Not All Animal Shelters Are Created Equal
I've always loved animals. I've always thought animals were better than people in some ways. Animals will let you know exactly what they think of you. They understand things that people have forgotten. Humans seem to be ashamed that we are animals. Indeed many people seem to think we are better than other animals, they're incapable of admitting to themselves that we are animals too.
So late 2009, I believe it was, I landed a job that for me was a dream job. I'm a KY boy, it's always been horses for me, not the U.K. Wildcats or the Louisville Cardinals. No, I was more interested in becoming a veterinarian when I was younger. So the part I love about being in KY is horses! We're the horse state after all! So I landed a job at Lexington Humane Society.
I loved that job! It was like finding a new family to be a part of. All the employees either got along really well together or at the very least we didn't engage in gossip if someone wasn't well liked, they were still a member of the team and as long as they got their job done no one cared if they were not exactly of the exact same mindset of every other employee.
I felt like I was extremely well trained, and training didn't end. Lexington Humane Society is constantly looking to raise their bar. They're always looking for ways to better serve the animals and people out in the community think very highly of their Shelter because the hard work pays off.
We learned that customer service is highly important because they're the ones giving these animals homes, they are just as important as the animals. I don't even feel like they were looked at as "customers" no I think we looked at them more as potential families for the animals we cared so much for.
I spent just over a year working for them, and it was probably one of the better years of my life. I had one disagreement with another employee but it was handled very well by the Human Resources dept. And that employee and I eventually mended ways and have put the incident behind us.
Everyone at Lexington Humane Society and Lexington-Fayette Animal Care & Control, works extremely hard. I never heard much bickering about someone not pulling their weight like you hear at most work places. I did get asked at one point why my working speed wasn't always top notch, why I seemed to be slow some days and speedy Gonzales the next. My answer, Depression, but I promise I'm doing my best and on days when I'm being really slow about stuff. Those are the days where it was difficult to even pull myself out of bed, but I love the animals and I'm doing my best. My supervisor was very understanding. I am on hormone treatments and at the time I'm not sure my levels were staying stable either. When I explained all of this it went over really well. I was open about having depression and I think the good majority of the other employees understood.
The organization had monthly meetings and we were all concerned with the numbers. How many adoptions? Did we do better than last month? Did we have to euthanize fewer animals this year than we did last year? Those numbers were our least favorite because that's the worst part of the job. It's the part that gets shelters the most flak. Please understand, there is no shelter worker who wants to see an animal euthanized.
After working for them, I was under the assumption that this would be how all shelters were run. With dedication and compassion, perseverance and comradery. When the time came for me to move to TN. I only agreed to move back to the Knoxville area if I could work with the animals. That was my compromise with my wife because she was homesick, but I was really attached to my job. Like I said, it was like finding a new family. I mean, my supervisor telling me that I was "really likable" meant worlds to me. I grew up in an area where I was taught to be ashamed of myself.
So we move to Knoxville, TN. I get a job first at Tiger Haven, in Kingston, TN, but quickly left them.(That's fodder for another entry altogether). I quickly went to work for Young-Williams Animal Center. This is where I learned that not all animal shelters are created equal. This is where I learned that who you hire is of the utmost importance when running a shelter.
I can't really say much about Young-Williams other than, please go get those poor babies out of their care. They don't know what they're doing, and they wouldn't listen to me or any of the other people that were trying to help them to do better.
At the time I was working there they were using oil absorbent for cat litter. Like the stuff you throw down in an auto shop to clean up oil spills. The stuff cautions on its packaging that it can cause respiratory problems, not to inhale the dust, wear a mask while using it. And these individuals are using it for cat litter then wondering why the cats are sneezing and having breathing difficulties at times. It's just a way for them to euthanize cats claiming that they're sick, when really they are the cause because they won't use something that is safer for the cats like, I don't know horse pellet bedding that costs about the same per pound as the damn absorbent they're using.
What time I was there it seemed their focus was on kissing the asses of their employees trying to get them to stay by putting the budget into the employees rather than the animals. Anyone who's worked at a good shelter and for the right reasons knows you'll take a pay cut if it means the animals get proper vet care instead of the euthanasia needle. But they thought paying people more would boost morale... No hiring people who don't bitch and moan all the time is how you have good morale. There were way too many Debbie downers there. I've literally only kept in contact with two people that I worked with there. There was one person, I kept telling them, she needed to go. She was always pissy and acting out in front of the public, but they wouldn't take a stand against her. They wouldn't even write her up for conduct.
There was no leadership. When I got hired on they had a good director, and my supervisors were great! The director was listening to me and we were going to be making changes, but something happened and they demoted the director, first to a supervisor, then to straight floor staff with me. WTF? was all I could think about that. Then one of the 3 good supervisors I had left to go work for a much better company.
The director they put in place of the old one already had it out for me. She had been a supervisor in the back of the building and we'd already had words and I knew she was not a good person at all. I've since become convinced that the woman is a sociopath. Her only goal seems to be "I'm always right and I'm in charge". She doesn't care about the animals, she just cares about being right and in charge. So she didn't want to hear any suggestions from people, she didn't like me because I wouldn't shut up. The animals were more important than my job.
When the place opened, they didn't even have a standard operating procedure in place. To my knowledge they still don't. They don't care about cross contaminating between animals or proper cleaning procedure. Everyone has their own way of doing things and that just doesn't fly when you want everyone working well together and on the same page.
When I first started working there, it seemed like they were going to make a turnaround and become a great organization like the one I came from and I was excited to see that happen. Then the director change and the CEO change. It became clear to me that the organization is about making money not the animals when they hired a CEO who's qualifications included being a hospital administrator. The previous CEO had a veterinary degree.
They are really all about image, branding and making money. That would be okay if the end objective was the animals, but I don't believe it was. There was more talk about pay and benefits than there was about the animals. I tried, believe me, I tried, I worked there for over a year and I tried so hard to think highly of everyone there but they kept behaving in ways that just didn't sit well. It was just not a good situation.
So, in closing. Please know that not all animal shelters are equal. In my next blog, I think I'll give you all some pointers about what to look for to know if your local shelter is a good shelter or a shitty shelter. Sometimes the most run-down shelters are actually the best shelters, and it's rare to find a place like Lexington Humane Society where they have a great image because they have great morals and hard workers and community support. Young-Williams doesn't have community support because they suck, and they have a beautiful building because they were founded by lawyers who had money and prized the beauty of their building and the pay rate of their employees over the health and happiness of their animals.
So late 2009, I believe it was, I landed a job that for me was a dream job. I'm a KY boy, it's always been horses for me, not the U.K. Wildcats or the Louisville Cardinals. No, I was more interested in becoming a veterinarian when I was younger. So the part I love about being in KY is horses! We're the horse state after all! So I landed a job at Lexington Humane Society.
I loved that job! It was like finding a new family to be a part of. All the employees either got along really well together or at the very least we didn't engage in gossip if someone wasn't well liked, they were still a member of the team and as long as they got their job done no one cared if they were not exactly of the exact same mindset of every other employee.
I felt like I was extremely well trained, and training didn't end. Lexington Humane Society is constantly looking to raise their bar. They're always looking for ways to better serve the animals and people out in the community think very highly of their Shelter because the hard work pays off.
We learned that customer service is highly important because they're the ones giving these animals homes, they are just as important as the animals. I don't even feel like they were looked at as "customers" no I think we looked at them more as potential families for the animals we cared so much for.
I spent just over a year working for them, and it was probably one of the better years of my life. I had one disagreement with another employee but it was handled very well by the Human Resources dept. And that employee and I eventually mended ways and have put the incident behind us.
Everyone at Lexington Humane Society and Lexington-Fayette Animal Care & Control, works extremely hard. I never heard much bickering about someone not pulling their weight like you hear at most work places. I did get asked at one point why my working speed wasn't always top notch, why I seemed to be slow some days and speedy Gonzales the next. My answer, Depression, but I promise I'm doing my best and on days when I'm being really slow about stuff. Those are the days where it was difficult to even pull myself out of bed, but I love the animals and I'm doing my best. My supervisor was very understanding. I am on hormone treatments and at the time I'm not sure my levels were staying stable either. When I explained all of this it went over really well. I was open about having depression and I think the good majority of the other employees understood.
The organization had monthly meetings and we were all concerned with the numbers. How many adoptions? Did we do better than last month? Did we have to euthanize fewer animals this year than we did last year? Those numbers were our least favorite because that's the worst part of the job. It's the part that gets shelters the most flak. Please understand, there is no shelter worker who wants to see an animal euthanized.
After working for them, I was under the assumption that this would be how all shelters were run. With dedication and compassion, perseverance and comradery. When the time came for me to move to TN. I only agreed to move back to the Knoxville area if I could work with the animals. That was my compromise with my wife because she was homesick, but I was really attached to my job. Like I said, it was like finding a new family. I mean, my supervisor telling me that I was "really likable" meant worlds to me. I grew up in an area where I was taught to be ashamed of myself.
So we move to Knoxville, TN. I get a job first at Tiger Haven, in Kingston, TN, but quickly left them.(That's fodder for another entry altogether). I quickly went to work for Young-Williams Animal Center. This is where I learned that not all animal shelters are created equal. This is where I learned that who you hire is of the utmost importance when running a shelter.
I can't really say much about Young-Williams other than, please go get those poor babies out of their care. They don't know what they're doing, and they wouldn't listen to me or any of the other people that were trying to help them to do better.
At the time I was working there they were using oil absorbent for cat litter. Like the stuff you throw down in an auto shop to clean up oil spills. The stuff cautions on its packaging that it can cause respiratory problems, not to inhale the dust, wear a mask while using it. And these individuals are using it for cat litter then wondering why the cats are sneezing and having breathing difficulties at times. It's just a way for them to euthanize cats claiming that they're sick, when really they are the cause because they won't use something that is safer for the cats like, I don't know horse pellet bedding that costs about the same per pound as the damn absorbent they're using.
What time I was there it seemed their focus was on kissing the asses of their employees trying to get them to stay by putting the budget into the employees rather than the animals. Anyone who's worked at a good shelter and for the right reasons knows you'll take a pay cut if it means the animals get proper vet care instead of the euthanasia needle. But they thought paying people more would boost morale... No hiring people who don't bitch and moan all the time is how you have good morale. There were way too many Debbie downers there. I've literally only kept in contact with two people that I worked with there. There was one person, I kept telling them, she needed to go. She was always pissy and acting out in front of the public, but they wouldn't take a stand against her. They wouldn't even write her up for conduct.
There was no leadership. When I got hired on they had a good director, and my supervisors were great! The director was listening to me and we were going to be making changes, but something happened and they demoted the director, first to a supervisor, then to straight floor staff with me. WTF? was all I could think about that. Then one of the 3 good supervisors I had left to go work for a much better company.
The director they put in place of the old one already had it out for me. She had been a supervisor in the back of the building and we'd already had words and I knew she was not a good person at all. I've since become convinced that the woman is a sociopath. Her only goal seems to be "I'm always right and I'm in charge". She doesn't care about the animals, she just cares about being right and in charge. So she didn't want to hear any suggestions from people, she didn't like me because I wouldn't shut up. The animals were more important than my job.
When the place opened, they didn't even have a standard operating procedure in place. To my knowledge they still don't. They don't care about cross contaminating between animals or proper cleaning procedure. Everyone has their own way of doing things and that just doesn't fly when you want everyone working well together and on the same page.
When I first started working there, it seemed like they were going to make a turnaround and become a great organization like the one I came from and I was excited to see that happen. Then the director change and the CEO change. It became clear to me that the organization is about making money not the animals when they hired a CEO who's qualifications included being a hospital administrator. The previous CEO had a veterinary degree.
They are really all about image, branding and making money. That would be okay if the end objective was the animals, but I don't believe it was. There was more talk about pay and benefits than there was about the animals. I tried, believe me, I tried, I worked there for over a year and I tried so hard to think highly of everyone there but they kept behaving in ways that just didn't sit well. It was just not a good situation.
So, in closing. Please know that not all animal shelters are equal. In my next blog, I think I'll give you all some pointers about what to look for to know if your local shelter is a good shelter or a shitty shelter. Sometimes the most run-down shelters are actually the best shelters, and it's rare to find a place like Lexington Humane Society where they have a great image because they have great morals and hard workers and community support. Young-Williams doesn't have community support because they suck, and they have a beautiful building because they were founded by lawyers who had money and prized the beauty of their building and the pay rate of their employees over the health and happiness of their animals.
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