Time flys when .......

More than two months since I was here, again. And like the rest of life, both good things and bad things have happened at the shelter.

We have lost another kennel position and they aren't letting me fill four others. The five new positions and the people who filled them are working out better than I could have expected. A supervisor is out ill for an extended time. We have added another location to receive dogs in our transfer program. Two steps forward, one step back.

It's so hard to live with how the economy has affected our city and therefore, our budget. We have made so many strides over the past 18 months and there is so much more I want to do. But it's hard to argue with so many people out of work and children going hungry. We must remember that our job is to take care of our animals and to keep the challenges of the shelter in your face!

I have become the kitty nursery lately as well as the favored location for our more unusual residents. I have four tiny little kittens that have the run of the office and of me! The tiny gray one is still suckling so crawls up my arm to my neck and tries to nurse. Then she gets mad when she doesn't get any milk and starts to bite me. It's a good thing she is so cute! Then there is BatCat - a little tabby with a scrawny neck and huge ears. She is very loving and crawls up my leg to sit in my lap. The other two play and play and all four fall asleep about 3pm. The two gerbils that have just arrived in my office are the best kitty tv ever.

Midnight, the front office cat, has decided that she wants to be an outside cat and takes to sneaking to the outer lobby and then outside. She will then wait by the front door demanding to be let in whenever she wants. Her hair is finally growing out after her tangle with the pest strip in the volunteer office.

Thanks for the push LM!!

It's been way too long

Yes, waaay too long since I was here. But while it's been more than two months since I blogged, it's been on my mind almost every day. I don't know how many times I've thought "I should get a photo of that to post" or " I need to tell that story". It's been Napoleon, Hershey, Toffer and Jack. It's been Georgie and now he has become even more a part of the family at home and how Midnight has become such a fixture at the office. It's been the success of the new software and new staff and the loss of other staff due to circumstances beyond my control.

I'm going to try to catch up, try to tell these stories that make up every day at the shelter and in the field. Because each animal important, and tells the big story of how our community regards its animals.

Ovens

That's what cars are - ovens. When it's 101 degrees outside they're really hot ovens. Why can't people understand that.

A few days ago we had a women come to the shelter to surrender a dog that a "friend" had left at her home. We needed an id which she didn't have so she was going to go home and get it.

A short time later we learned there was a dog in a car in the parking lot. We immediately began searching for the car owner. We located her in the play yard - it was the woman who had come to surrender the dog and she had decided before she left that she would just "look" at the puppies.

She had left the dog in her car - at 1:30 in the afternoon - in full sun - with no water - for half an hour!

It was 101 outside that afternoon. The animal was in great distress. When we got him out of the car he was confused and barely able to walk. We carried him into the clinic and AK took his temp - just over 108! Normal is around 102. AK immediately began cooling him down, but not too quickly. Ice packs and cool water brought his temp down. We'll just have to see if there is any brain damage or other side effects.

The woman didn't seem to understand when I told her how quickly a car heats up. The conditions had probably taken the temperature in her car up to 120 degrees. She just didn't get it and was unconcerned, stating the dog was used to being left in the vehicle. I took the animal from her. And now I'm discussing bringing felony cruelty charges against her.

A week ago a woman in another town left her dog in the car while she went out boating. The dog died. Why don't people get the message??

http://www.mydogiscool.com/

Help - a Fox!

The phone rings in dispatch and it's another fox call. A citizen is reporting a fox in the neighborhood. I wish we could say SO, AND YOUR POINT IS?

Why is the appearance of a fox in a neighborhood so alarming? I love have foxes in my neighborhood, they appear in the early morning or the late evening. It's usually just a glimpse and they're gone. We tell them that foxes are not considered a dangerous animal and they should welcome their presence. In other words, we are not coming to get the fox. The one pictured here is a bit unusual. Appearing in daylight and obviously at home in the 'hood.

Chameleons and X-rays

It's been a great week at the shelter - one we've looked forward to for over a year.
We are halfway through our week-long training on our new software. This is going to be such a huge step for our facility - one that will not only improve our efficiency but give me instant access to so much information we don't have now. So many statistics that will help us make better decisions (average length of stay) and be more proactive in the city (reason for owner surrenders). We will escape from the little things (KF - is that a 1 or a 7 or a 9?) as well as the huge things (how did this dog check himself into the shelter in kennel 236A?). Now to get the ENTIRE staff excited about this change!! (Change is good, Change is good, Change is good - you shall be assimilated)

And we took our first x-rays yesterday!! As we continue to move from control to welfare, it becomes more important to improve our diagnostic capabilities. Having the ability to diagnose orthopedic and other problems without having to move the animal to a vet in town we've begged for an x-ray is HUGE! It is also an important tool in our cruelty investigations, giving us more information and ammunition for court cases.

It's a used analog machine that actually uses film that has to be developed but it still takes beautiful pictures. Dr. P and AK x-rayed two dogs with were limping when they came in this week. We found that both have a rear leg that is dislocated from the pelvis. Both of these are serious problems but they can be resolved and we can give a potential adopter much better information. No more guessing. It also allows us to look at options other than immediate euthanasia.

The rest of the week should be fun - just click on the little yellow dog icon!

Last on the agenda

After spending 1 1/2 hours waiting to make a four minute report as the last one on a very long agenda this morning I spent some time with the animals in my office. This is Midnight II, sitting on timecards while I attempt to do payroll. While the same color as Midnight who was with me earlier this year, II is a long hair version. She has the run of the office and whenever she can will head across the hall to JW's office.

Here are the kittens with a curious Hershey. They are very curious whenever he sticks his nose up there to find out what's going on. The kittens spilled a full bowl of water at the end of the day so I let them have the run of the office while I cleaned up the spill, fed them and changed out the litter box. It was hilarious - all four were running all over my desk, darting around the floor. Hershey was totally confused, not knowing what to do. Midnight watched the chaos from my desk, above it all as an adult cat should be.

And this is Waldo who is already in his new home in Colorado. His personality just as sweet as his face. Knowing he is happy warms my heart and makes me smile. We were able to send two animals home with their family today. One had been with us for ten days for rabies observation after biting a meter reader. He was just defending his property and his owner was so excited to get him home. The other was a dog that came to us after the death of his owner. Luckily the owner's family wanted the little pug and came today to get him. I always worry most about the cats and dogs that come to us from loving homes - I worry that the stress of the shelter environment on top of the sudden loss of their person/people must be absolutely crushing.

A group of my friends on FB have been taking the Do animals go to heaven? quiz. The answer of course is YES!!

Blogger slacker

It's been three and half weeks and now I'm being called a blogger slacker on FB! My only excuse is the usual - it's been so busy, both with the good and the bad.

I'm truly worried about what the budget cuts are going to mean to animals in town. Not being called out for Priority One calls is going to have consequences I don't think many people have contemplated. The entire City budget has been slammed, I'm glad I don't have to make the choices our Mayor has to make - what do you do when the money just isn't there? Meanwhile
animals in the field won't be getting the care they need. I'm not worried about those already in our care, once they are in the building we can do what's necessary, but what about our citizens, our animals and their needs? A dilemma I can't see the answer to.

We're climbing kitten mountain these days - that time of year when the graph of kitten intakes climbs fast and furious. So many litters are being brought to us by the public. Kittens under the porch, in the barn, in a box on the side of the road. Some with Mom, most without. Some too young to make it without bottle feeding, others just big enough to make it on their own. Mostly they come in as strays which means we have to hold them for three days in case someone comes in to claim them. But let's be real, you don't "lose" an entire litter of kittens. So many and not enough homes to adopt them all.

Fiona was back in the office last week for the last of her heartworm treatments and she looked great. She came right to my door and practically wagged her tail off when she saw me. She looked wonderful and her family loves her. She'll always be special to me.

We continue sending dogs to Colorado for adoption. We've sent another plane load up as well as another van full. Another volunteer with a SUV was headed up there for another reason and offered to take a few dogs with her. We sent four and all were adopted within hours. A favorite, Waldo, went on the trip - he was a 3 month old black lab with hound ears and the most laid back young lab I've ever seen. He would sleep on a quilt under my desk for hours at a time, was happy to just lay in my lap and would tolerate any other animal in the office - amazing.

The office is getting so full! I have another, yes another, chocolate lab. He came to me with the name Hershey and is a mostly choc lab with some cattle dog mixed in. He has faint white markings on his face and of merled choc and white stockings. He's housebroken and very sweet. Another cat named Midnight, a black (duh) long haired domestic, is living happily with the run of the office. That's because of had four kittens living in the big cage. They were very tiny when they came to me and I've had them about three weeks now. They greet me every morning with a chorus of meows and entertain me no end. As I've said before the cat world is a new one to me and I love to sit back just watch them. They aren't named but I have two black ones and two grey ones with white stockings.

So along with the chattering parakeets, the meowing kittens, Midnight sitting on whatever I'm working on and Hershey demanding a pat on the head, it's a wonder I get any work done at all. And tomorrow is the 16th, that means payroll.

One of my officers who's been out for more than two months is back today, YEAH! Dr. P will back from vacation soon, YEAH! We start training with the new software next week, YEAH!
See, it's not all bad, it's not all bad, it's not all bad. (Just repeat after me!!!)

Points of light

Even with the difficulties of money and staff, small points of light keep shining through.

• We're sending another 12 dogs to Denver tomorrow morning.
  
• After ten days out sick, AK is back and we're glad to have her.
• After three months missing, a ferret was reunited with his owner by LM. She checks Craig's List almost every morning to see if she can match up any of our animals and get them back home.
• The new software is installed and we are just waiting on training. It only took a year!
  
• I got to see several women graduate from a dog grooming program in which the shelter participates. They have overcome challenges in their lives and are ready to start new chapters. It was very moving and there were many hugs and some tears.
  
• JW and his wife have a new baby girl.
• And for the past few days space has not been a deciding factor in the hard decisions.

But the best light of all is that Georgie is officially mine. After deluding myself into believing that I was only fostering him while he received heartworm treatment, I paid the $$ and his status was changed to "adopted" in the computer. Dr. P said they knew all along that he was mine. Everyone else just said "finally!".

Which one is the beanie baby?

Take a quick glance at this photo - can you tell which one is real?

The beanie baby lion on the right is the favorite toy of Frank, a two week old Boston Terrier puppy that came into the shelter a few days ago. He came in with an owner surrender dachshund Mom and her puppies. It was so obviously not a member of Mom's litter!

LM has taken on Frank's care. She brings him in every morning and takes him home every night. Frank has a special spot in the clinic and he loves sleeping with his lion.

Another case of taking our work home.

Home in purple

Fiona went home today. Her new people brought a beautiful new purple collar and leash and she looked wonderful. I'm going to miss her.

Fiona's people arrive

It is a day to celebrate - Fiona has been adopted! I dropped her at the office to be spayed this morning and start her heartworm treatment. I was at a seminar all day and when I got back to the office late this afternoon she was being visited by her new family. She had been pouting all afternoon but seemed happy to see me. I brought her home tonight to rest and recover from surgery and we'll see how she is doing tomorrow. I know a new family is the best thing for her but I'm going to miss her alot. Adopting her and then leaving her home with my two all day is not what she needs. I'm also seeing some stress in my two labs. They are not used to having to share!

A welcome break from the office today, attending a day-long seminar on social networking. Trying to determine the best ways to use Twitter, Facebook and all the other social media opportunities can be mindboggling.

Some hard weeks

Budget cuts, staff changes, and difficult animal decisions have conspired to make the last two weeks very difficult.

We found out last week that Fiona is heartworm positive. Her last puppy was adopted last Saturday and so SH brought her to me at the end of the day. I just couldn't stand the thought of her alone in my office over the rest of the weekend without her babies. So I had four chocolate labs at my house - on a very wet, rainy weekend. Fiona and Georgie played and played and played. In fact it was hard to keep Georgie as quiet as he needs to be during heartworm treatment. So I've been taking her back to the office during the day so that he's not too stressed.

With the heartworm diagnosis comes the tough decision. Treat or not - spend high dollars on one animal or a few dollars on several animals. I've already committed to treating Georgie, a young male, and fostering him until he is cured and ready for adoption. Fiona is an older, female lab who has had many litters. Her chances of adoption at the shelter are fairly slim and the local breed rescue has as many heartworm positive animals as they can handle. Can we dedicate the space to hold her for an extended length of time when we are getting more than twenty animals every day, healthy puppies and young adults who are very cute and not sick?

Yesterday the veterinary staff and I made the decision that we should euthanize Fiona. I asked only that we wait till the end of the day and that I hold her while she was euthanized. I had a series of difficult personnel meetings to get through first. I took Fiona to the clinic late yesterday and sat on the floor to talk with her and hold her. Living with her for six weeks and watching her care for her puppies had created a close bond. For the first time I had tears running down my face while at the office. It felt like we had just used her until she had done her job nursing the pups and was now expendable. I looked at Dr. P and she looked at me. AK, LM and JS were there ... and we couldn't do it. We had gotten too close - she had become a fixture in the building and a favorite of the staff. Several of them had taken turns walking her several times each day.

So I took Fiona home last night. She walked out the front door and ran for my car. She trotted in front of me this morning on our way in and she is now sitting at my feet along with Georgie and my own two chocolate labs. There are more hard decisions to come - some will be as difficult to face as yesterday's. All I can hope for is the instinct and the courage to make the right ones.

His tail is always wagging

We see such horrible things and such beautiful things, sometimes at the same time. When you look at this face the first thing you see are those beautiful eyes. Behind that gaze is a wonderful soul, he's so happy to see people and his tail is always wagging. We've named him Trip.

Trip has had a difficult few days. We don't know the whole story and probably never will. Sometime this weekend his left front leg was badly injured. His people tried to take care of him but they just couldn't afford vet care so they brought him to us. He was taken to the clinic immediately. His injury was quit severe and so Dr. K, AK and LM decided to amputate his leg. They reassured me he was young and would adapt to three legs quickly.

This photo of Trip was taken late this afternoon. He had just been taken outside by NC to make his first run. He was alert and happy to have his ears scratched. When you take a second look at the photo you can see the sutures at his left shoulder. A beautiful face, a horrible situation. He will continue to heal, and he will get lots of love in the process - from the clinic staff, the kennel staff and by me.

And his tail continues wagging.

Georgie

Each of us has a breed of animal that has a special place in our heart. It might be the type we grew up with, that a friend has or that we have always just liked the look of. No matter where it came from, it is part of us and we bring it with us to our work. For me it's chocolate labs - I have two. They have privileges the dogs in my parent's home never had - full access to the house, sleeping on my bed, trips to the creek to swim. They are both from rescue and I love them dearly.

This is Georgie, a three year old male chocolate lab. He was brought in stray and was terrified in the shelter. I was walking through the kennels when our vet tech was trying to take him to the clinic. He wouldn't walk, cowered and wouldn't take a single step. I fell in love. It turns out he is also heartworm positive. So I took him home.

Georgie is now happily playing, eating and sleeping at my home. He has conquered his fear of ceiling fans, stairs and traveling in car over the past week. He loves rolling in the grass and following my two everywhere. When they bark, he barks. When they sleep, he sleeps. He is a totally different animal out of the shelter. I took him back last Tuesday to be neutered and to start his heartworm treatment. Now a month of keeping him fairly quiet while the medicine kills those nasty worms. Will he become a permanent resident?? I don't know yet.

I'm taking work home again.

Shiner

Shiner is a 12 year old female Vizla who has been missing from the mid-town area since March 24. I had received a phone call and several e-mails with photos of her, there was a whole community looking for her. Her owner had been by the shelter to see if we had her with no success and with her advanced age had given up thinking they would find her.

I returned this afternoon from a meeting downtown, parked in back of the shelter and walked through the kennels to get to my office. I passed by a run that had a beautiful dog that reminded me of the missing Vizla. Dr. P walked by and I asked her if the animal had been correctly identified as a greyhound as I knew about a missing Vizla. She said it was indeed a greyhound but that there was a young Vizla in the shelter. She then mentioned another dog, one that I had talked to on my out of the building earlier. We went back to her kennel and found an older female with a white face who was scared to death. She backed away from both of us and didn't respond to the name but I was sure it was Shiner.

I went back up to the front office but the lost poster was not on the bulletin board anymore. I remembered that I still had the phone number of the person who first told me about Shiner but all I got was a message machine. He had given me the address from which the Vizla had gone missing so I used an internet reverse directory to get a name - which of course had an unlisted number. Going to a regular phone book gave me a business address and phone number. I talked with an assistant who confirmed that the owner had indeed been missing their dog for more than three weeks. She agreed to call the home and give them my phone number. Two minutes later my phone rang and I was talking with the woman who had been at the shelter. She said she would be at the shelter in 15 minutes. I had Shiner brought up front where I fed her blueberry goodies and calmed her down. Just after 5pm this evening there was a tearful, happy reunion of Shiner and her people. It was a good Monday.

The clinic cat

Here is Fiona with her only chocolate baby, check out the blue eyes. The pups are all over the office these days and they are so funny. Since I got both of my labs when they were about 2 years old I missed the whole puppy phase. The chocolate puppy has been wonderfully fun to watch over the past three weeks. I love to listen to them growl as they play with each other and last Friday the black female walked over and tried out her new teeth on my foot!

This is Wilbur, the clinic cat. Dr. P and the girls thought they could keep him a secret but it quickly became apparent that he was going to be around for a while. He is not phased by the craziness of the clinic and the many animals that are there for a short time.

Philosophy

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a volunteer about the animals we are sending west in our transfer program. Tuesday night more than 40 dogs and puppies went to Denver. As our shelter is at capacity right now this was a big help in opening up space in the kennels. Some of those animals had been in foster homes including one litter of 10 and one litter of 5. The next morning the volunteer was disappointed that there weren't more empty kennels since so many of the puppies had been in foster. She felt that somehow the fostered puppies had bumped animals that were in the shelter from making the trip.

I tried to explain that the ones that had gone to foster homes would stay healthy until the trip - that by going into foster we had simply opened the kennels up as we went along rather than all at once. By sending those 44 animals to new homes in another state, our shelter will be able to hold other animals for a longer period of time giving them a better chance at adoption. She didn't agree and seemed to think the shelter had somehow made a "change in philosophy".

After she left I thought about it - and had to agree. I've been here one year now and I would hope we've changed our philosophy. Save the lives of these animals by every means we can possibly think of. Make everyone a part of the solution to our problem - too many unwanted pets. I'm sure it's the right thing to do.

Cats and Me?

A certain member of my staff is gloating over my new found affection for cats. She laughs when she walks by my office and I have one hand on my keyboard and the other rubbing the head of the latest feline living in my office. She's been trying to convert me since I started at the shelter and while she hasn't succeeded in getting me to leave my dogs behind, she has introduced a new appreciation for these creatures. Thanks Donna!

Leona, who became fond of sleeping the day away in a file box under my desk, went home last week. On the right is my new kitty, Midnight. She is very loving and is happy to curl up on my desk for the day. She is not afraid of Fiona or the puppies but will head into her cage and the cat box inside if knew people walk into the room.

We had another parakeet come in today, and a very chatty one at that. We placed his cage right next to Leo and I think both will be happier for it. I now have two birds, one cat, one dog and five puppies living in my office. It makes for a great welcome as I walk in each morning.

Leona

Leona went home today. And even with Leo, Fiona and the puppies in the office it seemed empty. I have been opening her cage every morning and giving her the run of the office. A few days ago she took the top off a box under my desk and made herself comfortable in the files. She would come out to have a drink, get her head rubbed and go back to sleep in her box. I'm going to miss her.

The puppies have grown HUGE and are now getting out of the pool. They can see well enough to follow me across the room which is so cute and a little disconcerting. Fiona continues to take great care of them. Taking her out for a walk every few hours is doing a great job of getting me out of the office for some fresh air. We've had three more Mom dogs with puppies come in over the past 24 hours - some giveaways and some stray (though I think the strays were really giveaways too).

Sunday evening

On Sunday night most of the world is ready to start a new work week. Monday is a new beginning. But for us it's different. Ours is a 24/7/365 industry and while I'm not at the shelter every day, someone is there. Our animals still need food and water. Their kennels still need to be cleaned. It doesn't matter if it's a holiday or the weekend, if there is bad weather or clear blue sky. Our care goes on. New animals have come in and we'll be preparing other animals to go out. It really is a continuum that we jump into and out of on a regular schedule.

I get to jump in again in the morning.

Leo, Leona and Fiona

A bad sign, I've begun naming the animals in my office. Little Bit was okay because he came in to us with that name. But everyone else I'm sharing my office with right now has a name I have given them. Leo is the parakeet and since he's going to stay it's okay that I've named him. Whenever he talks and chatters at me it takes me back to my childhood when we had Charlie, a parakeet with very similar coloring. Leona is the torti cat with beautiful green eyes. I've become very fond of her and could see bringing her home if she doesn't get adopted. I've named the choc lab mom Fiona. Chocolabmom sounds too much like "Octo Mom" so I had to come up with something else. And it sounds absurd to call her Baby when she is sitting in her kiddie pool nursing five babies of her own.

It's also easier when I have people walk by my door and ask "what's her name?" Does giving our animals names get them adopted sooner? I don't know for sure but suspect that it does.

Chocolate Mom

This pretty chocolate lab was found this afternoon in the cold, pouring rain huddled over her five 10 day old puppies. When she was brought in she was quickly dried off and checked out by the clinic. Believe or not the puppies were mostly dry. Rather than place her and the pups in the general population (we so need an isolation ward!) they have taken up residence in my office. She's a good mom. A kiddie pool lined with a blanket is perfect, keeping the puppies warm and contained while allowing Mom to lie with them and nurse or move around the office. It's now been raining for hours and were are due to have snow by morning - I am so glad she and her family are with us.

But I know there are many other dogs and cats out there in this weather. Animals with owners who keep them outside with no shelter and no water - and drinking out of puddles of rain water in the yard doesn't count. It breaks my heart and makes me hug my own chocolate babies even harder.

Desk Dog

Yesterday I had animals in and out of my office all day. It was my fifth day with Little Bit, a black and white Chihuahua who came in last Friday after his person passed away. He is five years old and very much a lap dog. He became my desk dog when after placing him in a blanket on my desk, he was very happy to sit there and watch the world go by my office door. Each morning I came in he was happy to see me, and wanted up on the desk. Yesterday he was adopted right before lunch. A family with two children fell in love with him and were thrilled to be able to take him home right then. Little Bit landed on his feet.

I asked Dr. P who needed to come in with me next and she told me of a black lab/pit mix on the back row that could use some exposure. The young dog was very energetic but soon calmed down and was a pleasure to have in the office. We played ball and greeted everyone who walked by. A few hours later as I pet her, she had a seizure. Her stance changed completely, she began crying and snapped at me. It lasted about 90 seconds. We immediately got her to the clinic but they couldn't find anything physically wrong. She didn't return to her previous engaging behavior and wasn't making eye contact at all. It was very disturbing to see such a sweet, friendly animal change so swiftly. We had to euthanize her. Dr. P said it may have been the first sign of distemper. I'm glad it happened with me rather than with an adopting family and that she had fun, love and companionship before hand.

Then toward the end of the day I had a beautiful german shepherd and a black chow/newfie mix puppy with me. They got along beautifully and it was a good way to end the day.

A Flight to Denver

Ten puppies and dogs went to Denver today, first class. Thank you to E. and K. who took their time and their plane to take our babies to their new homes. We met them at the airport early this morning and loaded the dogs in the plane, figuring out which carriers and cages would fit best and give the both the animals and the humans the space they would need. It took less than four hours to get there and we followed their progress on the Flightaware website. The dogs were up on the website by mid-afternoon and here we are late evening and Harley and Hootie have already been adopted. If only they would get adopted that fast here!

All of them

I want to take all of them home. It was one of those days I want to take them all home. Get a house on 20 acres outside of the city with a big barn for the cats and rooms of good food, cool water and soft beds for the dogs. A blue pit with a beautiful big head was brought in badly injured. I don't know what happened but both front legs were so badly damaged that all we could do was to end his suffering. He had beautiful eyes and his tail wagged when I talked to him in spite of the pain he was in. I stayed with him as he fell asleep from the anesthetic - I just couldn't leave him all alone. I don't do that very often but today it was important for me to be with him.

Ethical Quagmires

What are we going to do with my sweet young pittie? He's been with me on and off since he was brought in as a result of a cruelty complaint and we have worked very hard to make him healthy and to socialize him. He went home with an eager adopter but the resident dog would have nothing to do with him and he was back in a week. This weekend he snapped at a volunteer and now we just don't know if we can adopt him out again. It's not his fault. He will need someone who can spend some time working with him. What are we going to do?

It comes down to the same question at the foundation of so many ethical quagmires - how do you allocate precious limited resources? Do you spend $100 to save one animal with issues or to save ten animals without? The same is found in human healthcare, education, even economic stimulus packages!

Every day we ask, what are we going to do?

Sleep

Sleep is a great healer. I was able to really get a handle on the job again on Friday. It felt like everyone was back on the same page - or maybe I just felt they were more on MY page. More good things happened including the sweet girl dog in my office going home.

I'm ready for the week to begin.

Tipping the scales - bad wins

No, not the stock market (though that is depressing enough), I just feel like I was beaten with a really big bat. Yesterday I was so pumped and ready to look at ways to put the new cat assessment program in place, yet somehow today I was as low as I've been so far.

We are so understaffed - when even one person is unable to work, it puts tremendous pressure on everyone else. The work is never done and most days that's okay. I accept that we will come in tomorrow and essentially do the same thing we did yesterday. But today I wasn't accepting. How do we keep our compassion in our work every day? It's not okay to forget why we are here. It's not okay to blame the system or others for not getting the job done. And I have to keep saying, it's not just a job, it's not just a job.

Good things did happen today. A cruelty case is proceeding to trial. We've completed the next step of the master plan. Animals did go to new homes. All the puppies in the transfer program were adopted and in new homes within 72 hours.

It just wasn't enough to tip the scales for me, today.

Feline-ality

Feline-ality, the cat equivalent of personality, is a fascinating concept. As someone who grew up with dogs and currently has dogs, cats have always been a mystery to me. I love watching them, enjoy playing with them and do respect them, I just don't know alot about them.

After two days of intense training in cat assesment, part of the ASPCA Meet Your Match training, I finally feel like I can make a difference in their lives. Our facility can make a difference. We just have to be committed to doing it.

It's the #s, not the $s

On my way out of the shelter tonight, I looked at the register receipt and realized that the total dollar amount of the days revenue was not telling me anything important. I wanted to know how many animals were adopted today? How many lost dogs and cats went home with their owners? How many strays were picked up off the streets and are going to have food, water and a warm, safe place to sleep tonight?

In almost all my previous work, it's been about the dollars. Did this event net enough $? Are there enough members to meet budget $? How many $ should we ask for in this grant proposal? Meeting fundraising, earned revenue and expense projections was important.

Now I'm not looking at the revenue side. I have to monitor the expense side but my ultimate measure of success is how many animals did we save today?

I really like that ruler.

I am covered in white dog hair and smell of goat

Thank goodness the 18 goats and 4 sheep were reclaimed by their owner tonite. Of course it was at 5:45pm. I helped to load the animals and once we got them all in his trailer, he wanted to pull the nursing kids to take them in his truck. He just started handing them out the trailer and we grabbed them. Like almost every very young animal, the little goat was adorable.

My newest office companion is a loving 1 year old male white german shepherd mix. I don't think he'll be with me for very long.

We need a barn!!

The day started off great - we are in the middle of developing a master plan for the renovation/expansion of our facility. We reviewed every facet of our operation, how it's working (or not working) now and what we would like it to be. One element we lack is holding for livestock. We talked about how many horses, cows, sheep, goats and pigs we handle in a year, how many at one time and what we do with them. We finished at 2:30pm. In a "be careful what you say" moment, we got a call to get a cow out of the middle of a road AND a call to pick up 20 stray sheep and goats. Where's a barn when you need it!!! Luckily the cow had made its way back home but the sheep and goats are currently being held in temporary quarters at the shelter. We'll decide what to do with them tomorrow. We were called about three dogs at a home that was burning this morning. The resident was not home so we took the dogs to the shelter and made them as comfortable as possible. Luckily they had rabies tags so we were able to call the veterinarian and get the name and cell number of the owner. Our vet tech called and the owner answered. "This is *** and we have your dogs safe at the shelter," she said. "Why do you have my dogs?" said the owner. A few more questions made it obvious that the owner had no idea his home had just burned down! At least he found out his animals were safe and then that his house was gone rather than finding out about the fire and wondering if his animals were okay. But a rough day for our staff person!

Youthinize

We got a complaint today submitted through an on-line form. It was full of misinformation (as usual) and misspellings. One we get all the time is spray and nuder but I must admit that youthinize is a first.

I was leaving the shelter last night just after sunset and as I rounded the curve before going under the bridge I almost hit something in the middle of the road. I stopped and saw two deer had run across the road (no crossing the road jokes!). They watched me for a moment and then ran back across the road and into the pipe yard next door. Another deer was waiting for them and all three moved back to the tree line along the creek. It made me smile.

Equal Time

I now have an equal opportunity office. The addition of a cat cage right in front of the window has brought a black cat with beautiful green eyes to spend the days with me. He has been here way too long and this is a way to feature him and give him more space.

Mondays

Mondays are so quiet - it's the day when all the staff are in but we're not open to the public. It's a chance to do some deep down cleaning and move through the shelter without bumping into people. I walked the halls for an hour this morning trying to figure out why it looked different - the hallway runners had been taken outside to be washed. Too bad we can't just leave the floors bare - to much of a slipping hazard.

The clinic is busy though. They have two days worth of adoptions, Friday and Saturday, to get ready for pick-up. I see lots of animals go out the front door with their new families on Mondays. Two young, beautiful, healthy pit mixes went home with two young men. I couldn't help but walk out of my office to tell them to take good care of these two babies, feed them, love them and no fighting.

Sometimes we just take a deep breath and believe in the basic goodness of people. Sometimes we're disappointed but we're rewarded with a good outcome for the people and the animals often enough to keep trying. That's what we must do, keep trying.

THE Dog Show

Feeling ambivalent tonight about the Westminster Dog Show. It's such a celebration of the pure bred dog and yet one of it's biggest sponsors, Pedigree, has great commercials highlighting the wonderful animals to be found in shelters across the country. You just can't judge personality, loyalty, and sheer devotion, all characteristics found in our animals in abundance.

Off to Denver

We sent 22 dogs to Denver last night. It was very exciting and so amazing to be loading healthy animals into a vehicle to go some- where they are so valued instead of unloading a vehicle with animals from a hoarder or puppy mill. We are so lucky to have a volunteer who was eager to take this on. It was hard to send the blue dobie but I know he will go to someone who will love him and take good care of him.

I've had a new baby in the office this week. Another young white pit bull, this one impounded from a too small wire cage in a back yard. No shelter, no food, no water and sitting in his own waste. He is timid, underweight, startles at every sound and is walking on his ankles. When he is on the bed in my office he lies on his back and wriggles. He can't get enough of stretching out and having someone scratch him behind the ears.

Newspaper article about the transfer program.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090204_11_A1_Amanda617304

Bowl Cam

That camera underneath the clear-bottomed water bowl in the Puppy Bowl is so amazing. I love watching the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet since I couldn't care less about the Super one.

They get the puppies from shelters and give them great toys to play with but they end up playing and wrestling with each other much more. It was a great line-up this year and it's good to know they have all been adopted. Maybe it will move more people to come to our place.

All in all, a good week

It's been a busy week with several doggie visitors to the office, all of whom were adopted today! This 6 month old pit/boxer mix has been with me all week, a very calm presence eager to see me every morning. It was such a pleasure to see her go home with her new family.

This baby is a blue merle pomeranian, a chunky pomeranian at 16 lbs. I thought he was a raccoon when they first brought him to me. He slept at my feet most of the time. He charmed many people who walked by the office but he caught the eye of a woman this afternoon. He'll go home tomorrow.

And this beautiful standard poodle is also going home tomorrow. He came to us stray and so scared last weekend . He was less scared after a a few days and though still shy, he has such a winsome face that an adopter fell in love with him. It turned out that the adopter is a friend, and I was thrilled Myra would be taking him home.

Even with the ice and snow this week, we had alot of serious adopters and we were able to reunite quite a few owners with their animals, including the goat!

And I got the 09-10 budget turned in. And the electricians came to talk about power for the x-ray machine. And we got some new surgical lights donated, I just have to get them installed and even that may go faster than I could have hoped.

They will lie to you - the people I mean

When someone surrenders an animal to us, we try to collect as much info about the animal as possible - name, age, personality, and whether he/she is sterilized. We had a beautiful white adult female Great Pyrenees surrendered to us a while ago. This owner said she was spayed and she was quickly adopted. Today we had her back - to be spayed!! She had gone into heat. Luckily the new owner was very understanding and simply brought her back to us this morning for surgery. They were so glad to see each other when he picked her up this afternoon.

People lie to us all the time. An animal at large was "let out by a neighbor". A lost animal wasn't outside without a leash, it was "stolen" by people unknown. The surrendered animal isn't "my animal", it's a stray found on the side of the road. I know it's not healthy to be such a cynic but it's hard to be sympathetic when what we really care about it the health and happiness of the animal. It's hard dealing with people who don't have the same level of compassion for these creatures that we do - people who see them as property or as accessories.

But we do it, every day. It makes the happy endings even more precious.

Snow days

Three days of ice and snow have made it kind of slow so far this week. It's unsafe to keep the trucks on the streets, no one is at city hall and and we've had only a few visitors. It also makes for more work for the staff who are able to make it in. Animals poop and need to eat no matter what the weather is. Hopefully we'll be back at full strength tomorrow.

Yeah the clinic staff have their new scrubs!! I've only been working on getting them since last September. It gets so frustrating dealing with the city processes.

The new bank of cages for the clinic is finally in place. Matt and I put them together last Saturday and moved the old bank into Doc's office. This will give them 10 cages for surgery and 6 for isolation. Earlier today I stopped into Doc's office to ask her some questions and could barely hear for all the barking. We need about 4 more isolation areas - something that will certainly be part of our master planning process for a new/renovated facility.

Other good news - a Vizla that was lost two weeks ago was brought to the shelter this past weekend and, thanks to an e-mail we got about her, was returned to the owner. The little one in the photo below was adopted. The dobie is still with us.

New Officemates

Yeah! the carpet's up which has made cleaning up after these two new officemates much easier. The vet brought these two to me. Both need some socializing and are doing well playing with each other. The shepherd mix was a little too aggressive in her play so the dobie mix gently put her in her place.

I must finish painting my office.

Baby

I left work with a lighter heart Friday - both puppies I had in the office went to new homes. The baby rottweiler mix that had been with me since Tuesday was seen by a Mom with two young teenagers who immediately fell in love with him. But Mom said that Dad would never approve. The next morning when we opened the doors the entire family was there and Dad fell in love too. A great family for my baby boy. But what about the 6 week old white female pit mix that came in Wed? The two puppies had been playing and sleeping together for three days, how would she do alone? Could we find a foster for the weekend?

We didn't need to find a foster. My white baby girl pit was adopted by a young couple and late in the day Friday, she went home.

I'm often asked the name of the animal I have visiting in my office. To me they are all Baby. A defense against becoming too attached? Maybe. But the dogs and cats in our care are all my babies.

I went into the office on Saturday to pull up the carpet. I've had a request in for 8 months to have it done but after a week of puppies I decided to do it myself. Luckily it was carpet tiles and it came up easily. Next is to remove the adhesive and stain the concrete. Some things I can get done myself!!!

Owner Took To Jail

That's what the commitment card read - Owner took to jail. He was homeless and had been booked on a minor complaint. His dog, a baby boy rottweiler mix, was signed over to us. He cried continuously in the clinic so they brought him to me. This baby is a total lap dog! He'll run around a little, drink a little water and then want back in my lap. He loves to sleep with his head on my keyboard (right on my B and N) with his paws on the wrist rest. Adorable! He should get adopted quickly.

How many of us have seen homeless people with animals. They love their dog or cat, often feeding them before themselves. They are their travelling companions and their family.

Fate is real

I had talked to the man and his daughter several times over the past week as they walked through the kennels. Last night I thought they were going to take the young collie/shepherd/chow mix male I've had in my office this week but he needed to talk to his wife. I've so enjoyed having this dog with me the past few days and he's charmed everyone whose walked by - I just didn't understand why he hadn't gone home with someone.

Tonight at about 30 minutes to close a woman walked by my office. She looked in and said "here he is! come here honey". Around the corner came the man I had been talking to. They had each visited the shelter at different times and had fallen in love with the same dog! There were a few others they wanted to look at together but ultimately my baby went to his new home with his new family tonight.

It means more

Animal welfare means more than providing food, water and shelter. Sometimes it means ending suffering.

A woman showed up at the front door yesterday evening, one minute after we closed. I saw that she had an animal wrapped in a blanket in her arms. We opened the door and she said she had found this cat outside her home, she didn't know anything about animals so decided to bring it to us. The cat didn't look right to me, her jaw was hanging open and she wasn't holding up her head. I thanked the woman for bringing her in and we took the cat back to Dr. P. who was still in the clinic. Upon opening the blanket on the exam table it was immediately apparent that something traumatic had happened. The hips bones were all wrong and it looked like she had a huge abscess inside her back leg that had burst open. She was extremely thin. And looking into her eyes I saw only pain. We ended her suffering. But she was lovingly held, spoken to softly, and stroked as she fell asleep. She was cared for. Isn't that what we all want?

Nine months

Nine months on the job now. I've learned so much, enough to know there is much more to experience. I didn't think it was possible but I've come to love my own animals even more. I think they've gotten used to me coming home smelling of "other" creatures but they love me just the same. Somehow they help me process all the baggage I come home with. (I know - never end a sentence with a preposition - so bite me!)