s owner, and the chap on the phone was his brother. Somehow neither knew what the other was doing, but the guy standing in front of us was happy to come back tomorrow. This was good because it wouldn’t have been nice for him to get his cat straight from the freezer.
Decision Tree
Centralists use a “decision tree” as a guide to help them deliver the right advice for the right animal in a given situation. It’s available on the tablet that I carry as a co-driver, and also as a desktop application in the base. I got the apps ready on both devices, ready for the next incoming call.
Cat Chipping Chaos
It was quiet now, so I signed up with the driver for a cat chipping course offered by the Dierenlot Academie. This course is available for pairs of co-workers who regularly work together, so this seemed perfect! The timing couldn’t have been more ironic…
An anxious couple walked into the base. Their cat was missing and was due to have an operation (a leg amputation) so they were keen to find her so she wouldn’t miss the appointment. To complicate things, the Animal Ambulance had chipped their cat but the registration details weren’t correct. They worried that even if their cat was found, then they wouldn’t be contacted. Apparently they’d contacted us several times about this.
I checked chipnummer.nl, a website that finds which database stores details for a given chipnumber; they’d thought to bring the chip number with them – and for 2 more of their cats(!). The registered details showed only the email address of the Animal Ambulance, so I gave them the name of the database and advised them they could update the details themselves.
I couldn’t help notice the irony of this situation just after the driver and I had registered for the cat chipping course!
New Ambulance
Our new ambulance arrived on site!
People have been getting very excited about this, not just because it’s 50 cm longer than our usual one, but because it has more bells and whistles on it. The 2 guys, an ex-policeman and the animal ambulance driving safety instructor ran around it like a couple of little boys switching lights on and off, pressing buttons, sliding levers, and who knows what else! 😜.
The extra 50 cm in length means there’s more space inside to arrange and organise things. The co-ordinator was proud to show this to the driver and I. I must admit it is quite nice! Some things seemed to be almost made to order, and when I told the co-ord something was a good idea she replied that yes, she’d thought about it. So I assume she designed it and I should give her credit for that!
We loaded some equipment stored in a nearby building into dedicated spaces into the new ambulance.
Chicken-and-Egg or Dog-and-Biscuits?
By the ‘reception’ is a tin of dog biscuits. Dogs taken for a walk in the surrounding woods know they’ll get biscuits if they come in – so they do!
Dogs taken for a walk in the surrounding woods often come in to the ‘reception’ expecting biscuits, so we keep a tin of dog biscuits there.
I had the pleasure of giving biscuits to a dog, and then to 2 more. I wondered whether it was OK to feed other peoples’ pets like this, but I suppose they know it happens, and if they didn’t like it they wouldn’t let their dogs come inside.
First Call!
A school girl wanted to come into the Animal Ambulance and see how it works and what goes on here for her school project. I advised she contact the co-ordinator by email. She’d already done this but not heard anything back so I suggested she send another email and I’d also pass the message on to the co-ordinator.
Cat Toy: Mouse 🙁
The next call concerned a mouse who’d been entertaining a cat. The mouse wasn’t moving his back leg so appeared to be injured. We agreed we’d come and pick up the little creature.
Once we hung up we set to thinking about where we’d bring him. Healthy mice are brought back to the base where an external driver brings him to a dedicated shelter. In any case, it turned out the co-ordinator didn’t want someone to bring such a small creature so far away but instead return it to nature. She asked what kind of injuries the mouse had; this was a good point because we hadn’t asked.
Then the next question: was the mouse really injured? This seemed like an odd question, but the truth behind it is that mice are often in shock after an attack and left acting as if they are paralysed. We called back, and advised the finder to set the mouse free and keep an eye on it for 15/20 minutes. This would be long enough for the mouse to come out of shock and go on with his little life. If not, then he was injured and we’d come and pick him up (though the question still remained – where would he ultimately be taken?)
Indeed, afer 20 minutes we received the call that the mouse was moving ‘normally’ again – and hopefully keeping out of the reach of any cats / other predators! So a happy ending for him! 🙂
Goose Home Tragedy from bird-brain school boy 🙁
(This sub-title does a dis-service to birds)
Reminder: Thoughts an opinions are my own and do not reflect or represent those of the DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
A school girl phoned in asking for advice. A imbecilic boy (my words) had taken an egg from a goose’s nest, put it in his pocket, then destroyed the nest. I was livid. Moronic behaviour like this can’t just be put down to childish adventure – indeed, I thought the school girl was incredibly brave and responsible for phoning us up for advice.
The driver arranged to call her back after a phone call to the wildlife rescue centre. They advised putting the egg back and rebuilding the nest (so time travel…). When the driver asked about the chances of the egg surviving, we were told if egg was out of the nest for too long it would have got cold and the insides died.
The driver called the girl back and passed the information on. The finder didn’t seem too perturbed about approaching the hooliganic moron about putting the egg back, and I’m sure she (and her friends, who we overheard) would have done their best to rebuild the nest, especially as there were other geese in the area.
It’s good to know that despite complete cretinous crap-heads in this world, there are also delights. Hopefully the goose egg was returned unharmed and kept warm enough for its precious contents to remain undamaged.
Update:I learned a few days later that the Animal Ambulance will be visiting some (primary) schools to tell the kids about what we do. I hope this gives children a better appreciation for nature, a call not to be an idiot, and also let them know they can call us if they do come across sick, wounded or lost animals. And crap-head humans.
Sporty Pigeon
A pigeon had been seen wandering around the grounds of a sports hall with a floppy wing. The finder had somehow found a crate and covered the pigeon with it so she wouldn’t fly away.
The finder was unexpectedly waiting for us. It had been quite some time since she’d phoned in – not just for the travel time, but because we were messing about with some of the above calls. We thanked her for waiting; she’d hung around with the pigeon because she was worried the children piling in and out of the sports centre might interfere and mess about with the pigeon. This was an excellent point; I told her about the call we had about the goose nest. I was really grateful for what she did!
The driver went inside to fill a hot water bottle, although I wasn’t sure this was needed or not. Better safe than sorry. Grabbing hold of the pigeon and placing him into the box was easy – though I needed to get him back out again when the driver came back with the hot water bottle; this usually goes underneath the towel the animal lies on.
I called the wildlife rescue centre and the manager picked up. I don’t know if she recognised me, but I felt weird that I’d just stopped as an animal carer there! On the way I completed the admin, but couldn’t submit. The pigeon was ringed which meant it was someone’s pet, and since we didn’t know who the owner was I needed to take a pic.
On arrival we brought the rescue box from the back of the ambulance through the side into the inside and opened it to take a very last minute – but required – picture. Taking the photo inside means he cant get far if he tries to fly away! Of course, with all the doors closed and not being able to find the light switch it was quite dark! The driver shone a phone torch onto our subject for some low frequency flash photography!
I placed him into one of the cupboards, hoping the hot water would be enough to keep him warm through the night; I don’t know how often animals are collected and brought inside. I know the vets there don’t work 24/7. Now I come to think of it more, maybe we should have asked to put him into a cupboard with an incubator.
Thoughts about Shift
I’m really grateful the driver had my back during this shift; thinking along together, discussing things, the phone / Dutch, and the rescue from the stressful situation. At the Animal Ambulance we like saying we look after people (owners) as well as animals, but I realised that we look after each other too! 🙂
