Animal Shelter employees?

Question

I work full time at a non-profit humane society ... and I am DAMN PROUD OF IT!!! :o)

I just wanted to see if there are any other shelter employees out there? And, I want to see if there are stories any of you would like to share- about how hard it is to work there, how you feel about euthanasia/open door vs. "no kill" shelters, and if you feel successful and awesome every day because you know you are saving animals lives every time you punch that time clock??

And also I want to give a huge thumbs up to any shelter employees or volunteers who dedicate their time and hard work to help save these wonderful, homeless animals!! :o)

Answer 1

Not a shelter employee, but a previous vet tech and now kennel manager. Just wanted to say, keep up the good work, we need more kind,caring and compassionate animal people. God Bless.

Answer 2

I volunteer with the GSD rescue so I do not punch a clock but honestly I find it quite frustrating that people get these dogs without researching the breed and then just dump the dogs. I find it even more frustrating that people breed them without getting health and hips checked and then the pups they breed end up with all sorts of problems. We recently rescued a mother with 5 pups and how we found out was through an ad they had up at a pet supply store, the pups were 4 weeks old and the owners were already selling the puppies. We talked the owner into letting us take the mom & pups. The owner was reluctant because he really wanted to make money on the dogs but with a little cash incentive he gave in. We found good homes for all the pups and returned the female spayed.
We work really hard to rehabilitate the dogs with temperament problems by socializing and training for basic obedience and fortunately we have some great vets that give free or discounted services for the dogs. When we place a dog it is always great to see how well they do because of all the work that we put into them.
I feel this way about dogs and that is if they are beyond help (and some are) it is better to put them to sleep then to make them live caged and unhappy.

Answer 3

I work with a doberman rescue and I do behavioral dog training.
We have a large Humane Society near us and they do a very good job of taking in unwanted pets and finding new homes.
They do put some animals down. But it is fact that some have to be. There just are not enough homes for al of them.
There is a no kill shelter in the area also. They try very hard on a limited budget and they do the best they can. It is depressing as some of the dog will live out their lives in a small kennel.
Some dogs with serious behavior problems are just not safe to adopt out to people.
I wish more people would spay and neuter and not breed dogs just becasue they think they have a great pet. I wish more people were more educated about animals and their care.
Some of the questions here are apalling to see how little information people have that are breeding dogs.

I would love to see a day where our rescue had a waiting list of people wanting to adopt dogs and no dogs to place.
Instead we have lots of dogs and no good homes.

Answer 4

I do dog rescues. I usually get the If we can't get rid of it we're going to shoot it or turn it loose in the country dogs. Or dogs that are very unhealthy and not receiving care.

I have mixed feelings about no kill shelters. There was one in my area, and it was horrible. There policy was to not euthanise unless the animal had severe behavioral or medical problems. However they never followed this policy. I witnessed a dog there for over a year who no one could near. It was awful seeing that dog there. She would have been much better of euthanised. They also took in far more animals than they could hold. It often times looked like a puppy mill, with crates full of dogs stacked everywhere possible. It wasn't somewhere people wanted to go to look for a pet. And those that did, were required to put in an application of course, the problem was, many never recieved any word back from them about it.

They were also very terrible about returning phone calls, the only time you could get through was when they were closed, as during open hours, the employees were on the phone. And just hearing one side of the conversation going, on several occassions, they were personal calls. On one occassion I witnessed the worker on the phone for over an hour. A couple people came in, and she didn't even acknowledge there presence.

This place was also on contract by the city. And I don't blame the city for telling them No, when they asked for more money. It was a very poorly run facility.

As far as euthansia, it sucks. But unfortunately its a necessary evil. I feel its better for animals to be put down humanely than to spend the rest of their lives in an "institution".