animal rescuers - resources - support

[violaine]

Basic Guidelines for a Shelter

http://www.animalsheltering.org/reso...delines_for_an imal_shelter_policies.html?log-event=sp2f-view-item&nid=120811371

Standards in Statistics and Transparency

http://www.asilomaraccords.org/

(I don’t know how animals are tracked, etc. If Chief ACO were to use petfinder.com, she would be able to use http://www.petpoint.com/ which is a free shelter management software system to track everything that needs to be known about the animals. The goal is to know what the issues are in your community, why the animals are coming in and creating programs that chip away at those issues.) With petpoint, you can easily print actual kennel cards that should stay with the animal on it’s cage while it is at the shelter. It tracks all the info about the animal, vaccinations, etc.

Adoptions/Dog Walkers

They should also be implementing a program called “Meet your Match” and have adoption counselors.
Meet your Match is a nationally renowned program and now a standard for good shelters to match the right animal with the right person and avoid return adoptions. Bloomington did this and we have very few return adoptions now.

http://www.aspca.org/adoption/meet-your-match/

We also have dog walker volunteers who volunteer and walk dogs everyday to get them out of their cages. We have a training, rules they have to follow, etc. It is a great program that makes for happier dogs and helps us determine their personalities, etc. We also have trained the volunteers now to do basic training with the dogs when they walk them. Any dogs that need some training to improve their adoptability get it from the select group of dog training volunteers or we have even had a certified trainer come in and work with problem dogs that just need a little schooling.


Cleaning Protocols/Disease Control
I would ask for a copy of cleaning protocols document that they should have. There should be cleaning protocols for disease control/prevention, regular daily cleaning, etc. Do they have protocol for what to do if they have a parvo outbreak? Or another highly contagious disease? (As you know, you NEVER HOSE A KENNEL WITH A DOG IN IT!!! Good lord;(

They should be working to strategically minimize euthanasia to just animals that have major health issues that can’t be treated, major behavior problems (aggression, etc.) and get away from euthanasia for space. This should all be reported to the public on a regular basis with the detail of why they are euthanized, source of the animals, etc. If you don’t know any of these things, how can you fix the problems? In the end you save the tax dollars because you are fixing the problems.

This is a lot to take in, but these are just a couple of areas of things that should be brought up. This stuff is the basic, baseline expectations for a shelter. Bloomington was in a similar place as you several years ago. They changed management and followed all of the best practices and now the shelter is a welcoming, happy place that has seen it’s intake numbers go down, public awareness up and is a jewel in the community.

We have volunteers who take pictures of adoptable animals each week, load it to petfinder with descriptions, and produce our weekly adoptable posters that go out in hundreds of locations around town. Volunteers distribute these flyers each week and again are something that our community expects, loves and it produces tons of adoptions. The right group of volunteers and a well outlined program makes all of this really easy and very little effort on the shelter’s part.

I would also ask when is the last time Chief AC Officer went to any national trainings/conferences to stay up on trends in animal welfare. I bet it has been a long time, if ever.

Good luck and let me know if there are others areas/topics that you need further info about. I’m happy to provide it!

[at the top of this letter:

Good luck with your meeting coming up. I know that [your commissioner] talked to [a board member of our animal sheltering welfare group] (Ft. Wayne) last week. The impression is that [your commissioner] thinks [chief AC Officer for your county] knows what she is doing and that the issues brought up aren’t all that valid. [your commissioner] is however leaning toward a national evaluation of the shelter if they can afford it/want to spend the money. our board member talked to your commissioner about our indiana animal control welfare org., but also gave the commissioner the links to the national organizations that will do an evaluation.

That may be the only thing that gets him to see that things are not right at the shelter. He emailed me saying he would be interested in info from our welfare org. I asked by when and he never responded.
I will put together a basic outline of stuff that should be done and offer greater details, etc. as they need/want it. We feel if we give him too much details program information they will be overwhelmed. Very much a learning curve here].

[Kimbo]

So I've had this lil' feral named Sweet Pea, she came from a hoarding situation and was probably inbred. She's owned me now for around 5 years. Over the years I have gained her trust and she lets me touch and pet her. Over the last year she has actively been seeking me to give her love and she lets me know she wants lovin' by putting her fang in my skin or better yet she claws me. I've only picked her up once and it wasn't a good experience for either of us. I got brave and decided I would try to pick her up again.....this time I was able to put her on my knee for a brief second....she growled and was definitely not liking it BUT-no blood was drawn, she didn't thrash or claw. Progress? I think so. I might try to pick her up again soon.

A few minutes after I put her down she was over it and back over fanging me for attention. Ferals bring me the most joy....I really love all the steps..it's a lifetime of earning trust and baby steps.

[FeminineAllure]

I can so relate to Kimbos entire post.
I have 6 ferals I look after and 1 is a kitten. Then I have my once feral cat punkin who has been with me for years now.
It is amazing how far Punkin has come. When we first found eachother he was a feral that I fed but he would only eat and drink if I was like 10 feet away from him. This went on for weeks. He finally came inside one day through the open sliding door. He walked the entire perimeter of my home and then finally let me pet him. It just melts my heart when a feral finally trusts you enough to pet them. So Punkin slept next to me on the floor the first night. When I woke up I forgot I had a cat and he forgot he was inside and he bit me on the ankle. He had an appointment with a vet and I did hold my breath being bitten until his bloodwork cleared.
He is the most loving, loyal, big ball of mush today. He is my soulmate animal.

Back to the ferals... picture fixing 6 plates of food, water, cat milk and having your own cat at your feet because Punkin must come with me to feed them all lol. I open the door and there they all are at the bottom of the steps waiting for me! Then I have the one cat that may be inbred it is like she has ADD. She does not stop moving, rolling on the ground, doing flips in the air and I am trying to introduce my own cat to her because I want to adopt her when she is more socialized.
So...We all walk out back as I put out their food. 2 of the cats will let me pet them but are still a little scared.
I bought them toys and play with them when I can.
Animals are so precious, vulnerable and unconditional.

[violaine]

[QUOTE=Kimbo;50748]So I've had this lil' feral named Sweet Pea, she came from a hoarding situation and was probably inbred. She's owned me now for around 5 years. Over the years I have gained her trust and she lets me touch and pet her. Over the last year she has actively been seeking me to give her love and she lets me know she wants lovin' by putting her fang in my skin or better yet she claws me. I've only picked her up once and it wasn't a good experience for either of us. I got brave and decided I would try to pick her up again.....this time I was able to put her on my knee for a brief second....she growled and was definitely not liking it BUT-no blood was drawn, she didn't thrash or claw. Progress? I think so. I might try to pick her up again soon.

A few minutes after I put her down she was over it and back over fanging me for attention. Ferals bring me the most joy....I really love all the steps..it's a lifetime of earning trust and baby steps.

dear kimbo

i love your fanging story [and lisa's!]. thank you for leaving them here
catching little ones is not as easy as one might believe at first glance, but in my experience, once they are removed from the HAH or pet crate, and held for a little while, the hissing and spitting [maybe fanging?] calms down

awesome work!

bella
ox

[FeminineAllure]

Punkin fangs me all of the time. He will take his mouth and rub his teeth up against my hand while I am petting him. I believe it is the cats way of marking you with their scent and saying "You are mine and you belong to me!!!"

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by FeminineAllure

Punkin fangs me all of the time. He will take his mouth and rub his teeth up against my hand while I am petting him. I believe it is the cats way of marking you with their scent and saying "You are mine and you belong to me!!!"

I've never had one of the tamer cats fang me...I think it might be something more common to ferals. Yes it is ownership, that's a given & I've given in --I don't mind the fangs but I wished she'd hold down the claws a bit. ouch, ouch..

[violaine]

could either of you - kimbo or lisa- please share how you are able to do the best work for the ferals coming to your house, and/or the colony, please? thank you. when do you put out a HAH/crate? how do you feel about separating the mom if you must, from the babies? do you try to neut the males first - and does that help reduce the chance of other feral males entering into the colony? who helps you do the work- if anyone- and where do you turn for placement of adult / teen ferals?

[FeminineAllure]

Originally Posted by violaine

could either of you - kimbo or lisa- please share how you are able to do the best work for the ferals coming to your house, and/or the colony, please? thank you. when do you put out a HAH/crate? how do you feel about separating the mom if you must, from the babies? do you try to neut the males first - and does that help reduce the chance of other feral males entering into the colony? who helps you do the work- if anyone- and where do you turn for placement of adult / teen ferals?

My best work currently is providing decent shelter, food, love and next on my list is medical. I have people that will help me TNR and get them to a vet but the fee is quite high. If I do it myself I belive it is 55.00 per cat.
As far as seperating the baby kitten from the mother I would have to do that if the mother or kitten had feline AIDS or leukemia . I would try to spay the females before the males. Because other feral males are able to enter the colony. As well as males from the same family.
There is no one helping me with the work. There is a local agency that offered me food and offered a day a clinic spayed and nutered the cats in some location I was unfamiliar with.
No shelters are accepting kittens at this time. With the economy not as many adoptions are taking place.
I love the ferals. They each have a unique personality and they would be missed.
My goal is to socialize them before I would adopt them or seek to adopt them out. And I don't want them to sit in a shelter in a cage waiting for a home.
Some ferals I believe from what I have seen and experienced are just not sociable with humans or adoptable.

[Kimbo]

Originally Posted by violaine

could either of you - kimbo or lisa- please share how you are able to do the best work for the ferals coming to your house, and/or the colony, please? thank you. when do you put out a HAH/crate? how do you feel about separating the mom if you must, from the babies? do you try to neut the males first - and does that help reduce the chance of other feral males entering into the colony? who helps you do the work- if anyone- and where do you turn for placement of adult / teen ferals?

I'll be back in tonight to address your question. I'm sure it will be a long post.