Let’s Chat: We need to care for ourselves

By LINDA TOOTH on August 9, 2023.

Have you heard of occupational stress or compassion fatigue? Do you know what it is?

I read an article by Vanessa I. Rohlf titled “Interventions for Occupational Stress and Compassion Fatigue in Animal Care Professionals” and I am more passionate than ever that we need to address this issue and help our animal-loving workers and volunteers (myself included) in battling this type of stress and fatigue.

Occupational stress happens as many animals that come into shelters have left abusive situations and come into care needing serious medical attention or euthanasia if the veterinarian feels it is the best outcome for the animal.

The emotional toll this takes on workers leads to high turnover of staff, depression not showing up for work, etc. The shelters in Medicine Hat and surrounding areas are full, and this is also a very stressful for the workers who are answering the phones or denying people who come into the shelter looking to relinquish their animals.

Compassion fatigue is also known as burnout, secondary trauma and vicarious trauma. This happens to workers who are dealing with trauma victims (animals included) on a continuous basis.

I became a foster fail last year with a cat that came in to the Medicine Hat SPCA. When I say foster fail, I mean that I came to love him and could not imagine him with someone else, so I adopted him. He came in as part of a program offered in conjunction with the Alberta SPCA and the Medicine Hat Women’s Shelter. His owner was fleeing a domestic violence situation and could not take her cats with her to the women’s shelter. He was abused, had suffered electrocution and was missing a few teeth.

I sat with him at the SPCA and held him and told him that not all people were bad. I see what these animals have been through, and I am certain that I as a volunteer have suffered compassion fatigue.

How do we help ourselves so that we can continue to do what we love?

Rohlf suggests more research needs to be done, but in the interim may I suggest that we take care by exercising, eating healthy, taking part in expressive writing and loving ourselves.

It is a tough world, and we need to do what we can to make it better.

Linda Tooth is a communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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