Would you save it?

[cubby31682]

I would try my best to save it. When I was a kid we found a hummingbird, and my dad, mom, brother and me all nursed it back to health. When it started flying around our house it was time to let it go. Letting it go was the best feeling I have ever had and yet it was still so hard to say good bye. I honestly do not remember what was wrong with it but I remember having to feed it with a long eye dropper thing. After we let it go, it would still come around to the hummingbird feeders that we had outside.

Another time, there was some kind of bird I don't know what kind it was, but it looked mean. At the time we had 21 cats all indoor out door cats. Well anyways, the cats jumped up to get the bird and the bird slamed right into the house, broke its neck (we think) it couldn't move anything but its beak. The cats went over to see what it was and the bird bit every single one of them that touched it. My mom made my brother take care of it and put it out of its misery. There was no help for the bird what so ever and that was the best thing to do. We didn't want to take it to a vet because at that time, my moms car was broke down, and the closest vet to us was over an hour away and her car wouldn't have made it that far.

[apcrs5122]

We have an awesome wildlife care center run by volunteers at someone's house in the country. We've taken injured animals there before, where they are cared for and released back into the wild. We have birds hit our picture window quite a bit, and they get injured. We've only taken a couple to the center, just because the others died instantly The dove we took recently had a broken wing and some other stuff because it was bleeding pretty badly. They took it in and cared for it

[carole]

yes I think I would do something, I could not bear to leave it suffering, sure it may well die, but how long would that take, maybe days of terrible suffering.

I can remember as a very young child on the farm , our cats would catch mice, which of course is natural and what they were supposed to do, but I could not bear to see the baby ones being caught and played with, and I used to take it off the cat, and keep it in my hut and try to nurse it back to life, of course they always died, and I did not realise at the time, I was indeed not doing the poor mouse any favours, and NO my parents did not know.

We live and learn.

[Cheshirekatt]

I volunteered in wildlife rescue for several years so as long as I could in some way contain the animal I'd take it to the rehab center.

If an animal is suffering and there is no way to help it, sometimes it's kindest to put it out of it's misery.

[CathyBogart]

It depends. I've stopped to help pigeons in a certain parking lot where people fly through and hit them frequently, and I've stopped for some larger animals, but the odds of such a little creature surviving are so low that I think I would leave it.

Just as a side note, I HATE HATE HATE it when people think they're doing a baby bird a favor by picking it up off of the ground and sentencing it to death...er...trying to raise it. Odds are it was trying to fledge, so just LEAVE IT THERE! *EXPLODES*

[I Love Brian, Forever <3]

With the whole, "if I see another animal killing another, I'd leave it alone and let nature take it's course..." I would only do that in certain situations. If I see a cat in the process of killing a bird, I'll stop that cat and help the bird. I don't think I'd ever see a lion killing an antelope, but of course I couldn't stop that, nor would I want to. *That's* when nature is taking it's course.... not a bird/cat, dog/cat and so on.

Anyway, I'd help any and every animal, regardless of what it may be. (You know what I mean, hopefully.)

[Kfamr]

"if I see another animal killing another, I'd leave it alone and let nature take it's course..."



Sort of letting your house dog eat house cat? I would NEVER leave that alone!

[Desert Arabian]

I remember rescuing some sparrows along with the duck, deer, and turtles.

We used to have this stupid metal birdfeeder, with a tray, which had little slits cut in the tray. The sparrows kept on getting their legs caught in the slits and I would look out the window to see a sparrow hanging upside down franticly trying to get loose.
So my dad and I got it's leg out. I held the bird in my hand to keep the weight off its legs, and my dad took a pair of plyers and opened up the gap. He checked over the leg and it was intact, but it flew away before we could take it anywhere to get it looked at.

I felt really good that day, I was only around 10 or so- but I wished we could have gotten him looked at to make sure it was 100% ok....

[Fox-Gal]

In the case of your story and from what you said about the rat like animal (hole on side, sunken stomach) it would not have made it and as much as you don't want to hear this, I would have had to put it out of it misery. Well honestly have my husband do it for me, don't know if I could do it. Even the Wildlife rescue would do the same, just the humane thing to do.

Now in a different sitution (animal not to far gone) I would save it, without question.

[Aspen and Misty]

Yes, I would help. I've gotten up at 4 in the morning and driven an hour and a half to help a bunny who was attacked by cats. We had it put to sleep by a vets office. I've also gotten birds which my cats were attacking and deced not to "play" with them any more. They just sat there sick and suffering. So in the carrior thy went and off to the vets it was for them. The vets either tried to heal them or they put them down. It's the best for the animal I think. There lives are ended peacfully and there pain is stoped or if they have a chance they are givin it.


Ash

[dukedogsmom]

I already have done that. These weren't injured but there were some baby birds abandoned at the barn. Two of them and I took them home and fed them until I could get them to a woman that works with birds. They were so cute!

[kingrattus]

It really all depends on the animal its self. If it a gofer, rabbit, beaver, or some other large robent the answer is noway. Not because I'm mean or disslake them, its because I don't know how to properly handle them when they're hurt & would end up getting bitten.

Rob has helped a deer the only way a hit deer can be helped out here. He called OPP & asked permission to shoot it with his work gun (was was an armoured car driver & he hit the deer). Rob felt s bad for the deer, he said it was crying & he had to end its horrible suffering.

I have saved wild birds, & have assisted in saving some. I ws about 7 when some local teens had found a seagull. Its wing had cut open, but it had no broken bones, except its beak. I assisted on keeping its good wing from flapping around, while they cleaned, disinfected & sewed up its wounds. There is no help for wild animals back home, so u gotta do it urself. Saddly as te bird was bing returned to the park, the truck had hi a huge pothole & tossed the kids around, which caused the box to open & the bird jumped out & they tried to grab him, but thy were too late, he hopped out of the truck & was hit by a car. They all came back crying.

I saved a baby pidgion from drowning & raised it to be an adult.

I once told Max to go down a steep cliff & retreave a drowning pidgion (a diff one). He did that & he tried to get i, but the pidgion kept swimming under the water & it was scaring him. At least he tried.

I would rescue any dog.

I once climbed a tree & rescued a pissed off cat. I ended up having to carry it by the scruff in order to be able to climb back down with less wounds.

I also rescued a young kitten up a tree, except I needed both hands to get down, so I ended up bitting his scruff & climbing down the tree. I was given $10.00 by the owners for rescuing it in a funny way.

[moosmom]

When I was at the last Pet Talk Reunion in Findlay Park, the dogs found a bunny hutch with babies in it. There were 4. One was dead, two were okay and one looked like it had a broken neck.

We released the two healthy ones back into the brush. We put the dead one in a plastic bag and disposed of it.

The last one I took home with me and called my friend who is a vet tech at the shelter I work with. She suggested I take it to the Emergency Vet Hospital nearby, which I did. They euthanized him.

We did everything we could for the bunnies. But nature can be cruel. Ya do your best and then do what is in the best interest of the animal.