Well as I have decided to dedicate my life, my work life, to the veterinary care of wildlife I don’t have the same income as any ordinary vet. Why not? Usually, pet owners pay the bills of the vets who treat their pets. As my patients don’t have any owners, well there is nobody to pay the bills. You could say that the rescue centres could pay for my work, but firstly those are mostly NGOs with little to no money for their own people and secondly why would they be responsible to pay for wildlife as it doesn’t belong to them any more than to any other person out there. Maybe the government should then support those who take care of wildlife… well ya, that would be great but sadly it isn’t often the case.
We can now think about ethical responsibility, as a good number of the causes of mortality are caused by human interference. A lot of species get hunted, trapped, poisoned or simply die because of human obstacles, like glass buildings, cars, trash…
We shape the earth in a way that suits us. We change landscapes, as we cut down forests, dig through mountains, put rivers out of their riverbeds. We invent materials to ease our lives, we drive in cars, and we fly in planes. We breed farm animals in such a way that we can feed millions and we plant plants in monocultures but feed only the privileged. In doing all that species suffer, get sick, die. So, shouldn’t we take some responsibility if what we are doing is the cause of such suffering? Well, every single person must decide this for him/herself. For my part, I decided to do the best I can. Therefore, I have dedicated my work life to this cause. Wouldn’t I like to earn money and support my family? I am hoping one day I can. One day I hope we will have the support of the community so that people in these jobs can be paid. With the care and rehabilitation of wildlife, we can give a few individuals the chance to go back into the wild and to thrive again. In the case of endangered species, these few individuals may make the difference between extinction or survival.
