Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

[LPC]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Good for you! Choose well. Ask for your dad's advice, too. Personality is just as important as looks.

[Caracal]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

I was thinking of buying a new cute lil kitty from a friend but I think my perspective has changed a lot. I think I better check all the cats at the shelter first ca!!t:

[adamooss]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Thank you for posting this article.
it is very rich in information

[alexsmith]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Thank you for this article!

[gege ana]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Thank you for posting this article.

[stephy]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

This is an important message that needs to be shared. Thank you for bringing it to our attention. I hate the fact that so many pet owners can be so selfish and leave a part of their family behind...

[LPC]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

OK, I understand. Feel free to pass the offer on to the person responsible for rehoming.

[March]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Unfortunately I'm not allowed to contact people, rescues, shelters, organizations etc about re-homing animals at our shelter. We have someone who handles that, and I guess they don't want multiple people interfering. I can only contact people for animals I am fostering. :sad:

[LPC]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

March, there is a section of the forum called "Adopt a Pet". If you look under "General Topics" you will find it there. You are welcome to start new threads, with details of a dog on each one and a few photos. If you think this will help your shelter find homes for the harder to house dogs, then feel free to make use of as many threads as you wish. The forum is browsed daily by many, many more times people than there are active posting members online; there are often around a hundred people browsing at any moment, right round the clock.

[Tobi]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Sometimes an unfortunate dog gets handed into a Shelter because the family who adopted it in the first place find they can't cope with some aspect of the dog, or are unwilling/haven't got time/ are unable to -learn how to. Sometimes behavioural issues cause humans to lose patience with dogs, or they handle these issues in the wrong way and the dog doesn't respond. Either those things happen, or some life event such as divorce, illness in the family, moving home to a non-pet-friendly situation, etc.
The word "Shelter" sounds so benign. People look at the idea with rose-tinted glasses. They think their dog will simply be handed over to someone else...that the Shelter will find him/her a 'good home'....

Even though it's hard to take on board and extremely upsetting, I think it's good that we are educated about what really happens in Shelters (not "Rescues" -as they are usually run differently)

And in many cases it is better to try harder to work something out with a dog rather than surrender him/her to a short and uncertain future.

[March]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Another very informative post, March. As you work in a shelter, your first hand experience means that you are in a better position to speak on this issue than almost anyone else on this forum.

Does your shelter find it difficult to find homes for less desirable dogs (very elderly, sick ones)? What happens to those poor ones? Is there an annual maximum vet budget or is it kept flexible depending on needs?

We are very lucky at my shelter to have quite a bit of expendable money for our animals; we have lots of ways to make money on top of just money donations.

That said, we are able to treat most of our dogs for KC, physical injuries, ear infections, eye infections, etc. We remove limbs and eyes when needed. As long as they are healthy and not aggressive, even very old dogs are adopted through our shelters. For many issues that would be too difficult and expensive for us (mainly dental work), or issues that can't really be cured (heart murmurs, skin issues, heart worm), we simply adopt out as is and inform adopters about the condition and force them to sign a waiver stating they understand the dog has said condition that they will need to take care of themselves. It's less that the vets have a set budget, and more that they have set things they can and can't attempt to fix.

We can't, however, adopt out animals with ringworm. It's illegal here. If an animal has ringworm, even though it isn't a deadly issue, we have to put the animal down because of how easily it can infect everything in a shelter. Although sometimes we get a foster willing to take the animal until it's cured. We also can't deal with animals that have torn ACLs, as experience has shown it is nigh impossible to have an ACL heal in a hectic shelter environment. Things like cancer and kidney failure, and other terminal issues, will also result in euthanasia.

It's weird, we have some dogs that will never get adopted for the longest time but I can't figure out why. We have a beautiful, young coon hound there that is sweet, playful, and gentle. He's been with us since the beginning of this year, and was in another shelter before that. We had another hound mix, absolutely identical to the coon hound in both shape and personality, but all black. And she got adopted in a week, despite being an all black, big dog. Of course, puppies are almost always cleared out of a shelter before an old dog finds a home, but the definitely do find homes, generally to people who want a dog and not a work out partner.

If you want, I could make an ama. I don't know where it would belong though, and I can't give out any sensitive information.

[Tobi]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

hi please look this video and tell me your opinion about this dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi_rojuh78

It looked as if the dog was having a reverse sneezing attack at first....then seemed better and just barking...? To get attention from someone?

[LPC]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

Another very informative post, March. As you work in a shelter, your first hand experience means that you are in a better position to speak on this issue than almost anyone else on this forum.

Does your shelter find it difficult to find homes for less desirable dogs (very elderly, sick ones)? What happens to those poor ones? Is there an annual maximum vet budget or is it kept flexible depending on needs?

[March]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

I'm glad my shelter isn't that packed. While I do support those who breed responsibly, and purchasing those who breed responsibly, I always advise against buying from pet stores and back-yard breeders, as they don't care where their animals end up. Craigslist can be just a last resort for some desperate people, but I do see a lot of blatant selling of puppies.

I really do believe in education solving the animal overpopulation issue. However there really is only so much one can do, especially for adults that already have their minds set. I can't tell you how many times I've given people what could have been live saving advice for their animals, but they were either too stubborn or lazy to follow through. Maybe they didn't believe in crating so strongly that they were willing to give up their dog for being destructive, or they were too lazy to properly train their dog and found that it was easier to simply surrender the dog when the issues became too out of hand. I think it has a lot to do with people's upbringing around animals and the culture they are in, also. A kid that is taught that cat's lives don't matter and grows up around peers who encourage abusing cats will be more likely to casually abuse cats as a adult.

There's a lot that needs to be done, but every small step helps. Especially getting the word out in a place where one wouldn't be preaching to the choir, like a listing of bybs and people looking to make a quick buck to get rid of their animal. I hope it changed someone's opinion and views, even if it was only one person. It is really important to go about informing people in a pleasant manner though, no matter how much they make your blood boil. From my experience, people will do the wrong thing just to piss a stranger off if they get a hint of patronizing or disgusted tone.

[ddavid]

Re: Shelter Manager's Thankless Job

hi please look this video and tell me your opinion about this dog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVi_rojuh78