No ducking ifea!
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 04 December 2011 00:00
Duck and cover?
reformWIRES has been shown a new post this time from WIRES' facebook page. Although its mean't to be well meaning, it shows a picture of cute ducklings that were saved by the WIRES rescue van. There are some concerning practices.
Most of the pictures and stories on the WIRES facebook page are great and give the community an insite on the everyday work WIRES volunteers do. Is anyone now checking these photos before they are placed into the public arena? Would this bad choice of photo have anything to do with the departure of the media person who had been with WIRES for many years?
Come on WIRES, is it acceptable to put young duckings in pools of water so they get wet? Where is the heat source? What about a towel or soft flooring instead of the hard potentionaly slippery surface? Don't black pacifc ducks eat their food in water? What about the use of shallow dishes so the ducks can get out easily on their own? What is that in the food dish?
A concerned WIRES member made a comment on the ducklings potentialy harming situation. We specially enjoyed the response that they were manually dried after their swim. Trained wildllife carers recognise these are wild animals, not pets. They do not want or like human handling, which must be kept to a minimum.
This may have been a temporary situation but is it appropriate to show the public bad care standards? We realise the public may think this is ok, but is it acceptable practice for the largest wildlife rehabilitator who should know better?
Write the minister
What is reformwires?
Comments
How typical. Don’t address the problem; instead, silence those who try to improve things; pretend everything is OK; label anyone who speaks out as being trouble-makers with ulterior motives.
Shooting the messenger has long been a WRIES tactic.
The reality is, our motives ARE about animal welfare.
Free speech? Not in this organisation!
Thanks to ReformWIRES we have an avenue to speak out about the injustices to wildlife & carers.
My rehab wild ducklings & pet / domestic ducklings at this age are given small water bowls that they cannot get into. Also, small feed bowls that are shaped to avoid being contaminated with faeces (as much as is possible with ducklings).They have a heat source readily avialable at all times; & a cosy sheltered area. They have non-slip mats, to avoid leg injuries, as newly hatched poultry & waterbirds are prone to. These mats are so cheap, & so easily cleaned, why would a “carer” not use them?
The poor little ducklings in this pic are absolutely drenched. They appear to have no warm cosy spot to dry off. There is no natural green vege.
How long were they kept in these conditions???
This pic was / is used on the Facebook page!?! Good grief! The professionalism of this organisation, & the care provided to wildlife is worse now than it ever has been. God help our wildlife if OEH (or someone) doesn’t care enough to crush the current culture of suppression of members’ serious concerns, & the blinkers being on WIRES management allowing animal neglect.
I think maybe people should know the facts before mouthing off about care standards. That is the down side of websites such as this. There can be no real open “debate” as all the facts are not available but people are very keen to voice their disapproval. Remember, the majority of people in wires are in it to care for and rehabilitate our native animals. They are volunteering their time, resources and money to do this. Please don’t make sweeping generalisations with backing or support of your claims.
My training & experience is that baby birds, including ducklings just delivered into care require warmth & quiet secure environments to recover from the stress of the events leading to their rescue.
I think you should really assess the photo “Guest”, before “mouthing off” about “sweeping generalisations”.
A MOP might naively hold ducklings in this manner while awaiting the WIRES Ambulance, but surely you would agree it is a less than satisfactory example of appropriate care from a supposedly professional rescue & rehab organisation!
According to the Facebook page, this photo was taken during the week of 25th November, & the ducklings “had sadly lost their parents”. That is less than 2 weeks ago; & you say “they were raised in the appropriate method & released”! That is either a poorly considered porky, or yet further confirmation of the sub-standard care they seem to have received!
You may be able to fool some of the people some of the time ...... but .... nuh .... not me .. not this time.
Ducklings swim with their parents in ponds at the park- a much larger body of water than the dish- in fact, they are exposed to all kinds of hazards when they are in their ’natural’ environment. It’s clear here that despite them being wet, it is a sunny day and they are in a controlled space. If this was a child it would be like telling their parents off for letting them play in the park and risking them falling over. The floor of the play pool is slippery but so is moss, mud and wet rocks. This is obviously not their actual living arrangement. However, the take away container is probably not the most appropriate... I think some of us are underestimating the capability of these baby ducks and over criticising the picture. Though they are babies, they still possess the capabilities of adaptation.
How do you know that they weren’t put in a different quarter with a heat mat/source?
All we have is a picture and the only story it tells is that there was a group of baby ducks playing/ getting wet in what appears to be a paddling pool on a sunny day with an overly large container of feed (or sand?- can’t say because it’s not clear). Ducks don’t smile, but in my opinion- they look rather pleased.
i know that MOPs are often mislead and have had 3 ducklings die from hypothermia because MOPs did not provide them a heat source so by the time I got to them, they were limp. In part I blame the call center for having not told them the correct thing to do. Yes, I’d have to agree that MOP’s are under many delusions about what wildlife eat and how they live but I am assuming this photo was taken with a carer.
In which case, how do we know that the carer did not keep them warm otherwise? ducklings ’do’ swim in ponds, ducklings ’do’ get wet, in fact they are born wet when the hatch, then what happens when this occurs and there is no one to dry them off? they just drop dead? If this is picture was with a member of public- then we can’t really judge the care of WIRES for these ducklings. If this picture was with a carer, then we are making other assumptions away from this picture. But in all honesty, tell me which of them looks sickly.