[Community-service] working in an animal shelter?

[Jewel S.]

Hi Darion,

This is an area I can claim extensive experience with. I have been
volunteering in animal shelters since I was very young, and since I
lost my sight, I have continued to do such volunteer work.

In Hampton, Virginia, I was volunteering with a cat-only shelter
before the injury that caused my blindness. When I felt well enough, I
called them, having kept them updated with my condition, and told them
that I would love to return to work, but could not find the
transportation to get to that location. They were very kind. One of
the supervising volunteers (this was a volunteer-only group) who I
often worked with shared the same schedule as me, and I would come and
work the same hours as her. She lived just down the road from me, so
it was no extra work for her at all. Sometimes she stayed a bit longer
than I should have because of my condition and my quick fatigue, but
I'd just go sit in the rocking chair with a cat if I got too tired.

The people at the shelter were very accommodationg. It was a small
shelter, so layout was not a problem at all, even for someone so new
to blindness as I was. It was really just three rooms, and each room
was seperated by a doorframe or door, so it was easy, and the cages
were arranged very well.

If I had been reading Braille at the time, I would have put Braille
labels on the cats' name tags (each cage had a name tag with a
picture), and I definitely recommend doing this. It's such a simple
thing, and it will help you remember who goes in which cage. To
remember the names of cats, I just asked over and over "And who is
this?" and in time, I got to know them by personalities and the little
of colour I could see on them. If I got it wrong, the cat usually let
me know with a swat or smack with the claws...many of the cats in this
shelter were special needs, very old, or partially feral, and each had
specific routines and customary ways of handling him/her, so if you
didn't do what the cat wanted correctly, but did it the way so-and-so
the tomcat wanted it, that cat was not happy with you.

I was the only one on that shift who knew what she was doing with all
the medications...shots, eye ointments, and pills. I continued to do
this after I lost my vision. The only thing I needed the others to
help with was measuring out how much into the syringe for the diabetic
cat, and readthe prescription on the cat's cage if it was a new
medication (I kept the others in my head sorta...I knew the ones who
needed daily treatment, like Blue who had eye trouble and Tweets with
her chronic heart failure who needed twice daily pills. No one ever
questioned whether a blind woman should be doing all these
medications, and deferred to me when it came to a cat's health and a
need to call Jill, who was almost an expert on cat ailments...I just
reported when I noticed a runny nose or eyes, a sore on the head or
body, an odd smell from the litter box...they always asked me if they
thought something was odd, since I seemed to know what I was about
(having grown up with cats, both domesticated and feral barn cats, and
having dealt with a multitude of special needs cats).

When they switched from a bucket solution to a spray solution for
cleaning the cages, they did not question my need to be away when they
sprayed the cages, since the chemicals in the air irritated my eyes
and still would, a side effect of the chemical burn.

No one questioned me when I said I was taking the recycling or trash
out to the dumpster down the road, or that I was going to check on the
outside cats in the backyard. They had seen that I was a competent
person and let me do what I knew I could do. They had seen me shake my
head at something I couldn't do and ask for help, and knew I would ask
for help if I needed it. If I stayed outside with the ferals and
HIV-infected cats for more than about ten minuts, someone would come
check, but that was with everyone.

Anothe rexperience I had was in the fAyetteville are of North
Carolina. The group, Thundering Paws, is a foster-only organization
with bi-monthly adoption days. I took in a foster cat, a diluted
tortoiseshell medium-hair cat named Maggie, 2 years old. She was shy
and needed special attention to bring her out of her shell, Katherine
told me (who had no qualms about a foster cat staying with a blind
woman). Twice a month, Katherine would swing by my place to pick up
Maggie and me, and we would go to the PetsMart for adoption day.
Maggie was an easy cat to care for, but at adoption days, she would
huddle in the back of her cage, shy and scared, so I would walk around
with her in my arms so people could see her as she is, a lovely,
purring bundle. I ended up adopting Maggie after three months, though,
because no one showed interest in her. She has been with me for two
years now, and while we have our quarrels about poop outside the
litter box, she is otherwise a true delight and love, and I call
Katherine from time tio time to update her on Maggie's well-being and
happiness.

So, that is my experiences since I became blind. I have many other
experiences before I lost my vision as well, and please feel free to
ask me on the list or off it about working in shelters if you desire.
Animal shelters are my favourite places to voulunteer, but I have one
very crucial rule that I live by when it comes to shelters, "no-kill
only!" I once worked at a Human Society that did euthanasias, and was
asked to assist with these...I quit on the first day after seeing five
cats and nearly a dozen dogs put to death. I will not and cannot deal
with this and will only work for no-kill shelters, even if they tell
me I will not have to do anything with the euthanasias. No thank
you...I will not be part of killing any animal save if the creature is
terminally ill and in pain (as was one tomcat who had throat cancer
and was starving to death) or has no chance of living (as was one
kitten who had a deformity which kept him from being able to produce
feces). Only in these instances will I ever condone euthanasia, and I
will not work at a kill shelter ever again.

Get to know the staff at the shelter you want to work at, and  be
honest with them about what you can and cannot, want and don't want to
do, what you haven't done but want to try, and so forth. Get to know
the animals closely and give them lots of love and attention!



On 8/4/10, Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com> wrote:
> hello list,
>    I recently developed an interest in working  at an animal shelter.
> I  have some expirience with animals, but not an overwhelming amount
> of expirience.  I'm wondering what people's  expirience levels look
> like  with qanimals and animal shelters/ interactions both good and
> bad with regards to staff and  their level of reception to you, as a
> blind person working in their facility?
>   Best,
>   Darian
>
>
> --
> Darian Smith
> Skype: The_Blind_Truth
> Windows Live: Lightningrod2010 at live.com
> Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/goldengateace
>
>
> “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are
> spiritual beings having a human experience.” - Teilhard de Chardin
>
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-- 
~Jewel
Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com