Helping wildlife in distress is everyone’s responsibility. However, the concept of responsibility is difficult to define.
Act on animal welfare obliges that a sick, injured or otherwise helpless wild animal must be helped.
In many municipalities, this means that the veterinarian euthanizes the animals brought to the clinic.
There are only a few kennels in Finland that accept wild animals.
The vast majority of them work with volunteers and donations. Many people’s cash registers have been empty for a long time.
The animal protection association Kuura is now in a situation where it has announced that it will stop accepting wild animals at the turn of the month.
The association mainly cares for wild animals in the Satakunta area in Kokemäki.
– Their number has grown so large that our resources are not enough. We’re thinking about whether we’ll let calls go to voicemail in the future, since it’s otherwise difficult to refuse help, Kuura’s chairman Inge Krone states.
Only a miracle could change the situation.
Summer is the worst
Kuura’s chairman, Inge Krone, has calculated that the association could take care of wild animals in need of help, if somewhere they could find salary money for two employees for about six months.
Most of the need for help falls between April and September.
With a fast schedule, the anova’s gaze is focused on individuals, organizations and associations.
However, Krone also dreams of a longer-lasting solution. Such could be offered, for example, by the municipality or the state.
The city of Kokemäki has already reacted to the situation. Mayor Teemu Nieminen says that he has contacted the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and is now waiting to find the right negotiation partner.
– The assistance given by the city would only be a short-term artificial respiration. A longer-term solution must be found for this.
Nieminen reminds that the problem affects the whole country. Therefore, the solution should also be national.
A solution has already been sought
Communications manager of the Finnish Animal Protection Association Maria Eiskop says that a solution has been sought for a long time. The association tried to get attention for the matter, for example, when the latest animal welfare law was being prepared – with bad results.
In Eiskop’s view, animal welfare should be the state’s responsibility. The work could be started, for example, with sufficient guidance and funding for the municipalities.
– Our hope is that there would be a network of care homes for wild animals in Finland. The experts working there could assess whether the animal can be rehabilitated or whether euthanasia is the right option.
The Finnish Animal Welfare Association is aware that help is too far for many. In the first instance, it offers, among other things, telephone advice and information on its website.
– It is a really difficult place for a person if he encounters a suffering animal and finds that help is not available.
Eiskop points out that without sufficient information, many people can also cause unnecessary suffering to animals. Therefore, it would be important that the work be the responsibility of experts.
In Turku, the direction is slightly better
In addition to volunteers, the Turku Animal Protection Association also employs paid animal caretakers. The association’s finances have slightly improved since the worst times, but the executive director Sari Pesonen according to that, the operation is still constantly on a knife’s edge.
When Pesonen started his laundry three years ago, there was about 200,000 euros below the line. This is the first year that the association gets close to breaking even.
In the video, Sari Pesonen talks about TESY’s financial situation.
The association’s finances rely on private and corporate donations and testamentary donations.
The operational area extends from the neighboring municipalities of Turku to the archipelago, but the city of Turku or other municipalities do not support heru.
The bleak outlook for the economy hasn’t made donors tighten their purse strings. The CEO praises people’s willingness to help.
In Sari Pesonen’s opinion, other, official funding channels should definitely be found for the activities of animal protection associations, in order to put the activities on a sustainable basis.
– If there is no money in the chest, it is difficult to draw from it for various actors. Animals are not at the top of everyone’s priority list, states Pesonen.
