 Impact
on Shelter and Animal Control Staff
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For
every animal who dies in a shelter euthanasia room, there is
a human outside the walls of that shelter responsible for its death.
Shelter workers do the dirty work, for community members who continue
to breed despite overpopulation, who surrender their animals, dump
their guilt, and shift the blame onto shelter staff for a problem
they created themselves.
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Mary
and Frankie
click here
for their story
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Have
you ever wondered why people work at animal shelters? Have you ever thought
or said, "Oh I couldn't work there, I love animals too much"? Interestingly,
in response to both written surveys and verbal exercises in workshops
I've conducted, involving several hundred shelter employees since 1995,
the number one reason shelter workers have given over and over again for
working in shelters is "because I love animals". They work there
because they love animals, despite the pain and heartache
they witness and feel themselves.
The
next time you find yourself in a conversation with an animal shelter worker
(or animal control officer or humane officer), instead of saying, "Oh
I couldn't do your job, I love animals too much", try saying, "You
must love animals a great deal to do the work you do." This type of
comment, this acknowledgment, will go a long way toward boosting the morale
of the people who care for the abused, neglected and abandoned animals
of your community.
To
read a brief sketch of what shelter and animal control/humane officers
really do, read:
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In the Line
of Duty: A Portrait of a Field Officer As a Human Being
coming
soon
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A Day in the
Life of Shelter Workers
coming
soon
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Facts
to Consider
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Shelter
workers work there because they love animals (Click
here to read more about why people work at shelters and what they
see as the most rewarding and hardest parts of the job)
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Shelter
work is the most emotionally complex and morally challenging
of any trauma worker role in our culture, and certainly of any animal
care work(click here to learn more)
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Shelter workers
pay a high price of traumatic stress and compassion fatigue (click
here to learn more) |
Questions
to Ponder
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How can
we work collaboratively and constructively with shelter/animal control
staff,
even when we may not agree with them, for the sake of the animals?
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A
Plea
Please
don't place the blame of overpopulation and shelter euthanasia on shelter
staff. It is a community caused problem, and takes a whole community to
solve:
Adopt & rescue, spay & neuter, and keep your animals!
Support
your local animal shelter with a donation of money, volunteer time, fostering
animals, or needed goods such as towels, pet food, etc.
The
next time you speak with an animal shelter employee or animal control/humane
officer, take the time to thank them for taking care of your community's
animals in need.
 Mary
and Frankie's Story:
Mary
Flick has worked at both the SPCA of Monterey County, California as well
as the Virginia Beach SPCA in Virginia Beach, Virginia. During her years
at the Monterey shelter, Mary fell in love with a little puppy named Frankie.
He had a fractured leg which required special attention and rehabilitation
time. Mary nursed him through this, fostering him until he was well enough
and socialized enough for adoption. As they became closer and closer,
Mary knew it would be extremely hard to let him go, but she already had
other animals at home and knew the best thing for everyone would be to
let little Frankie be adopted. The very week he seemed well enough for
this, Frankie contracted Parvo. Despite efforts to help him overcome it,
Frankie worsened and had to be euthanized. Mary held little Frankie and
loved him and cried hundreds of tears for him as he took his last breath.
This is a poem and letter she wrote to him:
You
are a little angel now in heaven and probably happier than ever. It helps
me to know you are no longer suffering, but Frankie, it's hard to me to
let you go. So I bought an angel of love that I wear against my heart
in honor of my memory of you. I will never forget you ever. You touched
my heart in a way no other dog in the shelter ever has. I know that because
I felt the pain in my heart for you. I know someday we will meet again
,and I will see that little face I saw when I first laid eyes on you.
So happy, full of energy and love. This is memory of you:
F
R A N K I E
F
is for the frisky girl you were, and also for your fractured
leg.
R
is for all the times we ran together on my lunch hour
A
is for the angel you are, and the little angel you were
N
is for the nibbling you always did to my fingers
K
is for the kindness and kisses that you have given me
I
is for the intriguing look of your little face, even with those
big ears
E
is for everything you gave me, and for what I gave you... LOVE
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Connect
with resources to help you keep your pet in times of stress and change.
