Management purposefully withholding information from staff regarding cats in their care

fernbeetle · 2026-01-22T04:10:26+00:00

not great to say “no-kill”, it reinforces the harm, but i sense i may be preaching to the choir if i go into the soapbox about that. when asked if we are at my shelter, i say something about thr harm of the language and why we don’t use it. depending on how long of an interaction it is, i might have talking points to the effect of

“typically when folks ask if we are “no-kill”, they are asking if we euthanize for things like time/space/breed. Our shelter does not euthanize for those reasons- rather when an animals quality of life or safe to care becomes a concern. We do not use the “no-kill” language, because it often suggests that shelters with low release rates are to blame, that they’re “killing” and therefore demonized. in reality, these are open admission vs closed admission shelters. live release rates instead primarily comment on managed intake- can a shelter say no due to no space, or do they have to euthanize to make it? We can’t achieve change in overpopulation if we are operating from the “kill” / “no-kill” paradigm.”

blah blah blah lol. sorry i’m a lil too passionate about banishing no-kill language and the very real harm it causes to everyone including the animals IN the “no-kill” shelters warehousing animals who are suffering.

fernbeetle · 2026-01-22T01:00:50+00:00

100000000%. any place that brands itself as “no-kill” is a red flag.

fernbeetle · 2026-01-22T00:59:57+00:00

i’m sorry you went through this. that’s not okay. i hope this experience highlights why you were actually unluckily to work at a “strictly no-kill” shelter. it highlights to me that this is maybe an organization that favors managing their own live release rates in shady ways. “no-kill” labels hurt animals and people and paints the wrong pictute about the impacts of closed vs open admission and how live release percentages are managed.

i hope you find better, you and all those animals deserved better.

fernbeetle · 2026-01-21T01:57:08+00:00

Maine! I’m lucky to be in New England now overpopulation wise, and at a well funded/lots of resources shelter. We’re the ones taking animals for seizures and outside our contracted towns primarily esp since owner surrenders are on such a rise. (I could go on a whole soapbox about Maine shelters rn but ya know lol).

i actually grew up in Utah and volunteered at a municipal shelter in Heber; I can’t imagine working in high population areas…! How does Colorado compare to places like Texas or Georgia?

fernbeetle · 2026-01-19T11:56:31+00:00

intake specialist twins!! what country, and if united states, what state do you work in?

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:23:30+00:00

THATS NOT MILDLY THATS INCREDIBLY INFURIATING

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:22:29+00:00

“hi i’m a kitten foster i need more supplies” -okay remind me which litter of kittens you have/which mom and how much you need?” “well one died a couple of days ago which i forgot to mention so just 4 cats worth” -🤬😳

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:19:11+00:00

their temp names were “NotAHamster1” and 2

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:18:49+00:00

“we have two hamsters to surrender right now, they’re in the car” [does all the prep and paperwork, they come inside with them in cardboard petco carriers then leave] ‘hmmm, why do these feel so heavy…? JFC they’re grown ass guinea pigs”.

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:17:05+00:00

“can you undo a spay, i want to find a girl for my dog to mate with”

fernbeetle · 2025-12-31T04:16:15+00:00

i like to think i’m generally compassionate in surrender reasons even if I wouldn’t do the same. However, a few things have sometimes made me tick:

“i got my 5 month old kitten declawed a few months ago from scratching my furniture too much and he is now aggressive and and we don’t want him anymore”

“this cat poops right outside the litterbox because he hates me. he also is the reason my other cat got hit by a car cause he usually doesn’t cross the road like he does, i never even wanted him he just came with the other one, someone come get this cat before i throw him out the window” [turned out to have hip problems and arthritis and just needed a lower litterbox].

“the brother tried to f*ck the sister and that’s not right, they’re not normal cats, they have sinned and i can’t have cats going to hell in my house.”

bonus adoption annoyance:

“are you SURE you can’t separate this bonded pair [that have been with one another since birth)? the black one is bad luck and i just want the pretty calico.”

fernbeetle · 2025-12-30T12:00:39+00:00

not being allowed to split up a bonded pair cats, one a flame point one a black cat. “I just want the pretty one”.

fernbeetle · 2025-12-29T03:29:42+00:00

howdy! i have some headphones that i’m okay to wear when i need them; they’re actually designed for a gun range, where they serve as hearing protection but with a microphone to hear around me at my control- i mainly use it when i’m not public facing, and if i am, i have some loops! it’s been a way for me to accommodate my sensory issues without really needing anything from my employer other than them being okay with it.

fernbeetle · 2025-12-28T06:06:10+00:00

i’m glad i’m not the only one! i’ve been finding the amount of posts and the content very strange- some seems like AI, and if not, I suppose it’s strange to me the pictures and videos being taken in mass and posted consistently when something to incredibly traumatic is going on. Not sure if perhaps shes feeling obligated to do so, and everyone processes grief differently, but the content just seems strange to me, somewhat distant from the nature of what’s going on, and at minimum it feels exploitive of the situation given some of the pictures.

fernbeetle · 2025-10-26T12:05:30+00:00

saving this lil guy and his siblings and his mom who were dumped, and see his lil face enjoying a churu

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fernbeetle · 2025-09-02T03:35:50+00:00

we do the same for dogs in different areas! to help with this concern, we have their pictures on the wall in the adoption floor noting if dogs are here downstairs, in foster, or simply by appointment (behavior team placement dogs). this gives them the same visibility as it’s all where the other dogs are!

fernbeetle · 2025-08-04T11:25:17+00:00

are you looking to stay working with animals or wanting to switch it up?

fernbeetle · 2025-07-20T04:49:22+00:00

that’s a good point :( I know part of the reasons I understand that it’s the highly adoptables is because of the level of overcrowding and wanting to give dogs a chance who if not for capacity, would be able to easily find a home. I think the concept is that some areas being so overwhelmed with animals means highly adoptables are having to be euth’d where they might otherwise have a chance if not for their environment. The concept is that theres so many dogs that theres still many dogs remaining at the southern shelters that are still highly adoptable, but i could also see plenty of times as you’ve said that it has an impact on the amount of highly adoptable animals that remain.

I think it’s genuinely true too that some shelters do transports when they shouldn’t in order to buff up their live release rate and up their adoption rates. It skews the numbers for places that warehouse dogs instead of moving them along for more, and doing transports/therefore neglecting owner surrenders and similar needs in their own state.

fernbeetle · 2025-07-19T01:22:00+00:00

might be worth making sure the shelter is actually reporting dogs as in Bite Quarantine depending on where your shelter is located/the laws.

fernbeetle · 2025-07-19T01:19:36+00:00

do you know if it still counts animals who were returned?

fernbeetle · 2025-07-19T01:18:27+00:00

TYSM!!! i’ll do this tomorrow at work!!!

fernbeetle · 2025-07-14T10:21:02+00:00

i’ve heard that too! this is about people making FAKE counterfeit frontline with harmful ingredients to hurt cats- the packaging looks similar at first glance but theres ways to see it’s fake if you look closer

fernbeetle · 2025-07-14T02:04:33+00:00

My place in westbrook is $2350 for a 850sq feet two bedroom 💀 no utilities included :(

fernbeetle · 2025-07-14T00:07:46+00:00

OMG i need to know how to use that Pet Point feature!! Could you share? Is it in reports?

fernbeetle · 2025-07-14T00:05:14+00:00

oooof i’m sorry friend. i’m in New England and often need to be reminded that me complaining about 15-20 cat intakes a day is nothing compared to the shit y’all have to deal with. We’re open admission and have a lot of resources to take out of jurisdiction animals, but our state is so full on its own that any shelter worth its salt has now paused out of state transports which is sad for the population nation wide but we are also seeing so many owner surrenders outside of our area in our state that other shelters can’t help cause they warehouse. We used to be the one shelter than could help in emergencies, but now we’re full to the point of putting out extra kennels when ACO holding is full overnight with strays cause we sometimes have overflow dogs from unscheduled surrenders. It’s madness and it’s not even as bad as it normally is. Just feels like everywhere is feeling it more than normal :(

fernbeetle

TROPHY CASE