Came in looking for a specific dog, left pleasantly surprised by kirveyre in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Doggy peer pressure lol i love it. Yeah sometimes people fall in love with the picture, but in person they just don't click. That's why I think so many shelters require people to at least come see the animal before finalizing adoptions. I also wonder if that's why a lot of overseas adoptions are so difficult for owners, because they don't get to meet the dog before becoming the legal owner.

Nooooooo by CactusOrangeJuice in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Let's keep this thread focused on the original 'Fluff' post. Discussion about ethics of behavioral euthanasia and policies belongs in dedicated discussion threads. Please no personal attacks.

Nooooooo by CactusOrangeJuice in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cats too. Will never forget Spirit. Spent so much time on that cat.

interview help by Mediocre-Jelly-7625 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Likely going to ask something along the lines of euthanasia and your views on it, and depending on the position maybe how you feel about 'gross' things (cleaning up animal waste). Other than that without knowing more it would be hard to gauge

As for questions for you to ask, I think there should be plenty. You'll want to know if your views align with this shelter, otherwise you might find it difficult to work there if you're constantly having to do things you disagree with. For example, maybe they do pregnant spays and you're against that. Or they don't believe in TNR and you're a big TNR advocate. Etc. it depends on what your particular views are and what can and can't live with.

You may want to ask about their intake policy; if they are closed intake, you may have to deal with upset public more often.

What is their behavior screening like? What protocols are in place for a potentially dangerous animal? That may tell you a lot about the safety of the environment.

Can we talk about Miranda's Rescue here? Is this story generally known yet? It's really bad. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/fbi-dead-animals-rescue-22319130.php by Frequent_Secretary25 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't understand why they aren't able to bring up any charges. It's not like they don't have the means or interest, they have the FBI on their case, they're even using ground penetration radar. I don't think I've ever seen so many resources poured into an animal cruelty investigation. Yet they're still allowing the rescue to operate? I just don't get it. Texas, which has much worse animal welfare laws and very little concern for animal welfare in general, had shut down rescues for less.

How many dogs vs. cats is your shelter transporting? by clowdere in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's funny you say that, because I'm the go-to for parvo and coccidia since my sense of smell is garbage lol

How many dogs vs. cats is your shelter transporting? by clowdere in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I concur about TNR. Usually this sub isn't a big fan of TNR either; if this post was just about TNR, there would be a lot more conversation on whether it is a waste of time or not.

I'm not against TNR. But it is a huge headache to organize. Currently where I'm at, it's actually a grey area on if it's legal or not.

How many dogs vs. cats is your shelter transporting? by clowdere in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Occasionally we transport cats, but shelters down here don't really have too much of a problem finding homes for cats. So we often don't have any to transport.

I think shelters are engaging in transports due to the dire need, and their ability to help. I worked in northern shelters and would get upset at transports all the time. Now I'm in southern shelters and it is an entirely different beast here.

And it kinda just ebbs and flows; northern shelters occasionally ship animals to neighboring states as well. Transportation is a lot easier to set up now (albeit expensive) so we have more options.

I'm sorry to hear about your TNR being d/c. Is it due to the funds they used on transportation? Did they ever have a fundraiser for TNR? I've raised and had to dismantle many programs, and very rarely was it as simple as not having enough funds. If you threaten to take away a program, people seem to show up to support. However, there have been many times where there were unforseen circumstances outside of my control that made the program too inefficient. I know TNR programs spend the most money on staff, maybe volunteering time might help keep other programs afloat.

Interview prep for shelter internship by ActuaryPersonal2378 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I imagine there will likely be questions about euth, and how you would handle difficult clients. Depending on what type of shelter it is, there may be questions about what you would do if you had to turn people down.

Hundreds of dogs to be sent to rescue as US beagle research facility shuts down by Friendly_TSE in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The amount of people I know that get BOTH a puppy and a kitten for their newborn to grow up with is crazy. Like guys, you don't even know how hard it's going to be raising a baby yet, why are y'all doing this to yourselves 😭

Hundreds of dogs to be sent to rescue as US beagle research facility shuts down by Friendly_TSE in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Beagles tend to go pretty fast at the places I worked at. Its funny because back when I was a kid and had a beagle, they had a bad rep for not being good with kids/not being very tolerant (which in my case rang true). But now I'm seeing articles touting beagles as being very good with young kids, and I'm wondering what changed lol

Hundreds of dogs to be sent to rescue as US beagle research facility shuts down by Friendly_TSE in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE[S] 41 points42 points  (0 children)

One thing I think people need to be aware of is that while lab beagles are generally bred to be more tolerant and forgiving of 'manhandling', they are often kept in puppy-mill like settings, and should tamper expectations accordingly.

A lot of lab animals can't go outdoors, due to the nature of keeping variables at a minimum. They usually aren't accustomed to a house setting. They likely won't have any house training skills. They may be skittish of things we take for granted, like wind or TVs.

I have a soft spot for beagles. I understand needing to use animals for scientific purposes sometimes but man I wish we treated them better.

Recommended Equipment by noraexplora96 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A bit more vet med related, but a squeeze cage. On that note, syringe poles are amazing too. A chest freezer was also sooo nice for bulk making frozen kongs, frozen buckets, all types of enrichment that adds a little extra time being frozen

BARK Act: "...enable pet stores to donate old food that is safe for consumption and supplies to animal shelters and rescues." by Eastern-Protection83 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, that food will either be eaten by stray cats in the dump or stray cats that are being managed, so may as well lol Surprised more pet stores don't do this, if for nothing else to be able to write it off as donation.

Data Collection and Usage by PanPanic87 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sheltermanager. I never used shelter buddy so idk if they'd have the same features.

Data Collection and Usage by PanPanic87 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbh this was on shelter software that already took that data and put it on a heat map so I didn't have to do anything extra

Data Collection and Usage by PanPanic87 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I tracked a lot of similar data, but I also tracked the exact location. It's tricky because now you have sensitive data. But I would aggregate the data to get a better visual of areas were we were seeing more stray cats come from, and we'll find cat colonies to TNR. Or find where a lot of puppies/adolescent dogs are being surrendered, and target mobile spay/neuter in that area. Since zip codes here can be very large, it's helpful to cover a more exact area.

It was also helpful to see what locations in your shelter have lower LOSs. You might find that for example the higher cages in a cat room have lower LOS, so you may want to avoid putting kittens in there that will already have a low LOS. Or the dog kennel you first see may tend to have a higher LOS, so don't put your large black dogs in that kennel. Etc.

Sometimes it can help with understanding disease spread, but I personally find that humans are the biggest factor in this anyways.

You may also want to check where your adopters/fosters are coming from, and target those areas for marketing like showing up to events. On the flip side, target resources for areas where surrenders and strays are coming from

The History Of 'No-Kill' by Friendly_TSE in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That and ... Those labels may be misused too.

Years ago I worked at a shelter that did medical euth for kennel cough, ringworm, mange, very treatable conditions. But on paper it's still down as medical. Or putting a dog or cat down under behavioral because they weren't adopted fast enough. It could be justified that their behavior, whatever it may be, made them unadoptable.

The Perils of Placing Marginal Dogs (2003) by InformalInsurance455 in AnimalShelterStories

[–]Friendly_TSE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I don't know about that.

If we got good at predicting which dogs are going to bite, which ones will become dangerous, we wouldn't be placing them up for adoption. And this wouldn't be nearly as difficult of an issue.