So far, I’ve read just Taylor Swift. I read it like a poem. Love Story and You Belong With Me.

I’m planning Kelsea Ballerini and Olivia Rodrigo next.

Maybe Chapelle Roan.

I’m probably breaking the cringe meter right now.

My (24) and friends (20s) found a stray cat in a nearby park. It was a small kitten and we rescued it after we had seen it a few times in a drain. Mind you, it’s winter time, and the cat was visibly shaking and cold. We take it to my home and bought basic cat supplies to take care of it for a few days as it was the weekend and the shelters were closed on weekends (we kept it for around 4/5 days In our home.

We finally take it to the animal shelter and (in our state) the laws says for a found cat without a microchip has to be kept at the shelter for 5 days in case someone has lost it and they can pick it up.

I say I want to adopt it and they say I will be the first to know anything about the cat and also gave me a paper saying I am first on the waitlist to pick up the cat for adoption after the five days.

Fast forward we show up before the shelter opens and are the first in line to pick up the cat. They say it’s gone, will not tell me where it is, and that it’s “policy” that they can not tell me anything about it.

I complained on the phone and they say they, again, can not tell me anything and they will take my name and number if they hear anything. What can I do? Anything? They said I can get another cat but that’s not the point. Should they be allowed to do that?

Even if there was the rightful owners there to pick it up I Atleast would’ve liked to have been told. I just want to know if the cat Atleast survived.

TLDR; found a stray cat and gave it to the shelter to get it checked out and to adopt the cat and it’s now gone and they won’t tell me anything

So I’ve started volunteering at a cat rescue and I love it but I admit most of my prior animal experience was with dogs. I am struggling to do certain tasks like give medicine to cats and read their body language. Does anyone have any resources I can learn from? Thanks In advance

Just curious, I feel like the prices are pretty high for a return to owner at the shelter I work for. I’ve seen way to many people freak out about how they will be able to cover the costs ):

We're a closed intake shelter, we don't euthanize to make space for a constant flow of dogs coming in, but we will euthanize for safety, medical, and behavioral concerns. We also have a lot of volunteers who help us out, including with walking dogs.

Sometimes we have dogs come in who have obvious behavioral issues (severe resource guarding, bites in the home, getting in dog fights, etc) and these dogs are designated staff only when they come in, so the volunteers don't interact directly with them, but will still see them in passing. These dogs get evaluated and sometimes euthanasia is the decision made.

Other times, we have dogs that don't really have behavioral issues on intake, so they're made available, both for adoption and to get walked by volunteers. But over time in the shelter, these dogs experience mental decline, severe reactivity and/or kennel stress to the point that they are no longer considered eligible for adoption or volunteer handling, and eventually the decision will be made to euthanize.

Essentially I'm wondering, should we be informing volunteers of euthanasias of dogs that they've worked with? If they ask, I'm going to be honest and tell them what happened to x dog that isn't here anymore. But should me and other staff go out of our way to inform them that "x is going to be put down" or "x was put down"? We have regular volunteers that come in all the time and can work with a certain dog for days, weeks, even months. I've told those volunteers because it feels wrong to not tell them, since they're working hands on with them and love them too. It just sucks having to share that with them, because I know it's the last thing anyone wants to hear. I know some other staff will inform them, but some others don't. I just don't know if there's a right answer, no one higher up has told me to go tell them or to not tell them.

I'm just wondering what everyone else's experience is, what do you do?

I am a long term volunteer at a local municipal shelter. For a year or two now, they have been close to capacity with dogs. Prior to this, they rarely euthanized dogs and when they did it was for severe medical or behavioral issues (like true aggression).

Now, dogs who get overaroused/mouthy and have caused minor bites are being euthanized and labeled as “aggressive”. Some of the dogs don’t even have a bite history but are considered a “bite risk”. I know this because I ask staff for the reasonings behind the euthanasia decisions. I am concerned these dogs are being put under the “aggressive” category so they can still say they aren’t euthanizing for space, but I think that’s exactly what they are doing. Any dog that has any sort of behavior or minor medical issue (like diarrhea) they are euthanizing now.

I’m just curious if this is standard practice for other shelters. I feel strongly that if we got these stressed dogs into foster sooner the mouthing incidents wouldn’t occur. They are directly related to kennel stress in my opinion. The shelter I volunteer at typically doesn’t try to find foster until the dog is basically unmanageable, and at that point people don’t usually want to take them in.

I am just so frustrated and feel sorry for the dogs. They arrive totally normal and watching them deteriorate over and over again is heartbreaking. I also know staff are stretched this, so just a sad situation all around.

There's this dog I've known for months and he is fearful of men. Every time I walk past his kennel, he hunches his shoulders down and glares down at me with the classic scared dog look.

Basically he pretty much shuts down. And sometimes he won't eat his food. And when treats are given sometimes it's not until you're out of sight until he eats the treat.

He's a Aussie-mix of some kind.

I doubt there's much you can do in a shelter environment. He's probably had abusive male owners in the past.

At the end of the day, I'm not gonna force it on him which is the last thing you want to do. I've known him for 3 to 4 months now. And apparently, he's been in the shelter much more before I came.

I'm obviously sad about his situation but I'm just gonna toss him treats in the meantime and give him space.

There has been marginal improvement the past few times. Normally he just sits there frozen in the same spot. But there have been a few times I've seen him walking and pacing a little bit.

good evening

i’ve been volunteering for a month at a very small cat shelter that usually has less than 8 cats at a time. i only do it on saturday so when i come in, i always have new cats. i want to learn how i can interact with a cat that’s scared, uncertain, how to make them feel safer. i have to clean their cages which means moving their safe spaces (blankets, toys, litter box, and a cat tree) and when a cat is frightened they usually have trouble allowing me to fully clean it for them. i feel bad if i don’t fully clean but i want to respect a cats boundaries over anything. if anyone has tips for what they did to interact with a nervous cat while cleaning and scooping litter please let me know. thank you.

Hi Friends,

First off, I am NOT seeking to have a dog cropped. Don't come at me.

I ran across a man on Facebook that advertises himself as a "Professional Vet Service" that goes to your home to crop your dogs ears. He has photos posted of his work, reviews etc. I have been talking with him in messenger to get more information. He claims to sedate them before cropping. Some photos do appear the dog is sleeping.

He is located near Dayton OH and breeds American Bullies, and micro bullies.

I am getting conflicting information and I am curious if ANYONE knows if this violates state law in OH?

I am in MN and this is absolutely against the law. I am working to get him shut down if this is against the law.

Hi everyone! I recently started to volunteer at a rescue and am so lucky to be spending most days there. That being said, I am currently the person the cats see most often and have a lot of freedom to just hangout with the cats. I am there almost everyday. Many cats have already made strides- one of our most aggressive has decided I am his best friend, another has shown his affectionate side so much more that he got adopted, and others are finally roaming instead of hiding in their cages.

That being said, there is one cat I just haven’t been able to crack. She is a gorgeous kitty who will surely find an awesome home once she is adjusted to humans. She is amazing with other cats but afraid of humans. She does allow me to pet her if she’s in her cubby, but runs when we meet in open areas (she is allowed to roam). Other volunteers say they have never been able to pet her at all. She is definitely scared of people. I reward her with treats which she eats once I walk away. I can tell this cat is desperate for love. 😭 Does anyone have any other suggestions or ideas? It’s tough with different people coming in and out. I’ve never personally done this before- aside from those “feral” strays who turn to permanent friends once they hear the pate lid pop lol. TIA!

https://www.ocregister.com/2024/12/06/big-a-exposure-will-help-homeless-pets-in-orange-county/

As a former shelter worker of nearly 2 years at an over populated shelter; thank you all who truly pour your heart and soul into your work/volunteering. It was the hardest work I have ever experienced, both emotionally and physically, and the work y’all continue to do all across the world does not go recognized enough. I just wanted y’all to know you are appreciated and seen.

Thank you.

I work at a no-kill shelter, the largest one in a well-populated tri-city area. Today there was a determination that 8 of the animals in our care were past the point of rehabilitation, 7 for aggression, 1 for health reasons. I made the mistake of getting attached to 3 of them, but I had some kind of positive interaction will all of them. Getting happy and friendly whenever they'd get their food.

I understand why they were put down, most of them had done something stupid, hurt someone and got put on bite quarantine, caused some kind of chaos, but it didn't make it any easier. I think I might not be cut out for this line of work.

So my shelter is thinking of switching to Shelterluv. One question I have is, is it possible to create an invoice in Shelterluv? We run a crematorium as well and we have to bill the surrounding vets at the end of the month, so I was curious if I could do my invoices in Shelterluv or if I would still need to use a separate software? Thank you.

A nursing mom and litter were euthanized after multiple rolls. They had URI and the sick ward cannot accommodate small puppies due to the drains. This means these highly contagious dogs were in our intake area with newly vaccinated dogs (a lot of whom have never even gotten vaccinated before). A random person on facebook claimed to be a rescue that tagged the family and was on the way to pick it up when they were euthanized. There was never a tag and the person now deleted the post but never posted any emails or other proof that they even have a rescue that has a contract with the shelter.

Well now there's multiple posts about this family and it's bring treated as fact that this dog was tagged by a rescue and people from out of state are leaving 1 star reviews and comments about the situation and it just sucks lol

Hiii! I am usually the cat lady starting to work with the dogs at my shelter for the first time this week! I’m very excited. I’m the most available volunteer so I am anticipating being out in the cold a lot this season lol. We’ve been averaging 20 or so degrees. Just wondering what I could buy to keep warm! Each dog needs at least 10 minutes outside or more, and my shifts are usually after dark. I haven’t lived in a cold climate long, so I’m ill prepared for the weather as it is. I have some double lined leggings I’ll wear underneath whatever I go with, and I do already have decent winter hiking style shoes to wear that prevent slips on ice or snow. I’m currently looking at Carhartt bibs. Any other suggestions? Better ideas? Would one of those headband lights be silly? 🤣 TIA!

Edit to add: we are in a secluded area so I’m not worried about light for reflective purposes but moreso just for being able to see around me 😆

I was hired about six months ago at a shelter that is pretty short staffed/high capacity. I’m apprehensive to provide any more information about the shelters location or practices because I don’t want anyone to know it was me that posted this and think I am being disrespectful to those above me, I’m not intending to, I just seek help that they aren’t providing right now. The shelter just doesn’t seem to conduct training properly, and I feel unprepared for emergencies. I am the most experienced person in the building at times, and that scares me because I have very little formal training (I have worked in the field for only about two/three years). I have some questions for those who have more experience than me in this field (my skills are that of a basic kennel tech, and some more advanced medical training I received working at a vets office two years ago, so not very fresh. I have never received any classroom based learning, it’s all on-the-job). I often have to rely on previous training from other jobs, and I do not have much of that.

1. What is the protocol at your shelter when someone arrives with a puppy or kitten that is crashing? Young puppies or kittens that need milk, and come in cold, malnourished and potentially fading? I am aware not to feed them while cold, and use a heating pad with something in-between them. Can I give fluids or is that a waste of time, warm fluids? How do you warm the fluids, because I have been told (at a different job) to microwave LRS bags but that feels sketchy.

2. What do the volunteers do at your shelter, and do they ever overstep their roles? Does your shelter provide work for community service, and if so what do you allow them to do (task-wise, do they clean? Touch animals at all?)

3. My shelter has mostly dogs over 50 pounds, when someone wants to walk a dog as a volunteer, what kind of collar/leash combo does your shelter use? We run off mostly donations, and we have martingale collars, but some of our volunteers prefer to use pinch collars and bring their own, what is your opinions on the pinch collar being in the hands of a volunteer?

4. How do you tell if a dog/cat is pregnant vs. post-partum

5. How do you handle bite-cases at your shelter? (This one is more curiosity than anything, I don’t have much experience with bite cases)

Whether it’s a shelter setting or a foster setting, if you use kennels for cats, what is your best daily care routine for easy flow? What supplies do you keep nearby, what order do you do things, and how long does each kennel take?

We’re foster-based but due to how many we have with individual problems, we have XL dog kennels or 3-shelf tall cat cages. Cats have free roam time but do spend a lot of time kenneled for a variety of reasons (medical, size discrepancy, socialization level, needing to have separate foods, etc). I feel like we could have a better routine that takes less time and is less messy and frustrating, so I wanted to check and see what others do!

Hello! This is my first time posting here & the shelter I work at is in central/western Maine and we are very very over run and very limited in our ability to take in surrenders. In addition our community is pretty poor, especially so recently, and with so many of the residents facing financial difficulties we're running into the issue of people dumping their animals outside our shelter more and more often especially during the winter months. We're currently seeing average nighttime temperatures of below 30 degrees F which means even if we get lucky and they leave them in a carrier and don't just release them into our feral colony (we have a colony of fixed, vaccinated, and tested feral cats) these cats are being left in below freezing temperatures for usually over 9 hours until staff gets there at 6:30/7 in the morning. So this has given me the idea of a dump box or something similar where we have an insulated secure box where people can place their cats instead of dumping them or letting their unvaccinated, intact, untested cats run a muck in our feral colony compromising to health of our ferals. I was wondering if any of you guys have done something similar or have any advice on how to best handle this issue. We do have a security camera at the front door but it's not connected to any staff phones so if it spots something we won't know until the morning. I'm going to ask my manager if it's ok if I set up the camera so Ill get notifications if anyone triggers it and I want to buy two more cameras to go on our other doors especially since our ACOs have a tendency of loosing animals... thank you all for any advice or suggestions

A bunch of volunteers put together a Thanksgiving feast for the dogs that was basically full plates of dog-safe versions of Thanksgiving foods, including turkey, green beans, a kind of deviled egg, etc. They froze them, and then gave them to the dogs on Thanksgiving day.

The dogs definitely enjoyed it, but… wouldn't that sudden, dramatic change in diet cause diarrhea and maybe vomiting? How bad should I feel for the people who have to clean up after? Or was that a perfectly fine thing to do? (They definitely had approval from the shelter to do it; I just couldn't help thinking about the possible consequences).

We got a message from US Service Animals offering a free online training course to our adopters. Does anyone know if this is legit? I have not heard of this course before, is it trustworthy? Thanks for any advice!