I've been seeing quite a few anons claiming they work, had worked, volunteer, or had volunteered at shelters and rescues before. I was just curious how many other shelter employees/vollys are out there. Where are my niggers at? What general location is your shelter in, and is it dying down any more now that winter is coming?
Also stories, compliments, complaints, questions. General shelter thread.
I post a lot about working in a shelter. west coast/usa. place I'm at now is a dual location "no-kill" shelter, but used to be at a very high kill shelter and briefly at an emergency animal hospital. ask whatever you want
>is it dying down any more now that winter is coming?
well, instead of leaving their dogs on the street they try abandoning them at our front gate or tie them to the bike rack. that's the only big difference. but since we got security cameras and can easily charge anyone with abandonment if they do that it's gotten a bit better. it's after Christmas when we get the big puppy-rush
I used to volunteer at a humane society shelter but they were very fussy and judgmental and while I respect that they may have seen plenty to make them that way, it was not the scene for me. Now I foster cats for different local shelter that's a little more I don't know... Optimistic? Happy? Passionate? It's a better place to be despite actually pulling animals from worse kill shelters.
This is smudge in socialization with a very nice dog who isn't bothering her in the least lol. The dog, an elderly Westie frequently used for socializing kittens with dogs is actually asleep when I took this. Smudge had a wound that wasn't healing well so that's why she's been fostered so long. She's getting better.
I work at a shelter in NY. The building had been around since the 19th century and was originally an orphanage, so you can imagine how awful that is.
>>1997264
Is it really no-kill, or is it a 'we kill only the sick and aggressive animals'? Do you rake in any decent amount from abandonment?
>>1997274
Were they judgmental towards you or potential adopters? It's pretty shitty if they were judgmental to a volly and a foster - fosters are a huge help.
>>1997415
only very sick and aggressive, why I put quotes around "no-kill". no one here really likes calling ourselves that but our director knows it makes our policy easier to understand for the public. but the cutoff for when an animal is too sick is pretty extreme, we typically only would euthanize a dog that we absolutely know would die soon anyway if we didn't. for dogs with at least 4 months left to live we sometimes to "hospice adoptions". but that being said, our adoption rate is in the 95% / 97% every year. considering we take in ALL animals aside from feral cats and do transfer ins from other shelters, that's pretty good.
>money from abandonment cases
wouldn't know, our board of directors deal with that. but we're nonproft so it's not like I'm getting a raise
>>1997427
At the place I work at, it unfortunately depends on the day/week if we are going to put a lot of effort into care. Things like double torn ACLs we put down for if we can't find a foster, because history has shown that animals do not recover from that in a shelter environment. Any kind of cancer that can't be surgically removed, any sort of organ failure, that stuff. We treat heartworms, lyme disease, we amputate if needed and fix broken bones. I have not seen a single dog die of kennel cough, even when they were really sickly. However, behavior issues are a hit and miss. Some dogs are adopted out with dog aggression with nothing more than a waiver, other dogs are euthanized for it. Sometimes a dog nips someone and gets away with it, sometimes they are put down for it. However we are trying a new method for fixing food aggression (another reason dogs had to be put down) which, so far, is an utter failure.
Cats are usually put down for medical reasons; when we are getting full, we only treat cats with URI if they are already altered. And a lot of cats get URI when at the shelter. Also, cats that are treated can just take a nose dive because of how finicky they are. Any cat with a bite history is put down, unless the bite was very silly.
Of course, this shelter covers 3 counties in NY, which means all strays, all court orders from animal abusers, all surrenders that we deem adoptable, anything ACO picks up, and we have to take animals abandoned. The shelter also does transfers from down south, but the transfers are just a cash cow to be honest.
>>1997415
They were judgmental about EVERYTHING. They were judgmental about volunteers, always sniffing about how they had just come to play with the animals. Which is a good thing for the animals even if it were as simple as that. They didn't trust fosterers and would even put animals down sometimes rather than send them with fosterers because they thought it was too much for them to handle even if they were willing to give the animals a chance. Above all they were extremely and almost cruelly judgmental to the people surrendering pets. Now I know that that almost seems natural but it bothered me the worst. It's not good that these people are giving up their animals but they're doing it the good honorable and right way! They're making appointments, bringing vet records. They're crying as they say goodbye. When the other half of the animals coming in are half-dead from being pulled off the street by animal control when people just carelessly kicked them outside, people who surrender their healthy, fat and shiny pets should be respected and sympathized with. They certainly shouldn't be guilted or spoken of like they're monsters.
I am going to start at a parrot shelter next week.
Except for bringing some ear plugs what advice do you have for me?
I've never worked with animals before, I assume it will be horribly depressing.
>>1997602
First off, make sure you won't need any kinds of licensing or registration needed for you to keep so many birds, and certain species of birds. You'd probably have to contact your city hall for that information. Next make sure you have the proper housing; good ventilation while still staying at room temperature (it will get stinky). You may need several rooms to house the birds in, if some birds get very anxious around other birds. You'll need proper area to let the birds have some out-of-cage time, and you'll need to make sure that the sick birds can be quarantined if necessary.
Obviously you will need proper cages and materials for enrichment, adequate food, the ability to provide medical care if needed, and time to care for the birds. Once you get going for a bit, you should really consider applying to be a 501(c)3 organization, which makes you seem more professional and legitimate, and exempts you from certain taxes. You may want to work with other local shelters and rescues, give them the information of your parrot rescue, so if people go to a shelter surrendering a parrot and the shelter can't take it, they can refer them to you. Something else you may want is a Do Not Adopt list; some shelters will be willing to give you a list of people deemed dangerous to adopt to. If someone comes in wanting to adopt, and is on a Do Not Adopt list, I'd suggest before turning them away, to ask whoever you got the DNA list from to explain why they are on the list. It could be something as silly as being rude, or severe as animal abuse.
You will see some sad shit. I hope you know a lot about birds and are patient, because you may have to deal with medical and behavioral issues with a lot of them. Make sure you know your limitations; put people on a wait list if you have too many birds, and send people away if they have a problem bird you can not fix. Figure out what you want your adoption process and fees to be now, before you adopt a bird out.
>>1997626
I think you misread my comment, I'm starting to work with a preexisting parrot rescue.
I have, I like to think, a decent level of bird knowledge and have been handling parrots for years and look forward to being able to learn more.
>>1997653
I didn't read the 'at' and everything got fucked.
Prepare to become cynical, then. If they don't offer you any, you will want to invest in disposable latex gloves. Maybe even a face mask/respirator depending on what kind of cleaner you use, though considering you're working with birds I can't imagine it will be too harsh. Until you know the animals, keep contact minimal; even if they look friendly, they can get spooked or may not like something you do, and freak out.
Have you been to the parrot rescue before?
>>1997672
Never have been to one before, have watched a few videos about them to prep myself.
I should bring some gloves since o prefer XL sized gloves and Noone ever stocks them, thanks for the tip.
>>1997602
Watch out, some of them will try to tear your fingers off.
>tfw have database to all the people not allowed to adopt or have animals in the area
>tfw read the stories attached explaining why
>tfw so much abuse, neglect, arrogance and general sub-human behavior
Take me off this ride
>>1997878
I'm genuinely curios how bad you have to fuck up to get on those lists.
any especially heinous one you can tll me about?
I volunteer at an organization that owns a chain of 5 no-kill shelters in southern-mid Minnesota. They do fantastic work, honestly, and I'm proud to be associated with them. They really do everything reasonably within their power to give animals a second (third, fourth..) chance before resorting to euthanasia. I believe our euth rate is down to ~8%, and some of those are from the euthanasia services we offer to the public.
Everyone there is so genuine and passionate about who they are and what they do. I expected to meet more jaded characters, especially on the vet staff - but no, they love and believe in what they do. It's great there. There are always sad cases and stupid people but the positive ones outweigh it, I think.
>>1997440
>However, behavior issues are a hit and miss. Sometimes a dog nips someone and gets away with it, sometimes they are put down for it
ours is the same way. it's been a big butting of heads between kennel staff and our administration lately because they give way more wiggle room for stuff like that to more "adoptable" dogs. we have a dog in who has bitten two volunteers, two staff members, and a pervious adopter (one was severe) and they keep giving her chances because she's a purebred blue heeler and "highly adoptable" because of it. if a pit mix pulled the same shit, they would've been euthanized by now. shes a great dog and it's not that I WANT her to be, I just wish they gave all the dogs the same standard of judgement. and don't even get me started on the Alaskan Malamute fiasco. coworker needed reconstructive surgery on his hand
>we are trying a new method for fixing food aggression (another reason dogs had to be put down)
may I ask what that is? we don't euthanize dogs for resource guarding unless they also have other serious issues to coincide with it, but I'm curious
>all strays, all court orders from animal abusers, all surrenders that we deem adoptable, anything ACO picks up, and we have to take animals abandoned. The shelter also does transfers from down south
ours is the same way, but one location is for owner surrenders, transfer-ins, and safekeep dogs. the location I'm at does stray/ACO, PDDs, and abuse/neglect cases. not to mention DOAs. but since the other location is kind of up their asses they send dogs too us all the time that they should have because of stupid reasons like "oh he looked at me weird" and we have much more experience with aggressive dogs. but gets very irritating very quickly. and when we get highly adoptable dogs in they leave them with us (where they're supposed to be) to deal with all of the medical and legal procedures, then take them up to their shelter as soon as we would make them available. extremely annoying
>>1997978
not anon you replied to, but at ours we can put anyone on the list for any reason as long as two staff members sign off on it. ours is usually
>previous animal abuse/neglect/abandonment situations
>joking about getting a dog for unsavory reasons (you'd be surprised how many idiots come into the kennel and talk about getting a dog to fight)
>known foreign exchange student
>as threatened one of us in some way
>general batshit crazy behavior
I volunteer at paws atlanta, shits pretty baller. My cat just passed away so I'm about to head there before work to drop off some toys
So I did my first day of volunteering at a parrot rescue today.
Not nearly as depressing as I thought it would be, except for 1 macaw and 1 cockatoo there was no plucking and all the birds seemed content.
Holy fuck are cockatoos loud, its louder than the rifle range for fucks sake. Who would want that in their home.
I was thinking of volunteering to an animal shelter
>>2000280
Birds are far less likely to come up as animal abuse cases. So most often you'll get escaped/sick or just surrendered. Nothing major.
Did the cockatoo's hiss at you? They're angry bastards.
>>2000344
no hissing, one took a chunk out of my finger
>>1997489
Funnily enough, that sounds exactly like the kind of nazi's that populate this board
