Back in the Game

Wow, after five days of not working I came back today and felt like I was starting new all over again. I had almost forgot how tiring it was to scrub some kennels. On top of the physical stuff I think I lost my immunity to the smell of dog poo. Coming back to work I just jumped right into the cleaning, when I was close to being finished my supervisor came up to me and said "not that I want to make your morning cleaning any worse, but we have to put a dog down today". You might think they were being insensitive but I asked her to tell me so I wouldn't find out second hand later on in the day. Me being me I said that I wanted to be part of it because without those crappy horribly tough times there wouldn't be the good ones.

After the feedings I went over to take care of the rabbits. I know I have said it before but these guys are like cats when it comes to liking me or hating me. Some little guys are great and let you pet them while others just claw at me and would probably bite me if they ever got the chance. Needless to say I got it done as fast as possible since I couldn't stop sneezing the entire time I was in there.

Next chance I got I started soaking the dishes when one of the staff members came and told me it was time for the euthanasia. I can't go into any details for the simple fact that I will start crying my eyes out again. What I will tell you is I saw a video of the animal and realized it was for the better. The little guy showed incredible aggression and was actually pretty scary. I know it doesn't really make it easier but I have to keep telling myself that because this one unlike the last made me truly upset and I left the room with a box of tissues. This event really did throw off the rest of my day. It felt like I was in a rut and couldn't get out. All I could think about was the procedure, that is until I went to visit the other animals.

Even though this has truly been one of the most emotional days I have ever had here it is good to go and visit the dogs that will soon find homes. It gets your mind off all of the crap and on to what is important, saving as many as you can. Speaking of saving, one of the little animal safehouse program dogs got to go home today. He was a cute little fuzzy poodle that had been here for about a month and was soon to be relinquished to us but the owner was able to come and pick him up and take him home. It was nice to see how happy that little dog was to see it's owner.

With two more cats being relinquished I was asked to help with their intake. I really am growing fonder and fonder of cats because the shelter is very specific of which ones they allow in. However there are those instances that a cat is being returned, we take back all of our animals no matter how long ago they were adopted, and they might not be the nicest guys. The cats that we did intake on were pretty much polar opposites. One was a sweet little guy that was a little over weight and unfortunately been declawed. The toughest part of taking him in was trying to find a vein to draw blood from. Now the other one was a spit fire. I wanted nothing to do with him because all he was doing was hissing and swatting. I can't blame the guy though with such a stressful situation going on around him but that doesn't make his intake any easier. Finally the staff was able to take care of most of his vaccinations but after a few the cat got really pissy and it was decided to wait on the rest. After that we got their kennels set up in the cattery and easily got one in and about 15 minutes later got the other one in and quickly closed the door. Hopefully after some quite time they will be a little less stressed and adoptable soon.

With laundry out of the way and my mind racing after today's events the best thing for me to do was keep my mind busy and eats lots of candy. Luckily I was called to do a showing with one of the second chance dogs. I went over the adoption application and everything seemed good. I went to show the gentleman the dog and realized that it was female. The reason this is of concern is that his girlfriend who visits often with her dog has a female as well. The shelter however has the policy that we will not adopt female to female dogs. Luckily the man wasn't too interested in the dog and understood the policy but would keep checking back for that right fit.

Close to closing time we started bringing all of the dogs back up to their kennels. That's when I got another call for a showing with a dog that had been returned once and been here for quite some time. It was a young man that was looking for a pretty mellow and small dog since he lived in an apartment. The big problem was that he was out of the house for more than eight hours on occasion but said the dog would be kept inside. It is definitely an issue but as long as the owner plans ahead it should work out fine. I gave him some time to spend with the dog and when I returned he was hooked. He wanted to adopt but had to prepare everything for his new dog and get his apartment ready. He said he would be here first thing in the morning when we opened up to adopt her.

The days that put you in a funk are few and far between but you have to know that they are always just around the corner. You can't be a pessimist about them but you can't deny that they are coming. With all of the bad however there is always something good that can come out of it. What I am taking from today isn't the sadness of putting down an animal but the happiness of getting one adopted. The other thing that I am going to go home and think about is without those incrediblly tough times there wouldn't be the good ones. Life is full of ups and downs and withouth the lowes there wouldn't be the highs. Thanks for reading and I will be back tomorrow.