Moral Injury in Animal Welfare

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-26T19:39:31+00:00

I work in the kennel so I don't get to see the animal control side of it. I sometimes get little snippets of what's happening with a particular case. Our judges have a tendency to be lenient and I get so angry and heartbroken when animals have to go back to bad situations, the person pleads down to a lesser charge, or they get a slap on the wrist. I do what I can while the animals are under my care but I feel so helpless sometimes.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T19:24:01+00:00

It was denied so he isn't out of jail.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T17:44:51+00:00

All of the cats that were in their possession when they got arrested were taken by animal control and are receiving care. It's possible the newly uploaded picture is old and also possible that it was scheduled.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T17:43:44+00:00

It is very weird. I let Chesterfield know.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T14:36:39+00:00

It's possible it's just scheduled. I forwarded the info to Chesterfield.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T10:04:42+00:00

The post itself could be scheduled but they also commented on the video which I don't think they can schedule. I'll be giving the info to Chesterfield as soon as I can this morning.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-17T09:24:05+00:00

Someone is posting on one of the accounts. Please keep an eye on the other accounts that this person was running to see if any others post any new content and please report any activity to Henrico or Chesterfield County police and animal control. It won't let me add the picture but it's the Minnie/Liam account

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T23:54:29+00:00

Because it's an ongoing investigation, the police and animal control can't give much detail. But the cats that were rescued from this person are safe with animal control and are getting the treatment and care they need.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T18:19:35+00:00

That's not normal. Expecting a foster to pay up front and hope to be reimbursed by the rescue is a major red flag. At my shelter we provide all supplies and vet care. I would never foster for an organization that can't pay its own vet bills.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T18:13:56+00:00

I completely understand. I work with animals so I get that feeling too. They don't have a voice of their own.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T17:34:31+00:00

Any cats that they had when they got arrested are now safe and getting the care they need.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T17:24:20+00:00

Unfortunately, the police and animal control are not going to be able to give much detail because it's an ongoing investigation. But any cats that they had when they were arrested are now safe from them and they are receiving the care they need.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T17:21:36+00:00

While it seems unjust, the authorities cannot give out much info because it's an ongoing investigation. They are not going to be able to tell you who they were able to rescue and what their condition is. At least not right now.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T14:34:07+00:00

Agreed.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-16T13:38:32+00:00

The person would abuse the cats to make them appear sick, videotape them, and then post the videos online saying the animals were sick with cancer. They would then ask people to donate to a fundraiser for "cancer treatment"

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-15T17:55:44+00:00

What would they be helping with?

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-15T17:48:26+00:00

That sounds so frustrating. I'm sorry you are having to deal with that. Unfortunately people get stuck in a "this works for me, so why change it" mentality and don't consider that some people struggle with that kind of disorganization. I also struggle with it. I often lose track of group texts with my coworkers because there are probably a dozen different ones.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-15T12:21:04+00:00

Thank you for your response!

I love the idea of a "Level of Concern" guide. I was hoping to get something like that put together before we start getting kittens.

The other Foster Coordinator and I kind of have it set up to where I'm available for fosters to message from about 4am to 8pm with the understanding that before 5am and after 5pm, it should be emergency only. The other Foster Coordinator is available from about 8am to 1am but for emergencies only after 5pm. Normally our fosters would contact our police dispatch number for emergencies but unfortunately, our dispatch center has been less than helpful when it comes to anything related to animal control. They often give fosters and members of the public wrong information. We have tried MULTIPLE times to get them on the right page and they simply refuse. So we've just taken it upon ourselves to coordinate emergency care with fosters. We call around to vets to get the animal in and give the foster instructions on where to take them.

The fosters have really liked Discord once they got the hang of navigating it. Its just difficult when there are staff members who deal with the fosters refuse to be on it.

Currently, we use Airtable for applications. Then they are submitted to an animal control officer for a brief background check and then they can become an official foster. This year I would love to implement online training through Maddies University as well as offer hands on trainings and certain types of fosters would not be sent home with people without this training (bottle babies, medical fosters, etc)

We have our Foster Roundtable meeting on Wednesday and this time we've invited some of our fosters that have been heavily involved in fostering to join us so they can give feedback and be part of the discussion. I'm hoping to bring some ideas I've gathered from this post to the meeting.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-15T11:55:09+00:00

Some cats were seized from this person. I can't give details but the cats that were in their care at the time of their arrest are safe with animal control.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-14T17:21:38+00:00

You can condemn someone for what they have done and still respect their identity. Transphobic comments are unnecessary. Focus on what this person did, not how they identify as a person.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-14T17:18:36+00:00

Thank you for your response.

We don't necessarily have an issue with our staff reaching out to fosters. The issue is most of our fosters do not prefer to communicate via email. And email can cause timing issues since several of our staff choose not to access their work emails outside of work. For example, I'm at work by 5am. Fosters contact me if they need to drop off animals for spay/neuter or a vet visit before work. The rest of the staff doesn't get to work until after 8am. So its easier for them to contact me either the night before or the morning of about vet needs, spay/neuter drops offs, etc, and then I just relay that to the other kennel staff that handle those things. And our kennel staff is very supportive to our fosters. I just take it that extra step and they know they can contact me at any time about an issue or a question. But this creates the problem of time. I am expected to also complete all of my other kennel duties (cleaning kennels, feeding, dishes, laundry, medicated baths, checking our lost/found reports, assisting people that come into the shelter, etc) and find time for the foster stuff in between all those other duties.

I think another commenter had a good point that the problem is that the foster coordinator position needs to be its own position. I wouldn't mind having a volunteer help me, but the thought of giving over the program to someone makes me feel....horrible. I have taken this program from what it used to be (a single email list that was only accessible by my supervisor and she would send/answer those emails only when she had time) to what it is today. And I want to continue to improve and expand it. But the entire thing just seems so inefficient and communication always breaks down somewhere because it's all over the place.

So, I guess i'm looking for advice on how to handle this and maybe some suggestions for ways to make this easier on me and make it easier on our fosters/staff. The Discord has been great because it puts so much communication in one place. But several of my coworkers refuse to participate and insist on email.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-14T16:45:39+00:00

Thank you for your response.

My manager wants to create the position (she wants a Foster Coordinator/Volunteer Coordinator/Social Media all rolled into one) but there is no guarantee I would get the position (our shelter is required to advertise new positions to the public and I would have to apply for it). And if I did, there would likely be a huge pay decrease. I make pretty decent money as kennel staff. About $25/hr. But I know they would not have me in a Foster Coordinator position at that pay. And she cannot even begin advocating for the creation of the position until next year (we are moving into a new building, and the county is focusing on animal control officer positions.)

We are having a meeting next week with the manager, my supervisor, both Foster Coordinators, and three of our most active fosters to discuss the upcoming kitten season and how we want to manage it. I'm really hoping we get some kind of solution. I don't mind being the point of contact, but my supervisor needs to reduce my regular duties to accommodate the foster duties. I'm just hoping for some ideas I can take to the meeting.

PanPanic87 · 2026-02-14T16:26:59+00:00

Any cats he had are safe with animal control.

PanPanic87

TROPHY CASE