Finding things to do, with a few surprises in store

I always like being the first one at the shelter in the morning. It usually means I get first pick of what I want to clean, but today was a little different. Being the first person there I was the first person to notice a small crate waiting by the door. There was a small note attached that said "I am spayed, I have lived with other cats but prefer to be alone, and I love to have my nose rubbed". Now it's obvious to me that the original owners of this cat had tried relinquishing since they pretty much knew exactly what we needed to know. My question is what was their reasoning for stuffing it in a tiny little kennel with food scattered throughout then dropping it off at the shelter. The two possible answers are they couldn't afford the 60 dollar fee that goes along with relinquishing an animal or that we have such a long waiting list to actually bring in cats right now. In any case I am trying not to be angry at these people because I'm sure they have their reasonings and this was better than just letting their cat run wild where it ran the real risk of getting killed. I just wish that people realize the budget that our shelter runs on and how much it actually costs us to intake and care for these animals. I do have to keep reminding myself that I am not a people hater, we all have our reasonings for the actions that we do.

After getting the cat some wet food and setting it up in a larger area it was time to clean. Luckily I was able to sign up for an area that was a little less pooped on then the rest and got it all done before ten o'clock. It's amazing when I think about how recently we had so many dogs and now with so many adoptions lately how few there are. I just wish we could get some more cats adopted. I actually learned today that there have only been two for the entire month of August which is quite disheartening.

Once all of the cleaning was done and the necessities out of the way it was time to start finding things to do. It's nice when you're fully staffed because you can actually get ahead and actually spend some time with the animals. The funny part is, when you think that there is nothing to do there always is. Aside from the normal disinfecting crates we also had some ISO yards that needed cleaning today as well. Once we got all of that done I decided to clean off all of the nice pee stained corners on the way down to the yards. I am amazed still at the aroma of urine that continually emulates from the shelter. No matter what I do it will always be there, kind of funny when you think that I even try to get rid of it.

While cleaning I got a call to help out with a DB. Not my favorite thing to do but because I am the only guy here I typically get recruited to help out. I went to the back of the car to learn, because she wasn't covered, that the dog was a brindle greyhound that looks very similar to my dog. It's always hard trying to console people when they looser their pet because it is like loosing a family member. This time was more difficult than usual because all I could picture was my dog. I think I ended up just saying sorry for your loss then closing my eyes until we could get the girl covered and placed into our deep freezer. I'm crossing my fingers I don't have nightmares tonight.

I really can't believe that I did not have one showing today. I did catch wind that Jr., our resident old timer, was getting adopted. This was great news and everyone is glad to see him find a new home. It's funny too is that he was sent to the groomers today to try to make him more adoptable. It's even funnier that he was still there when he got adopted!

Everyday that I work here at the shelter I am always experiencing something new. Now I'm not saying that I enjoy everything because there are those new experiences that can just make you feel like crap, but in general there is always something that can still put a smile on your face, like Jr. getting adopted. The more I work here the more I understand that you really can't help them all but you can certainly educate as many people as possible to join the cause of getting these wonderful animals adopted. I look forward to your comments and thanks for reading everyone.