Dealing with the people one on one

Today was my day away from the animals and at the front desk dealing with the customers. I can never say enough how much of a change it is to jump from the kennels to the office and the complete variety of people that come into the shelter.

My morning began by checking the emails and voice messages. I returned one voicemail of a woman asking for help for a hurt dove that wasn't able to fly. I heard that the message was from about ten minutes ago and since the woman took the time to call us it was only right for us to return the call. I explained to her that we were a private shelter but I would certainly help her get to the right people that could help her out. Unfortunately by the time that I called she said she went back outside and there was nothing but a plume of feathers. I told her maybe it just had to try extra hard to fly and shook out some feathers, not that it was probably eaten. In any case I thanked her for caring enough to call us and she was happy she at least got her call returned.

The other message was from a rescue group that we had called earlier about picking up some donations. Because we have such a great relationship with our community we get in a lot of things including extra bedding and dog food. Because we only use one particular type of food though we find organizations in need and make sure that if we have it and they need it, we will get it to them.

It's finally opening time by this point and today we have three dogs heading home. They were just altered yesterday so they will have to take it easy for a while but I really do love the day that these animals get picked up. The smile on the new owner's faces is priceless, not to mention the gratitude that the adopters have as well.

With the dogs going home today and several showings the front office became a bit hectic at times today. We ended up having two adoptions, Haley and Abby, who both found great homes. It was nice to see two dogs at the shelter for such a short period of time before they found their forever homes. In addition to the two adoptions there was also a lot of showings which was great to see since adoptions seem to be down this month.

Closing out the day we did have a few new animals come in via relinquishment. We had two cats that the families ended up having allergies too. I understand how this could happen but I also have a tough time thinking about giving up my animals if I became allergic as well. I have said it before, that I am not a people hater, but if you truly love your pet there are other things that you can do. This is usually why I don't always trust the reasons why people relinquish their animals. Anyways, the other little guy that came into us was a tiny little silky terrier puppy. The dog was just to much for a the family which is understandable. Luckily the little puppy found its way here because she won't be here for very long.

My days at the front desk are always something new. I learned today that for those people that still use a phone book we are the only number listed in the entire county as a humane society. It's kind of funny because we are actually a private animal shelter and there are four county shelters all around us. What that means for us is the people that still actually use the yellow pages always call us to ask the most random questions and of course for us to get them the right number. Well, at least we actually answer the phone and not some recording, at least we have that going for us. Thanks for reading as always everyone and I look forward to your comments. And remember, there are so many ways that you can help these animals in your area, check out volunteering at your local shelter, it was one of the most rewarding times in my life.