One of the many things I love about my job, and trust me there are many, is having the chance to learn about our staff members’ unique shelter experiences and the relationships they build with the animals. Kennel attendants, in particular, spend a lot of time with the animals, cleaning up after them and giving them food and fresh water each day. It’s a crucial role in our shelter. Our kennel attendants are drawn to the job by their love of animals and remain committed to it because they see the immediate and lasting impact they’re having on the lives of homeless and abandoned animals. They are,...

Hour by hour, as I sit in my office dealing with the day to day shelter matters, I have the pleasure of seeing our dedicated volunteers rush by. Many of them are so focused to spend as much time as possible with the animals that they only have time for a quick nod or wave through the window. Volunteers are the heart of our community. As many of you know, I love to tell stories in my blog, but the truth is that I have so many incredible stories about the dedicated individuals that volunteer their time with our organization, that I simply cannot choose one or two to share with you. The people who give...

One of the questions that any long term shelter employee becomes accustomed to answering is “What keeps you coming back to your job? It must be so challenging.”  And it’s true. For the most part, working in an animal shelter is incredibly challenging.  It’s definitely not boring.  Working at the shelter for over a decade now has also been, without question, one of the most rewarding and fulfilling parts of my life.  For obvious reasons, of course, like the animals, but for other not so obvious reasons as well. But you don’t have to take just my word for it.  Katharine...

One of the things that we, as shelter workers, often take a moment to pause and wonder about is what our beloved animals’ lives are like, after their time with us.  What are their families like?  What fills their days?  What adventures, or in some cases misadventures, might they embark on? As a shelter, our animal population is transient.  The animals come and go and we help them find new homes as quickly as we can.  Sometimes, we hear from their new families and sometimes we do not.  One of my favourite things is hearing someone reminisce about an animal that they adopted from the shelter...

As an industry, animal shelters have worked hard for years towards an ultimate goal of ensuring that there are no more homeless animals, no more unwanted, no more litters, no more abused.  Over the last couple of years I thought that this goal would never be something I may see happen. This past week, after hearing two separate stories, one simple question has given me some pause.  What would happen if in fact this came to fruition?  What if there were no more pets in our shelter, needing our help? Our Board chair was recently visiting the adoption gallery.  He was enjoying...

Well, this week was the first week of spring, and in true Edmonton style, we welcomed it with a blizzard.  My dogs love the snow, especially deep fresh snow.  They run, leap, burrow and chase one another and drag oodles of it into the house to melt into puddles that dampen the socks of everyone wandering my home. I’ve never really given much thought to how other breeds of dogs might enjoy the experience of a fresh snow fall (or not) and was truly amused by our Social Media and Web Coordinator, Travis Grant’s account of his dogs’ take on yesterday’s “light flurries”.  I asked...