I hate this!

I'm getting old and falling apart. There's days where my torn cartilege in one knee bothers me and the other starts to act up and my back protesteth too much, or the ache of where I broke my hand last year and didn't realize it, and I have a breakfast of Motrin. That's me, standing by the grace of anti-inflammatories, neoprene back brace and knee braces with inner metal springs. Not to mention the two toes that I have broken that won't walk right and rub each other wrong. One of these days, I'll learn to quit digging ditches and climbing ladders and sit at a desk and have the young'uns do it. Other than that, it's all good, except for realizing that I am old. For some reason, I thought you were closer to my age. Maybe because you express yourself maturely and it is a mature thing to offer your time in rescue, as you do. Many young people are easily tempted into only worrying about themselves.

Ive always been a bit ahead of my time...(aside from drinking a whole lotta beer all the time).  But, I left high school early my senior year and was in college while my friends were in school just because I didnt want to graduate before them (alone).  I started selling real estate at 18, bought my first house at 19... got married at 19... no kids.  I dunno... theres too much to do out there to sit around wasting time lol.  
 
I have already thought a lot into the shelter thing, I got overwhelmed so I stopped before getting to the point where I say I cant do it.  Ill go back to it in a few days... but just being at work and seeing all involved is a little intimidating. 
 
Ya know Ron, I may be all wrong but Im guessing your about 41-42??  I may be off but you graduated in '82 so I just added 18 years to my age since thats when I was born and 18 is about the age you graduate.  Anyway... one of my dads best friends is also a great friend of DH and I, just a whole family friend and is always over.. I thought he was 50 or so because my dad is 45 but recently found out he was 38! If you could see him you would understand.  Besides that hes already had hip surgery once, but needs it again and walks with a terrible limp in the mean time... and is missing fingers due to his job... has a hacking cough that would worry someone who wasnt used to hearing it all the time....   Am I making you feel younger yet?[]
 
Im not looking forward to the day when I start to fall apart... although I already need knee surgery.

Paige - you are absolutely right, and I wont be held hostage by this shelter - I wont quit though until I have some other plans to move to another or get my own.  Too many things go on there that I dont agree with that make an already hard thing even harder.  It really is a great shelter though and none of what I dont like has to do with treatment of animals. 
 
The dogs have numerous kiddie pools outside, things to climb on... toys, blankets, beds... its just got to do with turning them down, and the way they do adoptions, and the people who are in charge of doing things and forget.. so I run around secretly checking to make sure every dog got what they are supposed to b/c I dont want anyone to know Im checking after people... I know this only makes it hard on me but thats how I am, and if I dont the wondering about them will just eat away at me so I make quick checks on things and do them if theyre not done...[8|]

You guessed my age correctly, the older of the range you guessed. And I don't have gray hair on my head, yet. I didn't list all of my ailments and that would help derail this thread. Let's just say I look fairly well preserved by drinking Diet Coke.

Starting your own shelter is a worthy and admirable goal. Such a thing is how the Angel Animal Hospice got started. Susan Marino did just that. She gave up a lucrative job and opened her home up to critters and now lives on donations. But she is able to give animals their final days filled with peace, respect, and dignity. I have her book, "Getting Lucky." Lucky was a black and white Great Dane who lived almost his whole life chained to a tree with just food and water and so many beatings that his skull was misshapened. While she tells that story, she tells the stories of the other pets that interact with Lucky. It is not for the weak.

And you certainly have strength and courage for where you work now and for you ambitions. We'll be your cheerleaders. I guess we'll have to have run some carwashes wearing bathing suits.

I know exactly what you mean.  Sometimes a shelter starts out with all the "right" ideas to give top quality care to the animals.  Then managing the entirety of the staff to action against those objectives can be a huge challenge.  In the shelters where I've worked, they either relied too much on irratic volunteerism.  Or, if they paid employees to scoop poop, etc, they were barely working above minimum wage.  You don't easily find kind, committed, competent, effective, dedicated folks willing to work 12 exhaustive, back-breaking hours a day scooping poop and hosing out kennels, risking dog bites and emotional overload for $6/hour.  The ones that do, are the gems like you - and the thousands like you.  (BIG kudos to all of you who read yourself in that!!)  But burn out happens.You'll learn to overcome it. 
 
That hostage feeling for me was "Oh my god, if I leave, how are they going to manage to care for the dogs with one less person?  How will I know Buddy will get his ears cleaned every week to avoid his chronic ear infections?  What about all the animals I've come to love so much?  I can't leave, there's still so much work to be done."  If you stay long enough, you might be able to effect some positive changes.  Help them find better adoption processes - Heck, maybe you'll become the intake or adoption coordinator some day!  If they've got the right ideas, but the wrong management, you may be able to see changes.  But if the management isn't willing to change, take whatever you can learn from them and apply it to your future rescue. 
 
 

Amy, I think it is great that you took this job and I am sure you are doing an amazing job at it.  I have held back from volunteering because I am worried I will want every dog and cry too much when I feel bad.  However, this summer I will be volunteering... or at least plan to.  You're inspiring me too!
 
I just got the quarterly newsletter yesterday from the SPCA from where I got Zoe, also the place I plan to volunteer (along with the humane society from my other post about the walk), and it showed how much money they spent in each part of running the shelter over the year and also how much was donated, etc.  They also said the average dog is there only 5 days!  I was excited to hear that because to me, it didn't seem very long.  However, I will feel very badly for the ones there longer. 

Some of the effective things they have done to get a good turnover rate are having dogs aired on the 12 o clock news either daily or weekly and working with a lot of rescue groups.  There were some other things too.  You can see the newsletter here:  [linkhttp://www.mdspca.org/whats_new.shtml]http://www.mdspca.org/whats_new.shtml[/link]  ( I actually just noticed they didn't post the spring 2006 one yet but I am sure they will soon or you can email them to have one sent to you).  They also do the catch, spay and return program for feral cats too.  I never knew that.  Anyway, these may be some ideas for your current shelter or the one you start .
 
 

I guess we'll have to have run some carwashes wearing bathing suits

 
Heeeheeeeeeee! We could do a men in bikinis car wash and be raking it in!
 
I make $10 per hour... but I had to negotiate for it, and its still not as much as I would like...  but the girl who does the most poop scooping and kennel spraying of anyone just quit because she was only making $6 and they wouldnt give her more.  She had been there for two years!  I couldnt believe this, and told her good for her... since the hurricane Burger King has resorted to paying $12/hour!!  She can do better.  Anyway, so now they are all worried about always being so short handed and everyone is going to have to help with the kennels more... ??  Lady, what did you expect?? Would you clean these kennels day in and day out for $6 and TWO years later be rejected for a raise, give me a break.  This woman should have to make up the slack on her own IMO. 
 
There really is a ton of things I would change, and Ive realized theres no hope talking sense into these people. 
 
Me and the adoption manager got into it because a lady was about to leave with no dog because they would only show the puppies in the front few cages when there were 50 or so more in the back (about 100 more total but about 50 more young puppies) ... and when I told this lady to wait b/c we have more and started showing them to her the manager got all mad at me and said the ones in the front had to go first because they were less likely to get adopted. 
 
I was FURIOUS!  I said to her "isint it better when you have a perfect home walk in here that they leave with something no matter what it may be!!?.." She said no.  Whatever.. so were are so full that we turn down a few dogs every day but you let people who want a dog walk out of here without seeing 80% of what we really have.  Also and this is just me but way too much time and money is spent on housing cats.  This lady loves cats and thinks dogs are dirty.  Shes got more than half of the indoor areas sevoted to old fat cats, and a specail section for 20 or so that have the AIDS thing.  No one is going to adopt these things, it just such a waste. 
 
Thanks Stacy I will check out that newsletter... it may give me some insight of what to expect if I can make this work.

Heeeheeeeeeee! We could do a men in bikinis car wash and be raking it in!

 
TERRIFIC idea!  You've got the brains and creativity to be a good fundraiser for your own future rescue.
 
And the AIDS kitties???  I don't mean to be a jerk, I love cats, but don't most vets and shelters consider them unadoptable?   I don't know enough about feline AIDS to speak intelligently to that, but it seems pretty questionable to me.  And that bit about only showing "long term guest" to prospective adopters.... they do have their heads up their arses.
 
(Also, I really hope my mention of $/hr didn't offend anyone, or presume anything about you or your position.  I think you posted earlier that you were hired as a manager, not a kennel worker, etc.  I only used the figure to illustrate that the average kennel worker apparently only makes just above minimum wage.  Our grocery store clerks make almost double that!!  So sad about that woman who worked there for 2 yrs!)