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No More Homeless Pets Forum
May 31, 2004 Engineering a Turnaround |
How can you make dramatic improvements in your local shelter? Make changes internally and reach out to the media and the public? Charlie McGinley of Brookhaven Animal Shelter and Adoption Center and Susan Feingold of Fulton County Animal Services tell how they did it and offer advice for your community.
Introduction from Charlie McGinley:
Is your shelter better or worse than it's perceived? Does your community still think of your organization as the "pound"? Is your staff up to the task of implementing change?There is no question that many shelters can do more for their animals and community than they are presently doing. At the same time, there are shelters with hardworking and dedicated staff members that for one reason or another are not able to get the word out to the public about their orphaned pets and the services they provide. Because of this, the general public may not even know about an organization's existence or may perceive it in a negative light.
Many municipal shelters are now, more than ever, taking a proactive leadership role in the animal welfare movement that rivals their successful nonprofit counterparts. While this is good news for the animal welfare movement, there is still much more work to be done.
Successful shelters generally get involved in their communities by offering a variety of services to the public. These services not only have a positive effect on the public's perception of the shelter, but can also have a positive effect on the morale of the staff.
Positive media attention is generally a result of creative new programs and services. Some benefits of it may include an increase in adoptions, contributions, volunteerism and support from the community.
Executing real change can be a difficult process. Pitfalls can include non-responsive organizational management, staff resistance or governmental bureaucracies. But, with creative thinking, community partnerships, patience and perseverance, an organization can be taken from "worst to first."
Introduction from Susan Feingold:
Making major changes at a local animal shelter can be a complicated task. You may have to interact with the current animal control management, the board of directors (if the shelter is managed by a nonprofit) and a wide variety of public officials. Things that may seem glaringly wrong to you may not be seen as a problem by public officials who are mainly interested in cost, by shelter management who are happy with things the way they are, or by an uninformed board of directors.In the Atlanta area, we used a wide variety of methods to transform our animal shelter, which resulted in a 550% increase in the adoption/rescue rate and 4,000 fewer animals killed in the first year. In the coming week, I look forward to using my experiences to help you plan strategies for making important changes at your local animal shelters.
Questions
Keys to success in increasing placement rates
Clearing up confusions between humane societies and animal control in the public's mind
Getting the public to trust you are making changes
Finding money when it's not in the budget
Helping small animal controls make a difference in rural areas
When a shelter has a high turnover rate of employees and no management
Helping animal control separate sick from healthy
Getting upper management public officials to learn about animal welfare
Shielding volunteers from euthanasia
Prioritizing needs and getting started
When a shelter makes cosmetic change but nothing substantial actually changes
When the Board is split on euthanasia decision and no-kill
Keys to success in increasing placement rates
Question from a member:
I was very impressed with your stats on how you have both increased your placement rates so drastically, so quickly! Can you share what were some of the keys to making this happen?Response from Charlie:
We started by changing our name from Brookhaven Animal Shelter to Brookhaven Animal Shelter & Adoption Center to reflect our new emphasis on adoptions. We also extended our hours of operation to be more convenient for the public to come in as a family unit. The entire family could come in and make it a group decision on which pet to adopt. Since we are a municipal shelter, we used to be closed on holidays but now we are open on most. We have implemented an active offsite adoption program in the warmer months that has helped increase adoptions as well as awareness about our shelter and the services we offer. We have just had a large walk through ambulance contributed that will be our new offsite adoption & humane education vehicle.A new meet and greet area was also built so that prospective adopters could spend some time with the animals they were considering. Renovations were also made to the facility and are ongoing to make it a nicer place to visit as well as a better place for the employees to work in and better environment for the animals.
Animals that were sick or injured and would have had to be euthanized have a much better chance now because we have been fundraising for them under the name of Mend-A-Pet. Because of this we have been able to pay for medications and surgeries for many stray and orphaned pets and place them in homes. Presently we are in the process of building a new and improved isolation area for them.
Response from Susan:
I think improvement in shelter placement rates can be dependent on the point from which you're starting and in what type of community you live. If you are dealing with an animal control shelter that already has a decent adoption rate and is already well known in the community, then even if you implement great new programs your placement rates will increase slower than if you implemented those programs at an animal control shelter that has an extremely high euthanasia rate and no adoption programs in place. And, if you are located in a city where you're the only animal shelter in town, then your adoption programs will have more impact than if you're located in a metro area with 20 other animals shelters and 60 other rescue groups all trying to find good adoptive homes.The key to success in our situation was a change in animal control management in 2003. Prior to that, a different humane society had been running this animal shelter for almost thirty years and had a high euthanasia rate. Among other things, that humane society literally wouldn't let the public into the shelter in order to adopt an animal (you could only enter the shelter if you lost a pet). Once our humane society took over management, we did many things to increase our save rate, but the first one was just to open the door to the public so that they could view and adopt the animals in our shelter.
Some of the things we have done to increase our placement rate have been to proactively seek out rescue groups to help us save our animals. Animals are scanned and implanted with microchips to help return pets to their homes. We take animals to numerous offsite adoption events, and spay/neuter all animals before release. Talk to each and every person who wants to give up a pet in order to try to find an alternative solution, and hand out information about free spay/neuter resources. We take a picture of every pet that comes in to our shelter and have it up on our website available for viewing within one hour and implemented an online lost/found database. We've held several "Neuter for a Nickel" days, located foster homes.
None of this is rocket science. It just takes lots of hard work and lots of dedicated employees and volunteers who are willing to do what it takes to save the lives of the animals.
Clearing up confusions between humane societies and animal control in the public's mind
Question from Cassandra:
Our humane society operated as the pound for many, many years. Then, a couple years ago, we gave up the pound contract. Just last year, the county built and opened a new pound, which they call the "Shelter of Hope" because they want to get away from the "pound" mentality. This has caused a lot of confusion in the community as most people think that our humane society has moved, or they think that we are the pound and they are the shelter. We've lost a ton of donations because people think that we are municipally funded. Now a year later, people still think that we're the pound! We've done an article in the paper and we tell everyone that calls that we are NOT the pound, but people do not seem to get it. How do we get the word out that we're not the pound?Response from Charlie:
I don't know the name of your organization but I know of private non-profit organizations that have changed their name because it sounded like a government facility. Names like the Suffolk County Animal Society can be perceived as a county agency even if its not and people believe their tax money is going there already so why contribute.Being on the defense can sometimes be detrimental to your cause. As in the previous question's answer, emphasize the positive about your organization's success stories. Launch a campaign to educate the public about your organization. Try press releases or adoption ads saying things that apply to your organization, such as the largest non-profit or no-kill facility, or only non-profit or no-kill facility. Weekly appearances on a morning radio show for just 3 minutes a week with your pet of the week enables you to reach a large segment of the public with your positive messages.
A mailing should be helpful. Announce to people on your fundraising list the positive side of not having to do animal control any longer, and that now, more than ever, you need their financial support to compensate for the income lost as a result of giving up the contract.
At every opportunity we get, we speak to senior citizens groups, volunteer fire departments and other assorted civic groups about our organizations' goals, day to day operations and its programs and services. Also look into doing a public service announcement about your organization. A good PSA can benefit an organization in many ways.
Response from Susan:
People in cities all over the country are confused about the differences in humane societies, SPCA's and animal controls and often donate to one while thinking they are donating to another. It happens in my city, it happens in New York City, it happens all over.I think the best way to get the word out about what your shelter is doing is through mass mailings, preferably of a newsletter. The main message in the first newsletter should be about how you gave up the animal control contract and are funded entirely through donations. Be sure to include lots of information about all of your programs and services so that people can see where their money is going. If you can't afford to send out a newsletter, then write a good solicitation letter explaining that you're no longer municipally funded and are dependent on the public to continue to do your work. And, if you can't afford any mailings, start collecting email addresses and send out an e-newsletter instead.
In the meantime, keep doing positive, proactive things for the animals in your care and don't worry about whether people think you are the pound or not. Most people want to donate to a group that is making a difference. So if you do the right thing for the animals the word will get out and people will donate to you whether they think you're the pound or not.
Getting the public to trust you are making changes
Question from Kelly:
We are a humane society who has recently taken over our animal control contract. We knew that the public did not have a lot of trust towards animal control and the perception was very negative about what they did. However, we thought they would see that as the humane society, things would be different, but we are having a hard time getting people to come to even look at the animals in our shelter. They don't even want to come through the door because we euthanize. We are trying to explain that we are working towards not having to kill by increasing adoptions and other programs, but it has been difficult. How do you get the public to become your partners and start trusting that you are working towards change?Response from Charlie:
You may have a harder time changing the perception of your organization then we did. By this I mean, as a humane society you might already have been offering some of the programs that we have only implemented in the past two years. These new programs were able to get us a lot of positive media coverage to the point where we were misconstrued as a no-kill facility by some people.Rather then taking a defensive position and trying to explain your goals, emphasize your success stories about the strays you have saved. We e-mail pictures of our pets to the local papers every week. Some of these pictures are of our Mend-A-Pet animals that may be an animal wearing a cast or even be an amputee. These pictures and a short paragraph about the animal help get the word out to the public about our mission more than anything I might say in an interview. There will always be those who will not visit your shelter, but with positive media coverage about services offered, special events, humane education programs, low-cost spaying or low-cost vaccination clinics, the public will respond positively to your organization.
Response from Susan:
I think you get the public to trust you by being upfront and honest with them and by showing them that you are indeed putting programs into place that will help save animals. Tell them yes, we euthanize animals but that is because we only have xx number of cages, and we take in xx number of animals each day and xx,xxx each year and there is nowhere to put them. But also say that you would appreciate any and all suggestions that would help you save the animals lives, because that is why you are there. Then let them give you suggestions.I have been able to turnaround people who call up screaming at me to being an advocate for our organization simply by doing that. When they tell me, "why don't you call rescue groups for these dogs?" and I tell them that we work with all licensed rescue groups and that we call and beg rescue groups to help us out, they can't really argue. When they tell me "why don't you double or triple the dogs up in a run so you can save more?" and I tell them that we're already doing that, they can't really argue. When they tell me "why don't you take animals to offsite adoptions on the weekends?" and I tell them that we have animals at three offsite adoption events every single weekend, they can't really argue with that. When they say "why don't you transfer animals to no-kill shelters or rescues up north?" and I tell them that we do that every week, they can't really argue with that.
Once they finish giving their suggestions for all the things they think we should be doing and I explain that not only are we doing all of those things, but we're doing much more that they haven't even thought about, their anger usually turns to respect. Then they become open to listening about the pet overpopulation problem that we have and how we can all work together towards solutions.
It does take time to explain all of this to people, but I have found through experience that it is worth the time. So, try it! If someone says they won't come to the shelter to adopt, then tell them that your humane society is trying to make a difference to the animals and ask them for suggestions on how you can save more animals lives. It will get them to thinking. Then explain how adopting a pet from your shelter will literally save it's life and therefore, how important it is to adopt from a kill shelter.
And in the meantime, make sure your shelter is implementing as many programs as you can to save more lives. If people won't come to your shelter, then take your animals to the people. Go to as many offsite adoption events as you can with your animals. Hand out brochures about your organization. Make sure all of your pets are pictured online both on your website and on Petfinder. Utilize the media by sending out press releases about the great things your shelter is doing. Develop relationships with the local TV and radio stations and get them to talk about you in a positive way. Get your local newspapers to write positive articles about your animal shelter. Go on TV with "Pets of the Week." Until the public comes around, go around them to find ways for the animals in your care to have the best chance of finding a home.
Finding money when it's not in the budget
Question from a member:
I just started working at a municipal shelter, and while I'm happy to be here, I am getting frustrated that everything I want to accomplish gets shot down because of the "budget". We are extremely limited in what we can do because of lack of funds. I don't know how we can get around this. How can we implement needed programs in a creative way without it being included in the budget?Response from Susan:
There are several things you can do to accomplish this, but the first thing I would say is if it isn't in the budget, then find the money outside of the budget! Many municipal shelters are able to raise money through donations by setting up a "Friends of the Shelter" type, non-profit organizations that raise funds to implement new projects. Don't think that you need a large organization to do this, just a few people who are willing to serve on the Board. I've done all the paperwork myself when starting a non-profit 501(c)(3) animal welfare group, and it really isn't that big of a deal to do it. So, go to your superiors and ask them if they'd be willing to start a fundraising organization to benefit your shelter.Secondly, do some research, and then suggest other ways that they can increase funding at your shelter. For instance, do you have pet licensing in your municipality and if so, are the fees in line with what else is being charged in other areas of the country? If not, just raising the license fee a couple of dollars can have a huge impact on the amount of money you have to spend in your budget on new programs. If you don't have animal licensing, then what about the other fees you charge? Are the fees you charge for impound and Boarding in line with what other shelters in your region are charging or have they not changed in ten years? There are many factors involved, but perhaps if you sit down with your bosses and show them what other shelters are charging, then they would be open to addressing fees with their superiors to try to increase the amount of money budgeted for special projects.
In the meantime, I would suggest you work on implementing programs that don't cost much at all or that other organizations will pay for. For instance, taking pets to offsite adoption events doesn't really cost much more than the gas to get them to the event and the cost of paying the staff member to go there. So, if it were I, I would volunteer to take animals to offsite adoptions on my day off. Once your management sees that it is worth it, they may be more willing to pay a staff member to attend the offsite events, or you may even attract enough volunteers so staff members eventually don't even have to attend. If you want to hold low-cost or no-cost spay/neuter days at your shelter, contact groups in your area who may be willing to fund them.
For instance, we've had several "Neuter for a Nickel" days at our shelter and didn't pay for any of it; another animal welfare group did. Do you want to provide the funding to pay for heartworm or medical treatment for animals that are in your care? If so, there are grants you can apply for that may pay for these things. We have also developed relationships with wonderful veterinarians who do extremely expensive orthopedic surgeries for our injured animals for next to nothing. So, do the research first and then approach your superiors with ideas that cost little or nothing and have positive benefits.
Response from Charlie:
It was only a few weeks after I started here that we had two beautiful dogs less than six months of age that required x-rays, and surgery, and post surgical care. At that point we started a program called Mend-A-Pet, because we didn't have a budget for this sort of thing either. It is supported 100% by contributions. The problem with the way Mend-A-Pet was set up initially was the monies went into a general account. This made it hard to seek substantial contributions or grants, because potential contributors might be concerned that the money might be used for other purposes.Contributions to municipalities are tax deductible under IRS Code (26 U.S.C.170). With this in mind our Town Board has passed a resolution setting up a separate fund named "Help the Animals Fund". This allowed us to set up a separate, interest bearing account that by law can only be used for the animals. This fund can be used for animals' medical needs, humane education, and other programs that promote animal welfare that may not be covered in our regular budget.
Helping small animal controls make a difference in rural areas
Question from Mary:
Our shelter recently doubled its intake fees to the rural towns. We believe this was the right move to make, because our shelter could no longer afford to subsidize the towns and our own community's animals were paying the price. However, we hate to leave these little towns (and, of course, their homeless animals) in a lurch. How can we help little towns improve their animal control services? We don't have enough volunteers or staff to hold their hands, but could we just give them some basic ideas and guidance to get them started, keeping in mind that these are very rural people who believe the easiest solution is a bullet. Is there a way for us to engineer a turnaround for their animal control programs - even with our limited resources?Response from Charlie:
I have seen firsthand what you are talking about when visiting relatives who live in a very rural area. In their area, people believe it's cheaper and easier to just kill the newborns than have the pet spayed. The same animal just keeps having litters because they usually don't confine or supervise them properly.Pilot programs in these types of areas have been done with some success. The way they usually operate is when a person brings in a litter of pups or kittens to the shelter, free spaying is provided for the mother. This prevents "revolving door litters". Some shelters go out of their way to promote this type of program through newspaper ads or PSAs. Also try to get local vets to offer low cost spaying for residents of these areas.
A Humane Education program should be instituted for the school children in the area. They are the future, and they can have a real influence on the mind set of their parents today.
Trying to help all these towns at the same time could lead to frustration and failure. You should start with just one of these towns. Determine which town has the best potential and will to initiate successful programs. Help them succeed, so they can become the role model for surrounding townships.
Response from Susan:
I think the way to engineer a turnaround in small towns is to approach the mayor and commissioners/councilmen and educate them about the problem and offer solutions. So, the first thing I would do would be to find some animal friendly governmental officials in those towns and educate them about the problem. Once you have educated them about the number of homeless animals in their community (based on your statistics from previous years), the number of animals having unwanted litters, the number of stray animals without identification, etc., then offer some solutions. Give them a copy of the ICMA Animal Control Management Guide for Local Governments and a copy of the book "Save Our Strays". Offer to make educational flyers about spay/neuter, the importance of ID tags, etc. for them to hand out in their town. Tell them that you are sympathetic to their situation even if you did have to raise the fees. If they decide they want to set up their own small shelter and have an animal control officer, say you'll be glad to mentor them and offer assistance.When a shelter has a high turn over rate of employees and no management
Question from Jill:
I believe the biggest problem in our shelter is staffing. The only people we seem to attract are uneducated people who can't grasp the simplest concepts, like greeting potential adopters when they walk in the door. The turnaround is high. The Executive Director hasn't been around long, but he is despised and many supervisors have either been fired or have quit. Adoptions are down, and the Board doesn't seem to care. The screening process is non-existent. When potential adopters come in the door, they are told, "Just look around and if you see something you like, let me know." I am just a volunteer. How can I put together a presentation to get management to see the severity of this problem? How do you start to turn the shelter around if you're only one person?Response from Charlie:
Unfortunately in our line of work the pay scale isn't what it should be. People who do care and could make a difference often times have to take jobs outside the animal field to make a good living. Many shelters have a high staff turnover rate. Although this is a problem it can be manageable when proper procedure and staff training are in place.It sounds like you have a real uphill climb. If you feel that the Director is unapproachable you may have to go to the Board. It's possible that the Board is unaware of how bad things have gotten. Try to find somebody on the Board that does care and share your concerns with him/her.
Any presentation you prepare should take into account why the adoptions are down. A few things to consider follow:
- What is different now compared to when adoptions were up?
- Was there an advertising budget that has been reduced?
- Has there been a reduction in staff size?
- Are there less adoption events then before?
- Have procedures pertaining to escorting or assisting potential adopters been changed or fallen by the wayside?
- Has the shelter cut back its hours to the public?
- Has the shelter cut back on its public relations efforts? Is the facility itself not maintained or as clean as it should be?
- Make sure your facts are correct before making your presentation.
Response from Susan:
Since our animal welfare efforts resulted in new management at our shelter and a dramatic turnaround, I have been contacted by people in other states who call me asking for advice. What amazes me is that some of these people eager to make changes at their local shelter are completely uneducated about even the basic information about their shelter. So the first thing I'd suggest to you, if you haven't already done so, is to get very well educated about your shelter. Ask for all of the statistics relating to adoptions, transfers to rescue, euthanasia, budget, etc. for the past few years, so you can, indeed, see statistically if the adoption rate has gone way down and what percentage of animals are being euthanized. You can get the statistics via Open Records requests if they are unwilling to give them to you otherwise. Also, ask for a copy of the adoption application and a copy of any adoption policies, so you can see if there truly is a screening policy in place.Once you are well educated, then take a look at what you think are the biggest problems and "pick your battle" because not all of them may be worth fighting. For instance, when you say that people are told, "Just look around and if you see something you like, let me know," I would say that statement sounds normal in an animal control shelter that has a tight budget. There are not enough employees to go around, and that it may be the best they can do under the circumstances. I personally wouldn't pick that as a battle to fight.
If your statistical research shows that what you suspect is true and that adoption rates have indeed gone way down and euthanasia rates have gone way up, then it sounds to me like the biggest problem in your shelter isn't staffing, it is management. Good management will ensure that good people are hired, will ensure that a screening process is put into place, will ensure that there is an emphasis to increase adoptions, etc. You say the Executive Director hasn't been around long and is despised, but you don't give me enough information to let me know if he is being despised for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons. Change is hard for most people and if your new Executive Director is trying to improve things, and people are getting fired or are leaving because they can't handle the changes, then it sounds like he is on the right path. You just need to give him more time to make the necessary changes.
So, the first thing I would recommend is that you just sit down with the ED and talk to him about things that you've observed. Let him tell you how he feels. He may agree with you on many things, and he may be working on improvements. If the new Executive Director seems to be on the right path, then just offer your help and support and give him time. If he doesn't seem to be on the right path and if the situation at the shelter is statistically declining, then I would suggest writing a very professional letter to the Board of Directors. Bring to their attention some of the major problems that you see at the shelter. I would stick to the facts and statistics, and I wouldn't personally attack anyone in the letter. I have also found that comparing statistics to another shelter that is comparable in size and in budget, but is doing a better job, is a good way to open people's eyes.
If that doesn't work, then you should try to start a grassroots effort to change things at the shelter. You will need to combine forces with a few other people. Approach the media and government officials in a very professional manner and educate them as to what the major problems are at the shelter and how to fix them. I've done it before and it can be a long arduous process, but don't give up because it can work.
Helping animal control separate sick from healthy
Question from a member:
What can be done to help animal control separate sick animals from healthy animals when space doesn't allow it. How do we prevent animals that come in healthy from ending up euthanized for minor issues like kennel cough or easily treated contagious illnesses?Response from Susan:
Again, this depends so much on the physical layout of the animal control shelter and the size of the shelter as it relates to the number of animals coming in. I envy shelters that only take in a few thousand animals and have separate intake areas, quarantine holding areas, sick bay areas and the adoption areas. We impound over 11,000 animals a year and have none of that, so this question is one to which I can definitely relate. Unfortunately, I don't have a perfect answer and can only tell you that we do the best that we can under the circumstances and that so far it has been working fairly well. If an animal comes in to our shelter that has an illness, we have our vet or vet tech look at it and begin treatment for it immediately. Then we house it separately from other animals. Animals that come down with kennel cough while at our shelter begin medical treatment as soon as we notice the cough. We hold animals with things like mange for as long as we have space, and we treat them medically for the mange or other illness while we are holding them. Cats with URI, or an eye infection, or something like that are treated for their illnesses and kept in cages away from the other cat cages.Our vet and a vet tech perform diagnostic tests on a regular basis so that, for instance, we can determine if a dog's diarrhea is being caused by a contagious illness or just a bad case of hookworms. We also try to find foster homes for animals with treatable contagious illnesses. And, of course, we have implemented strict cleaning protocols and all of our animals are given preventative vaccines as soon as they enter the door (before they are ever put into a cage) in order to try to prevent illnesses in the first place.
Response from Charlie:
Obviously separation or isolation is an important step in preventing the spread of disease. Some older facilities were built without this in mind. If you do not have an area to separate the animals you might try to do what has helped us reduce illness in our animal population.When people call to sign over their animals for adoption we ask them to go their own vet and get the pet vaccinated if they don't have proof of up to date shots. If they can't afford to do so we will then vaccinate the animal at the normal charge they pay for a sign over. After receiving its shot we have the people take their pet home for 7-10 days to give it time to be protected before exposing it to any kennel viruses. Of course many people will not want to go through this but a good many will if you explain it's for their animals welfare. Explain that it increases the animal's chances of being adopted out and not put to sleep if it gets sick.
We recently had a kennel cough outbreak, which progressed into a bad URI situation. By adding the intra nasal Bordatella to our normal vaccination regiment, we have seen significant improvement in our animals' health. Stray animals receive the same vaccines upon admittance. In addition, we have switched over to using paper plates or trays like the ones you might get french fries in at a fair. These plates are used once and disposed of, reducing the chances of ineffective sterilization and spreading disease. They also save a lot of manpower time.
Getting upper management public officials to learn about animal welfare
Question from a member:
It seems like there is starting to be a new way of thinking about animal control, and movement toward animal "care" by staff. However, I don't see upper management getting on Board, meaning Commissioners, City Officials, Police Captains, etc., who often oversee animal control. They frequently have control over budgets and management decisions, but they don't come to humane conferences or read publications. So how do we get them to move to more progressive thinking?Response from Charlie:
Having worked in the non-profit sector for twenty-six years and for the government only two years, I have had to learn to do some things differently. The one thing I have learned, though, is that government is responsive to its citizen concerns. Approach your elected officials with an effective presentation of shelter success stories, and ask why can't it be done in your town. Advise them about the potential for fundraising if budget comes up. Many municipal shelters do this to help finance new and existing programs.Point out that successful shelter stories receive good media coverage, and that is good for the animals as well as the local government. Research articles regarding the power of animal issues at the ballot box that you could bring with you. You might want to get a copy of the newsletter Humane Activist Jan./Feb. 2003 from HSUS. It has a very good article titled "Animals Prevail at Ballot Box". Another thing I have learned in my new job is that things take time when dealing with government, so be professional and patient and you will make progress.
Response from Susan:
I can only tell you that from my perspective, it is unrealistic to expect the Chief of Police or a County Commissioner of a big city to attend humane conferences or to even read publications about animal welfare issues. In a small town or in a town where animal rights issues are in the forefront, they may be more willing - but probably not in most medium to large municipalities. They are busy with what they consider much higher priority issues, like solving murders or trying to balance a city budget with a huge deficit. Occasionally, you may have a City or County Liaison to the shelter or a Contract Administrator who shows more interest and who may be willing to read some books, attend a conference and become more educated. However, even if they aren't willing to do so, shelter management can and should attend the conferences and read the publications. They should be the one to educate their governmental points of contact about more progressive thinking.Shielding volunteers from euthanasia
Question from Tad:
I am a volunteer of our local shelter. I spearheaded volunteer involvement with the shelter. We now have a dog walk program, dog mentor program and a bi-weekly newspaper ad that showcases several animals for adoption at the shelter, which is paid for by sponsors. All of these programs and the volunteers that participate have greatly improved the shelters adoption rate.When these programs were started the shelter policy was; animals on the adoption floor were generally not euthanized unless a problem developed with them. Now under new management, animals on the adoption floor are euthanized at random in spite of a 75-day window policy that says the animals on the adoption floor have 75 days to get adopted, or they will be euthanized. Just recently a house cleaning was instituted where nearly half of the animals on the adoption floor were put down.
The volunteers are very hands on with the dogs on the adoption floor and now must deal with the constant threat of a dog they just took out for a playgroup being put down. The exception to this random selection is the few dogs that are in the mentor program. The other dogs participate in organized doggie playgroups. So, in general, all the animals on the floor are handled by the volunteers, thus some form attachments.
All the volunteers are now faced with euthanasia on a very personal level. Not what they signed up for.... The volunteer programs are now at serious risk due to this turn of events. The volunteer programs were the link to community awareness and the hopes of moving our shelter into the 21st Century.
In your bio's, you speak of community relations and volunteer's. How can you build a volunteer base in an environment where the volunteers are at constant risk of their hearts being ripped out? Is it unreasonable to expect that animals on the adoption floor should not be subject to euthanasia except for illness or aggressiveness?
People want to help the animals but they do not want to deal with death. Death is a very real part of a shelter but with some care, volunteers can be shielded from it staring them in the face don't you think?
Response from Susan:
First off, I'm going to assume that you are talking about volunteering at an animal control shelter that is contractually obligated to take in an unlimited number of stray and unwanted animals. Likewise I am going to assume that you're not talking about volunteering at a private shelter that can limit what animals they take in. I think the way the two organizations should handle this type of situation is totally different.Based on that assumption, let me tell you about our situation. Our shelter is physically very small, especially compared to the number of animals we impound, and all of our animals are housed in one room that has 60 dog runs and some cat cages. There is no separate "adoption area", because there is physically no place to have a separate area. All of our non-aggressive animals are available for viewing and potential adoption. Our shelter is small and because we sometimes take in 60 animals in one day, our volunteers are continuously exposed to animals that they know may be euthanized at any time. The volunteers know this coming in.
In addition, I have personally volunteered at two other animal control shelters in my area and it was handled the same way. I knew that the dogs I played with one day might be put down the next. So it is hard for me to relate to your situation where the adoption floor animals have been selected as being protected and are kept for up to 75 days. I'm not even sure if I agree with that policy for an animal control shelter, because I know that it means that one animal may be held for over 2 ½ months awaiting adoption while other highly adoptable animals never make it to the adoption floor and are euthanized as soon as their stray waiting period is over. It doesn't seem fair to me to hold some animals for months while others, which may be just as adoptable, are only held a few days before being killed.
On the other hand, I know of a humane society that euthanized half of their animals, yet many of the volunteers thought it was a "no-kill" organization because the euthanasia decision was made before the animal was transferred to the adoption floor and because the volunteers were only allowed on the adoption floor. I guess this was easier on the volunteers, but again, I think about the other 50% of the animals that were never even given the chance of being seen for adoption.
So my answer to you is, "Yes!" I think it is unreasonable to expect that animals on the adoption floor in an animal control shelter should not be subject to euthanasia, because I think that giving other adoptable dogs a chance for adoption is morally the right thing to do. I also think it would increase the number of animals that find homes in the long run. My opinion would be different if this was a limited intake shelter. However, I also don't agree with the "cleaning house" that you mentioned. And, I would have a big problem with it if it were done without a very good reason (and I can't think of a good reason offhand).
I think the volunteers at animal control shelters need to realize that their doggie playgroups and long walks make the dogs happy while they are at the shelter and that until there is a solution to the huge number of homeless pets, euthanasia is still the harsh reality at most animal control shelters. I know that for me and many volunteers that harsh reality makes us work even harder to implement programs that will save more lives.
Response from Charlie:
Dealing with euthanasia is always difficult for everybody who really cares about animals and is involved in animal welfare. This includes staff as well as volunteers and rescue workers. At our shelter we sometimes have to hold dogs many months while there is one form or other of litigation going on. The staff, in many cases, gets involved personally and emotionally with these animals. Sometimes we then have to euthanize them at the direction of the court. Other times, we may have to put to sleep animals we like because of illness, aggression, and in rare cases, we are just overwhelmed with animals & have no room.Many shelters still euthanize more animals than they have to, because management might just find it easier to do their job with an emptier facility or just don't consider adoptions a priority. You didn't really say why they're doing this, so it's hard to give specific advice on how to try improving the situation. I know it can be hard for volunteers to try to influence changes because I'm aware of cases where they have been asked to leave for doing so.
Have you tried having the person in your group with the best rapport with the new management request a meeting, and sit down with them to discuss your concerns. Has the higher euthanasia rate caused a decrease in the number of adoptions vs. the previous year for the same period? If so, explain that this can only cause a more negative opinion about the shelter, and this will affect adoptions even more. Try to resolve the problem in house, and remember there are always two sides of the story. Some sort of compromise or agreement might be reached. Never be threatening or combative if you wish to be successful.
If no progress is made in a reasonable time and you are sure that things are heading in the wrong direction, then it may be time to speak to the elected officials who represent you. Explain to them that you are concerned about the previous progress on animal welfare issues that their shelter has made is regressing, while other shelters keep moving forward by comparison. You will have to be patient because your officials have many issues before them and things take time.
Our Town Supervisor & Town Council are very supportive of animal issues and their support has helped our shelter be successful. They highlighted the successes of the animal shelter in the last election as part of their overall successful campaign. Remember animal issues do affect public opinion and politicians own pets also.
Prioritizing needs and getting started
Question from a member:
I am on the staff at an animal control shelter. Most of the staff and volunteers would like to see improvements made for the animals that come through our shelter. Our building is old, run down, and too small. We don't have enough staff. We don't have a vet on staff. We have limited hours, a pathetic web site, no foster care program, and just give out vouchers for spay/neuter. There seems to be agreement that we need to move forward, but we're completely overwhelmed, and don't even know where to begin to start to prioritize. How did you get started in deciding what to tackle first?Response from Susan:
That's actually an easy question to answer, or at least the first part is easy! Change of this kind of magnitude has to start at the top and so you start by getting new management in place who is committed to doing what it takes to increase hours, increase the budget, to spay/neuter before release, to implement a foster program and to implement a good website. The harder thing to answer is how to get the new management in place. If you are run by your county or city, then the governmental officials are usually the ones who hire the Executive Director. They are the ones who need to be convinced that a change of management needs to take place.How you go about this is dependent on your situation and many different issues. I can tell you that in our situation, we were able to open the eyes of the County Commissioners and other officials that the current animal control management was doing a poor job and also that they were being paid more than comparable animal controls to do that poor job. The way we did it was by gathering animal control and budgetary statistics from the shelter and others in the area, by meeting with County Commissioners and other officials, and by utilizing the media to get the word out that a problem existed.
Also remember that any change, even a small one, is a first step. While you are working on the big stuff (the change in management), try to tackle some smaller things. For instance, finding a web designer who will volunteer his/her services to improve your website should be a simple and easy thing to do. Try to find other "experts" who will volunteer their services to help you develop a foster home program.
It's hard to get into the specifics of how we engineered a turnaround at our shelter and make our situation applicable to your shelter, because I'd be writing for days and because each shelter situation can be very different. I can tell you that when we engineered a turnaround at our shelter, it was just a few people who weren't involved at this particular shelter in any way who engineered that change. I can tell you that those few people complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses and that we always remained professional and calm when dealing with government officials. I can also tell you that we continuously hit MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR roadblocks along the way, but when we did we just regrouped and planned a new strategy. If we couldn't get through the mountain, we'd go over it or around it. I can also tell you that we gathered the facts and stuck to them. Since facts don't lie, we were able to convince many players that what we were saying was true. We also "picked our battles" and focused on the big issues and not the smaller ones.
So, for everyone out there who is trying to make major changes at their local shelter, please realize that if we can do it with all the odds stacked against us, you can too! In our first year of managing this shelter after engineering the change, we were able to adopt or rescue 550% more animals than the previous service provider and we were able to kill 4,000 fewer animals as well.
I've enjoyed answering your questions and to everyone out there who is trying to engineer a change, keep up the good work, and hopefully you'll be able to talk about the successes you have made at your shelter in the near future.
Response from Charlie:
Great question! I always hear people saying they don't have the resources for this or that. I believe the number one resource an organization can have is its people. Since most of your staff and volunteers are on the same page, you should be able to accomplish much.The first thing I did was stop euthanizing on a schedule or because an animal was here for a certain amount of time. This was a gamble, because if I didn't start getting them adopted we would be overcrowded and the predictions of failure by staff would have come true. This would have ruined any confidence or trust in my future judgments. In my first week here, we had a "get to know the new Director meeting". We encouraged surrounding shelter executives and area rescue groups to attend. This helped to lay the groundwork for future cooperation and also got 7 dogs adopted to some of the organizations in attendance.
Many people in our township of 470,000 people didn't even know we existed or where we were. Since we didn't have any form of advertising budget, we had to start making news to get press coverage. The first new program we set up was Mend-A-Pet, a contribution fund that pays the medical expenses for sick and injured strays. These animals are featured for free in the newspapers.
Next we had 2,000 cases of pet food contributed to start up our Meals on Wheels program. Through this program any senior citizen receiving meals on wheels will also receive free food for their pet. The Town Supervisor and a Councilwoman delivered the first cases and this received television and newspaper coverage.
We used to go out on round-ups where we would seize 20 to 30 animals and bring them into the shelter. Animals would then have to be put to sleep to make room for these dogs. The animals we seized would then be redeemed, so we put to sleep other animals for no good reason. To prevent this we changed the focus of the roundups from enforcement to education. If the owner can be identified on scene, we issue a warning and give them a copy of the leash law and license application, if needed. Children in the neighborhood are given a humane educational coloring book with a box of crayons. We create the books in house, and the crayons are contributed by Crayola. We named this program "Who Let the Dogs Out". More media attention!
We have 4 adoption events a year! They are Fat Cat Tuesday, Dog Days of Summer, Barktoberfest, as well as participating in Home for the Holidays. None of these programs really costs your organization anything, but gets you lots of media exposure.
Our facility was quite the nightmare also. You can't believe what fresh paint in cheerful colors rather than institutional grays & brown can do. A local shelter's volunteers had a community garage sale and raised enough money to convert one of the shelter garages into a beautiful Humane Education center.
Be creative with event names and don't be afraid of failure. Some things you try will be successful while others won't. Any good event grows from year to year so a humble beginning is just that, a beginning.
Good Luck!
When a shelter makes cosmetic change but nothing substantial actually changes
Question from Karen:
I am a volunteer with a local municipal shelter that came under attack last year because of allegations of poor animal care and euthanasia mistakes. The shelter has put on a big front that they are making all these positive changes, but under the surface, nothing is changing. Now we can't even try to get the public to put pressure on because of the problems, because the problems are being covered up, and the public is being told everything is fine now. How can we encourage the Board and Shelter Director to actually make changes, when they've made the "problem" of poor public perception better with nothing but cosmetic improvements?Response from Susan:
First, are you sure that nothing but cosmetic improvements have been made? For instance, if there have been problems with euthanasia mistakes, then the shelter management should have sent their employees to a euthanasia training class and all of the employees performing euthanasia should have become certified. Formal written euthanasia policies and procedures should also have been put into place. So, find out if that has been done.If nothing has been done, then I would suggest one thing you could do would be to suggest to your media contacts that they perform an Open Records request for invoices for euthanasia training classes and for the written euthanasia policies and procedures. It seems to me that if this issue has been in the media spotlight before, they would be very interested to find out if either one of those things have been done.
As far as poor animal care allegations go, again, I would first find out if the allegations are true and judge them based on the severity of the allegations. Poor animal care is a broad statement. Are animals not getting fed? Are animals suffering with untreated injuries? Or are you talking about less severe issues? I can tell you that I made a major change at an animal control shelter where I used to volunteer by making some veterinarians aware of a problem. I noticed that the larger dogs at the shelter seemed to be losing weight the longer they stayed there. When I asked one of the employees about it, she told me that the bigger dogs weren't being fed enough and that every single dog in the kennel got one scoop of dog food regardless of whether they were a 4 lb Chihuahua, a Mastiff or a 6 month old German Shepherd puppy. She also said she had brought the problem to the attention of management and that nothing had been done. I need to see things myself to believe them, so I made it a point to volunteer at the shelter for several days during feeding time, and I found what she told me to be correct. I decided that instead of my going in to talk to management about the issue, it would be better received if it were brought to their attention by a veterinarian. Then it would be coming from an "expert".
Fortunately, I was friends with a veterinarian who wrote a letter about the situation. In addition, I convinced one of the veterinarians on their animal control advisory Board to look in to the situation. Not only did he decide they weren't being fed enough; he decided the quality of their food was very poor. He was able to make sure that they switched to a higher quality food and that they animals were being fed proper amounts based on their age and size.
So take a look at the issues in the shelter and document the problems you feel still exist. Then develop action plans on how to address each issue and be sure to think "outside the box" if necessary when deciding how best to attack the problems.
Response from Charlie:
Change is difficult and takes time when trying to make improvements and get the staff to change the way they do things, but it sounds like they have had enough time to move forward. Have you discussed your concerns with the Director? They may be trying and limited by staffing problems, budget or other things. If so offer to help by recruiting more volunteers to help with animal care and other programs. Volunteers can also help coordinate fundraising events and contribution box programs. Your offer may be accepted or turned down, but at least you tried. If after this you are convinced that it cannot be resolved in house, you should go to the Board and, as stated previously, be professional and have all your facts correct. Otherwise you will be discredited and will not be able to implement any change in the future.When the Board is split on euthanasia decisions and no-kill
Question from Ann:
I have been on the Board of our humane society for three years. Our shelter takes strays and owner surrenders, but is not under contract for animal control services. We're trying to take our shelter to "the next stage", but the Board is split on the no-kill issue. Several people feel strongly that animals should be euthanized if we can't place them in homes within a couple of weeks, because they feel that it's cruel to house the animals in kennels for that long. Others of us feel that we should give every animal every chance at a home, even if it takes months (as long as we have the space to do it). We have had to euthanize a few dogs that went "kennel crazy" from being kenneled too long, but others have found great homes after a month or two in the shelter. We can't seem to get beyond this argument. Not only have we not made a policy decision about this issue, but also the ongoing discussion (rather, "argument"!) is making for very tense relations among the Board Members. How can we get beyond this, without losing half the Board?Response from Susan:
If your Board is truly deadlocked on the issue, I think you need to address the lack of progress as an issue as big as the debate itself. Your Board either needs to come to a consensus or you need to consider "losing half the Board". At that point my question to you would be - why is it so important to keep Board members who are willing to kill animals after only two weeks if they don't have to?As I stated in a previous answer, I think the way that an animal control shelter that is contractually obligated to take in an unlimited number of animals has to handle animals is different than a shelter that has the ability to limit its intake. Animal controls often have to euthanize animals based on the huge volume of animals coming in to their shelter and based on space constraints. This is especially true here in the south where there is still such an overwhelming pet overpopulation problem.
However, I personally don't see any reason why a limited intake shelter should euthanize any animal unless it is aggressive, goes "kennel crazy" or has a very serious illness. So, my answer to you is to not worry about making everyone on the Board happy and instead, make the decision based on what is the right thing to do for the animals in your care.
Response from Charlie:
Don't get hung up on the terminology of no-kill. Many shelters that call themselves this still have to euthanize dangerous animals, or sick animals that they don't have the resources to maintain, or that the animals physical condition is not expected to ever allow it to have a good quality of life. Placing a time limit on adoption can be counter productive, because animals that could be more adoptable than others would just be put to sleep because their "time" is up. YES, some dogs do not kennel as well as others and can go cage crazy. Others have no problem with this. Have staff and volunteers exercise and play with the long-termers whenever possible to help prevent this. Even this may not help some dogs and they may have to be put to sleep anyway.Keeping in mind that we want to save as many lives as we can, we should consider the adoptability of our animals rather than how long they have been in our shelters. Some animals can take months to find a home, but I truly believe there is a match out there for most of these pets. At our shelter, on my first day, I made the decision that I am the only one who authorizes an animal for euthanization. This takes some pressure off my staff and prevents my becoming complacent about finding new & creative ways to increase adoptions.
