I'm going to give a backstory to this because there is a LOT of layers. Feel free to ask questions and I'll clarify. (Using a throw away for added anonymity) Tldr at bottom.
For the past 5 years I gave my entire heart and soul into a local Science Center. I was the only paid employee and did the work of at least 8 people. MINIMUM. I never complained because i LOVED what i did. When i started there, i began taking in rescued animals to have on display or interact with schools. I was the only care taker of the animals for years. It was a huge hit for the Center.
This Science Center is a non-profit organization run by a Husband and Wife. They are in their 70's and the husband in particular was on a slow mental decline throughout the years. The wife had serious anger issues and we had several complaints from previous employees, school teachers, and public guests. Needless to say this left me with many uncomfortable unacceptable workplace situations.
The pandemic hit them HARD. During my employment I would be yelled at, have my ideas taken from me and taken credit for or just be ignored when inconvenienced. At some point last year I had important surgery that required 6 weeks recovery time. I gave plenty of notice and left a extremely detailed instruction sheet of how to care for the animals while I was away.
At my 3-4 week point after my surgery I was asked to come in and check on them. I happily obliged as i've been cooped up in the house and would enjoy a nice visit with them. Once i arrived it was clear that none of the animals had been fed or even given water. I felt extremely guilty. Luckily my wife was with me to carry heavy water bowls and containers etc to ensure these animals are being cared for.
2 Days later i received a passive aggressive email from my boss complaining about stupid shit. I let him know that I am currently on a medical leave and can not take anymore emails. I informed them about the animals not having food or water and telling them how extremely important it is to stick to the schedule i left them.
They argued with me, and i took the opportunity to file a complaint about my treatment, and expectations. I ensured my email was professional and how i look forward to coming back to work and working as a great team. I also said i'd be available upon my return to talk about solutions to issues mentioned. The reply i got was basically “Fuck everything you're saying we don't agree and dont bother coming back for a while”
The last message i sent to them was that my main focus is these animals. If they can not care for them, i can find someone who will. If they did not want to hire another person i could reach out to the original homes of each animal and get the back to their original owners if possible.
Two days later I receive a call from our local Animal Protection agency. They told me the Science Center gave up every single animal for adoption with no information AT ALL. The woman working there knew me personally and i'm well known in the community for my animal shows. She called me to get any basic information on the animals which i was available to provide. I also let her know some of those animals actually have homes, they were just placed with us temporarily.
FFWD a year later. I have an amazing new job, my bosses respect me and i've been in a so much better head space not being treated like complete shit. But today I see a news article about how our Science Center just purchased 4 birds and are looking at expanding their animal collection. At the end of the article it said ” (Boss ) added they are working on amassing more live animals at the facility, which were a big hit before the pandemic, and were essentially forced out as nobody could care for them”.
This was a huge trigger and slap in the face to me. Over 15 animals were abandoned at a local shelter and had to be transported to larger cities that could deal with this. Actually, one of the animals is STILL up for adoption at our local shelter.
I live in an extremely small city that people know I was the person specifically in charge of caring for the animals. It worries me what my former boss will say about this. Especially as someone who is a huge animal lover and always wants whats best for them, it infuriates me that they are just going to purchase new animals that they wont know how to care for…
Anyway, this is my rant / vent because i feel like i don't have anyone i can share this with.