Editor – Karen, yours is the first reasonable voice I have heard in this whole ‘monkey saga’ and I would love to chat with you over a cup of tea. It is very unbecoming of any charity organisation to be tarnished with such vitriol.
I have been in similar shoes as a volunteer at Empangeni Child and Family Welfare Society, a foster parent and place of safety. I worked (unpaid) twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for many years with broken people rather than animals. A lot more complex, you can be sure! So my concern right now is for the battered human in this fight.
No matter how aggressive or cruel anybody comes across, it is unheard of to slate them personally or in the media as we try to portray animal and human welfare organisations as loving and caring. One also does not alienate anyone when you rely on donations from the public. With so many years’ experience dealing with animals, whivh defend themselves aggressively, one would think they would be more tactful when dealing with fractious people.
Forgive me if my sympathies lie with abused humans rather than animals, but Carol has been ugly and childish and done the Monkey Helpline a lot of damage.
I did not even know they existed until now and I would never use them as they are clearly not people-friendly. They might take a look at how CROW and the SPCA conduct themselves when dealing with people.
Please would you sit down with Carol and convince her that this is doing herself a lot more harm than the lady she is trashing on Facebook and in the Highway Mail?
At the end of the day this woman did not harm the monkey and was instrumental in his survival. Isn’t that what counts?
Voice Of Reason
Cowies Hill
