I was in this online meeting, it was like a semi-regional brainstorming group for animal welfare professionals. It had a few 'leaders' to get topics going and keep on track, but the highlight of these is for everyone to share ideas, opinions, struggles, etc.

Almost as soon as mics go up, this one person begins talking. Perfect. Except, she didn't really have anything to contribute. She wasn't involved in animal welfare whatsoever, not even free-lancing. She used it as a platform to vent about how animal welfare professionals need to 'do better' and 'provide more help' and give excuses as to why she can't 🙄

The main speaker did wonderfully keeping the person on track and trying to give others a chance to speak, but it just turned into a 2 person convo that we were all eavesdropping on. I don't envy the main speaker - you don't want to kick/mute the member of the community we were just talking about supporting, but they were also just kind of crazy and going on rants that needed to be interrupted the entire time to get back on track...

Well hopefully it will be better next quarter.

Anyway, I'm sure we all have our own stories of unhinged people involved (or in this case, not involved but wants to be) in animal welfare.

We have our yearly state inspection going on at the moment I'm typing this and we have 4 dogs staying in the front of the building not in kennels. Well my coworker just said that if the inspector asks 2 of them stay in a kennel that has been sitting empty for weeks now. Also asked what breed our obviously wolf hybrid dog is and she was told it's a shepherd/husky mix.

Like wtf? Does it really count as passing if you're lying during the inspection?? (State of Iowa if that makes a difference)

I'm already on week 1 of my 2 week resignation notice and planned on making a report to the state once I'm out of here but this just gives me even more a reason to do so.

Content Warning: Discussion of self-harm and suicide

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a suicidal crisis in the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

Revival Animal Health is voluntarily recalling Breeder’s Edge and Shelter’s Choice Feline Milk Replacers due to low, levels of potassium, copper, folic acid, choline and/or vitamin B6.

Kittens fed milk replacer that is deficient in these can result in

• anemia
• neurological dysfunction
• liver failure
• kidney damage
• skeletal diseases
• cardiac compromise

Clinical signs may appear in days to weeks, and deficiencies can be fatal or permanent. If you suspect your kitten/s consumed these recalled products, please contact your vet.

Please visit the link for more information, including the exact product UPCs that were recalled and a helpline for questions and refunds.

Mine was a little squat pittie with a gnarly ear infection. She was a nice little dog, but she was one that would get aroused easily, and would get mouthy when overly aroused. I usually wear my hair in a ponytail, and one day after I finished applying her ear meds, I was walking her back to her kennel and she jumped up and grabbed my ponytail and just...dangled from it for a second. She let go and I turned to her like "Girl, wtf," and she just had this big, stupid pittie grin and her whole body was wiggling. Couldn't stay mad at that little dummy. Tell me about those shelter animals that are super annoying, but also really endearing and sweet.

Just want to thank everyone who fosters for all that they do! My adopted pup came from a foster home and I feel like we really had a better opportunity to learn about him and how he is having lived in a home with other dogs as opposed to in the shelter. I do think this made a big difference in finding the right match. If he had been in the shelter, perhaps things would have been different. Perhaps he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to let his personality shine. I appreciate his foster home for allowing him to live with other dogs and for their knowledge of what type of home would be best for him. We really wanted a dog who would be a companion to our resident dog more than anything, and were able to find that.

Every August, shelters across the country open their doors for Clear the Shelters. The intention is genuinely good, but at Satchel's Last Resort Animal Shelter, we do not participate. And this year, we want to tell you why.

**1. Impulsive adoptions often end in surrender.** When adoption fees are waived or significantly reduced, animals are more likely to be adopted on impulse without full consideration of the long term commitment. When reality sets in, those animals often come back.

**2. A dog is a 10–15 year commitment. A cat can live 20 years.** The adoption fee is the smallest cost you'll ever pay for your pet. Food, veterinary care, training, boarding, and supplies are lifelong expenses that don't disappear because the adoption was free.

**3. We currently have 70 dogs and 30 cats on our surrender waitlist.** Every day we receive new applications from families who can no longer care for their pet. We are not in a position, and do not believe it is responsible, to accelerate adoptions that may contribute to that number.

**4. Our adoption process exists for a reason.** Every Satchel's adoption includes an application review, a meet and greet, and reference checks designed to match the right animal with the right family not just for today, but for the lifetime of that pet. That process takes time, and our animals deserve that investment.

**5. An adoption fee is not a barrier, it's a filter.** Someone who invests in an adoption fee has demonstrated a baseline level of commitment and readiness. At Satchel's Last Resort, that filter has helped keep pets in their forever homes for 25 years.

This is a repost. The OOP can be found from the name on the original post.

Hi . I joined here because I work at an animal shelter that doesn’t run as efficiently as it could. I am looking for any changes or ideas that were implemented at your shelter that improved the quality of the environment you work in or the animal’s environment and enrichment. One big problem we have is our cleaning which takes a long time and water not getting fully dried making blankets and floors wet throughout the day. I also am looking for any advice with running pet food pantries and any things that have helped make that process run better. anything that has made a powerful effect on your/the animals days that you started or that wasn’t done in your last job but is now and makes a big difference. thank you !

So ive been at this job for about 5 months, doing animal care/kennel tech. And holy CRAP my hands look awful. My skin is constantly so dry its chapping, my nails are splitting, its really bad. We obviously use a lot of soap, bleach, rescue, shampoo, and just a lot of hand washing in general at work so its incredibly drying to my skin. I try to wear gloves as often as possible already to minimize it and my skin is still really bad. What are you guys doing to protect your hands? Ive also tried like several different lotions serums cuticle oil etc...it only helps so much. Are chapped hands just my life now or do you guys have something figured out lol

I’ve only experienced a couple but—understandably—the person was crying each time. It makes my heart hurt and I just want to cry with them; I feel like a monster for taking their beloved pet away from them.

How do y’all cope? I’m still really new to this so I haven’t had time to become desensitized or get used to it. I feel so silly for stepping aside to cry after or crying around my supervisor.

We recently lost our adult dog Shadow to hemangiosarcoma at age 9. After crying for a month we adopted a puppy named Belle from a shelter. It really helped me heal but then she died of mushroom poisoning 7 weeks later at the age of 17 weeks old and I’m devastated. This just happened last week.

It’s not mushroom season and we didn’t know we had toxic mushrooms in our yard and we still haven’t seen any in the last week. We have had two other dogs over the past 13 years without an issue. Belle was nuts about wanting to eat everything she could find outside.I was worried about it and was working on leave it and drop it. I had already taught her at least 20 commands. She was so smart but also stubborn. I spent countless hours trying to train her and keep her safe.

Now I’m afraid to ever adopt another dog or puppy. I feel responsible even though it wasn’t something I could have known about. Even though other dogs have safely lived with us here, it’s scary to think about this happening again. Some dogs are apparently attracted to mushrooms but most aren’t as far as I know. It’s impossible to get rid of them or keep a dog away from them.

We have always liked the idea of rescuing or fostering a dog in need. An adult might be safer for us now if they are past the puppy stage of eating everything. My question is how would a shelter view this risk? Are we helping or hurting by bringing another dog home?
In some ways it seems like some of these dogs might die in a shelter but I also don’t want to be responsible for putting them in danger. My husband wants to eventually get another puppy because he’s worried about adult dogs being neurotic. I’m scared to get a puppy for obvious reasons but also worry an adult dog could still eat poisonous mushrooms. They are everywhere here in CA and grow under oak trees.

Any advice or opinions on this?

I’ve been volunteering as a caretaker for about a year and recently took a new role as facility manager. This no kill shelter can hold 20-40 cats at any given day. Some cats can stay as long as a month.

Each day the caretakers check off a list of 6 things on paper, two sometimes three times a day while the cat is in the shelter.
The facility manager (FM) then goes and summaries each cat’s progress.

I’m hope to improve the process because right now it takes a long time to enter all the data in the system. Does anyone have any tips or tricks that would help track the list of six things and easily show trends.

Here’s a list of items on the observation chart that gets filled out for each cat.

Wet food: Yes/Some/None
Dry food: Yes/Some/None
Urine: Yes/Yes but outside box/No
Stool: Yes/Yes but outside box/No
General Health: Good/vomit/Injury
Behavior: Friendly/Shy/Hiding/Hissing/Swatting

First of all, apologies if this comes up a lot - most of what I've seen on this topic is people venting about insane adoption approval requirements. I foster for a small cat rescue and also help with running adoption applications. I've seen a bunch of literature singing the praises of open adoption policies recently, and I'm wondering if our screening requirements are really that high of a barrier to entry. I'm not condemning other shelters' practices - I'm just looking for people's perspectives, information, etc.

The checks we do are:

1. Verifying they are not on our local public shelter's do-not-adopt list

2. Verify they are either the homeowners or are permitted to have additional pets if they are renting or living with someone else (no in-home inspections except one person who we were seriously concerned might have been a hoarder)

3. Calling their vet if they have/had pets. Really just looking for big red flags - concerns about neglect, accounts in collections, undisclosed pets, etc. We typically only require their cats be fully vaccinated for kittens who may not be through their full vaccine series and allow the applicant to submit proof of vaccination if their cats (and dogs for rabies) are out of date.

Some cats/ kittens have specific needs (solo cats, medical needs, etc.), which are determined by their fosters.

All of these have caused us to deny people, but I would say we approve 85-90% of applicants. The other 10-15% are homes that would likely result in the cat being returned/abandoned or we have good reason to believe would be dangerous to them. Our apps rarely take more than 2 business days unless there is a hold up on the adopter's end.

Does skipping property/vet checks really not incur major additional risks? I'm a big believer in almost any home being better than being on the street or stuck in a cage, but to me, those feel like barriers to entry that probably should exist.

Edit a few days later: for anyone who comes back, thanks so much for your perspectives and advice. It was really helpful hearing how other shelters operate and what people's experiences as adopters were like! Definitely lots of food for thought and evidence of different places having different MO's.

Specifically tattoos inspired by actual animals you worked with through sheltering, and/or the experiences from that work. I’ve wanted a sheltering tattoo for a while, but can’t decide on anything. I’ve thought about getting things for specific dogs, but I want something that is meaningful for my work as a whole and all the animals I worked with, not just the ones I lost, but the ones I helped save too.

Thank you in advance for sharing!

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META THREAD

This monthly thread is a space for constructive feedback, suggestions, and ideas for r/AnimalShelterStories, as well as a hub for any new changes for the subreddit.

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Edit: Went to the doctor and got on some antibiotics and he's filling out a bite report. I'm sure this will cause problems when I go to work on Thursday ( have tomorrow off) but I'm genuinely so over this place I don't even care. If I get fired over reporting a bite not only will it be retaliation and work in my favor, but I'm sure there will also be some consequences for the shelter not reporting it either. This isn't the first time a bite has gone unreported by the shelter and I think if the truth came out about how many times were told not to report a dog bite we'd be shut down on the spot, but that's not my problem anymore. I hate that I have to be "the asshole" that stirs the pot but if I don't no one else will and this cycle of mismanagement is just going to continue with no consequences for my boss.

I got bit today by a dog was told it's my fault and basically got threatened with termination over this and other things me and my boss don't agree on. She herself has higher ups she has to respond to so she'll have to go through them first and with how short staffed we are they can't afford to not have me there. If it were a volunteer in my position they would have been coddled and compensated, but because my boss already has a gruge against me, this is the reaction I got.

This dog has bit multiple people who have had to seek medical care after, and I as well will be going to the doctor tomorrow for an upcoming infection that's already setting in and reporting the bite. Instead of getting a trainers help for this dog, we have been ignoring the problem, and that has resulted in her behaviors getting worse over the last few months.

I've already seen a few behavioral euthanasias in my two years of working here and with how this dog is acting and getting worse, unfortunately I don't see it ending any other way as she's unadoptable to anyone who comes to even look at her. The redirected aggression is the root of the problem, but my boss doesn't believe that she's "aggressive" so therefore nothing is being done about it. This shelter is turning into a sanctuary for animals who will never get adopted and I have to pretend I'm not ashamed to work here.

The bite report will probably get me in more trouble with my boss at work given that she'll think it's a personal attack against her/the shelter but this dog is not suitable for adoption and if another bite report is what it takes to save someone else from getting bit, then I'm going to do what has to be done. We don't report bites at the shelter, let alone to the actual cops, unless we need medical attention, which with how much pus is leaking from the bite, I'm sure infection has already taken effect. I don't want to give her the satisfaction of me quitting but with how drained I am I'm at my limit and don't want to be here anymore.

I've been seeing a trend in comments and commentary around animal welfare agencies where the public is convinced they "have enough money" or "get too much money" and should be able to do more than what they're doing. (Specifically spay and neuter.)

I feel like this has to be stemming from where the average American is at financially due to rising costs of living and everything. It's easy to point at an organization "making" millions of dollars and saying they don't do enough, but I find it so fascinating that they can't understand that while the cost of everything is rising for them, it's rising for animal welfare organizations as well...

Have you been seeing this towards your organizations? Where do you think it's stemming from?

I have so much anger and rage in my heart towards these people and absolutely nowhere to put it. I often have access their phone numbers, addresses, full legal names and e-mails. I am often able to find their personal social media and subsequently the information of their friends, families and employers. The amount of self control it takes for me not to sign them up for endless spam, SWAT them, expose them to their loved ones/jobs, give their information out online or participate in "community led justice" myself or do any other malicious things is insane. The only thing that stops me is the fact that I can't do anything to help these animals if I lose my job or get arrested myself. I wish I knew what to do with these hateful angry feelings besides just pushing them down and accepting that there's nothing I can do. The animal abuse laws here are so disgustingly lax, it's so hard not to take matters into my own hands to punish them even by just signing them up for contact from scientology or something when the extent of their punishment by the law is a prohibition on owning animals that can't actually be legally enforced by our peace officers.

I hold the belief that (barring medical conditions) pretty much any dog or cat can be trained. I don't really believe in the idea that a pet is inherently “untrainable,” that they've been abused too badly to ever recover, or that they're genetically incompatible with living alongside people.

Like a lot of people here, I've had to euthanize a lot of animals. And oftentimes, I was the person making the decision. For a long time, I coped with that by thinking about animals in very black-and-white terms. This animal is dangerous. This animal is safe. This animal is adoptable. This animal isn't.

This one dog in particular sticks with me.

He was a large dog who had two bites, charged his kennel gate, and hated strangers. He had been there for months, and when we needed space, I decided he was too dangerous to adopt.

At the eleventh hour, a board member arranged an adoption anyway. I strongly disagreed and thought the dog was unadoptable.

About a year later, the adopter came back to visit us with that same dog. The dog I had wanted to euthanize was now a Canine Good Citizen who happily accepted affection from strangers.

But this wasn't an isolated incident. There were tons of variations on the same story. Cats I considered too feral. Dogs I considered too aggressive. Animals I thought were simply not capable of being successful pets.

Sometimes someone stepped up at the right time and absolutely thrived. Not every animal did. But enough of them did that I had to rethink my entire framework, or otherwise come to a very uncomfortable conclusion that I am killing adoptable animals that make perfectly fine pets.

So eventually I stopped thinking of adoptability as a sliding scale of how “good” an animal is. Instead, I started thinking about it as a question of resources and circumstances.

Maybe the animal can become a successful pet. But do we have someone willing and able to put in the work? Do they have the time, experience, and environment? Do we have the space, money, staff, fosters, and time to find that person?

Sometimes the answer is no. And that can be a valid reason for euthanasia without the animal itself being inherently “bad” or “unadoptable.”

I think this is also why I feel similarly about BE. One O may be perfectly capable of managing an animal that another person isn't. That doesn't automatically make either owner better or worse, or the BE decision 'wrong'. Their circumstances and resources are different.

Euthanasia isn't a declaration that an animal is bad, broken, or incapable of being loved. Sometimes it's an acknowledgment that, in these current circumstances, we can't give that animal what they need.

I'm a volunteer for a rescue and we are thinking about reviewing/updating our adoption agreement/contract.

Ours is currently pretty short and boils down to, adopter is adopting that animal as a pet and they agree to give adequate food, water, shelter, and vet care, that if they need to relinquish the animal they give it back to us, the animal will be not be allowed to roam freely and we have limited history on these animals and we can give no guarantees about an animals temperament.

Anything else you'd consider necessary? Or would anyone be willing to share what their originations says?