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Keeping Score (Part 2)
Posted by: jn at 11:26AM MT on June 12, 2009
Within the first week of June, the assistant director of YVAS learned everything she wanted to know (and didn't want to know) about the national event, Adopt-A-Cat Month, or in animal shelter-speak, better known as Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat Month. But not before I explained it to her (you see, when asked, neither she nor any other employee even knew what the event was).
Not that it mattered, not one little bit. I won't go into the long and sordid details, but suffice it to say, an interesting "conversation" ensued, and then, I was promptly hung up on. How dare I ask if any special event has been considered for the 78 cats awaiting responsible loving homes. How dare I waste someone else's time asking this and other questions. How dare I assume, she, the assistant director, should be burdened with this or the multitude of tasks bestowed upon her. I'm not sure exactly when is the best time to address a question or concern to the YVAS, or when to expect an email inquiry or phone call to be returned (apparently, never), but please, if you want to live, do not, I repeat, do not call on a weekend, and moreover, do not expect to reasonably communicate with the assistant director (or whomever answers the phone before it is handed to the assistant director), unless you are prepared to have your sentences interrupted repeatedly, and to be yelled at, and to be prepared to march yourself right down to the shelter immediately to see if you can do the job better. Nonetheless, it was eventually revealed to me from the assistant director that there was no real "structure" in place yet, that they have been without a director for some time (um, I was aware of that), and that there was no real volunteer force in place yet, despite "a pile of applications on the desk". Apparently, they have no one designated to interview, no one designated to train, and the assistant director was clear that she did not know to whom that job fell upon. Apparently, it wasn't the assistant director. I was asked to whom did I think that job belonged to. I suggested in absence of a director, perhaps the assistant director or another designated employee. I attempted to suggest other remedies for various things she was talking about (or should I say, shouting about), and managed to get a few words in edgewise, such as taking my request for that special kitty event, and her own issues up with the board of directors. (Gasp!) Needless to say, when I spoke with her, she was clearly frazzled, and I almost apologized for calling on her on a weekend, until I remembered she never answered my original question, what about that special event for the cats (in which I offered several ideas and was fully prepared to help and support such an event)? (Gasp!) And so, I asked that she bring up this request (and address a couple other issues) to the attention of the board of directors. Apparently, that task is not in the Assistant Director's job description. I don't want to sound overly-critical of the staff at YVAS just yet. After all, I supported, and still do, their desire to succeed and to reach their goals. I will continue to support them as long as they can show the public direct results. I forgive the fact that they have been without a director until now, and I forgive some shortcomings with the realization that these things take time with any transition. Maybe it's not even a forgiveness issue, maybe it's just simple understanding. I've even considered that perhaps Ms. Assistant Director might be having a bad day or was just simply in a bad mood. I do not, however, forgive lack of clarity in the answers for questions asked, and being accused of taking up someone's time because that someone failed to answer the question(s) in clarity in the first place. I do not forgive the lack of foresight and planning that may have helped YVAS considerably in placing their cats into new homes (and of other rescues who might have benefited as well). And, I don't forgive the way I was yelled at and accused of "not understanding", simply for asking questions and offering input. I reminded Ms. Assistant Director that communication failed with the last BAS, I hope it doesn't fail with the new YVAS. I reminded Ms. Assistant Director that all she need do is inform and ASK the public for help, if it is needed (I suggested remedies for that). I reminded Ms. Assistant Director that the public is watching, lest she forget that, and that transparency was necessary to communicate the needs to the public, in order to succeed (I suggested remedies for that as well). To be fair, although frustration with the assistant director is putting it mildly, I admit that my voice raised a few times as well, not out of accusatory nature, but so that calm communication could remain civilized and maintain the decorum. My attempts failed. I failed. I've had time to think about it now. And I find myself asking these questions, no longer of Ms. Assistant Director, and not to focus so much on the negative, but to look for solutions, and I ask them of you as well: What can we do? What ARE we going to do? How CAN we help? How can we help get 96 beautiful, wonderful cats out of the shelter (and other shelters) and into responsible homes? How do we effectively get the community to respond?
Posted by: jn at 11:15AM MT on June 12, 2009
On May 28, I posted about Adopt-A-Cat Month , awaiting any news that maybe, just maybe, the Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter or the local rescue groups would plan for, and advertise the event. After all, the YVAS professed its desire to reach out to the community in ways we'd never witnessed before, and promised to focused on desire to educate the public about the importance of pet adoption.
In almost all shelters across the country, the number of cats always exceeds the number of dogs. The reason for this is that most often, shelters do not take measures to promote the value of owning cats, do not place emphasis on that value, and sometimes, the cat section in a shelter is on the opposite end of the dog section, leaving cats often ignored or misrepresented (not that I suggest that cats and dogs be placed in close environments). Another reason is that people who own dogs are more likely to get them spayed and neutered early on, thereby decreasing the number of litters produced. Such is not the case with cats. What better way to encourage the public to adopt cats, during the month of June? What better way to work toward increasing space allowing other cats to temporarily be held until adopted? What better way to impress the public and thereby create consistency throughout the entire year and every year thereafter? June 4, the first week of Adopt-A-cat Month. No news from local shelters and rescue organizations. No advertisements. No notice in the papers, and no notice on local news stations. No plea to the community about the countless number of cats available for adoption. Ok, I think to myself, perhaps they are simply and innocently unaware of this important national event? I send a message off to YVAS, and to another local rescue group. Neither respond. I omitted the other groups for the following reasons (although I feel this does not give them immunity in the long term): one has their hands full with an entirely different situation. Another has relatively few cats. Another apparently doesn't have enough cats that warrant a public plea to adopt. Now, let's look at the statistics. As of today, according to their websites, as well as petfinder.com , listings for adoptable cats are as follows (for YVAS, I included cats listed on the site including "on hold" cats): Yellowstone Valley Animal Shelter: 96 cats and kittens (this number has increased by 18 in less than a week) Help For Homeless Pets: 96 cats and kittens (this number has increased by 9 in less than a week) Last Chance Cat Sanctuary: 11 cats (I feel this is an inaccurate number, since the director has been known to state on various occasions, they have anywhere from 60-100-plus cats) Hope Haven Animal Rescue: 9 cats BARK Animal Rescue Kare: 1 cat Keep in mind, that as in the case for HHP, LCCS and HHAR, many of those cats have been in their care for quite some time, a few for as long as 9 years or more! With the exception of a few "special needs" cats, the total number of combined cats available for adoption in Billings is pretty high. Also keep in mind that this may not represent the true number, since some of the rescue groups and the shelter do not always place ALL of the cats they have in their care, on their websites. Nor can we accurately account for the number of cats and kittens who may be in temporary foster homes at this time. Given the number of available cats for adoption, the need to focus on getting these cats into responsible loving homes is dire, especially due to "kitten season", in which spring and fall are the months intact females are likely to mate and birth in the hundreds and thousands. Yet, not one organization thought to utilize Adopt-A-Cat Month. Not one. And where are the public service announcements begging/encouraging pet owners to spay and neuter? Does kitten season not correlate with a dire need to send that message to the public? Sure, it's an old message, one that often falls on deaf ears, but that doesn't mean we should become complacent in delivering that message and stepping up to increase awareness and education. To their credit, and I DO wish to give them credit, most of the rescue groups do host occasional spay and neuter events, as well as low-cost vaccine clinics. But, they are few and far between. We have to change this. As far as Adopt-A-Cat Month, it could have been a very easy, low-cost event to promote. In my previous article, June Is Adopt-A-Cat Month!, I presented a few websites inspiring creative ideas to promote cat adoption. This is not a little-known event, it is a national event, one in which many shelters across the country take advantage of, and quite wisely at that. It is an excellent opportunity for shelters to increase awareness, educate, get creative, impress the public and keep them coming back for more, or, at the very least, maintain public support. More importantly, it saves lives. Except in Billings, MT. I'm generally a forgiving person. I understand the trials and obstacles that animal shelters face on a daily basis. I understand time restraint and lack of funding, poor community support and all of that. What I don't understand is the lack of thought or idea. I don't understand how a website can place in bold text under a "Calendar of Events" section stating that "June is Adopt-A-Cat Month", yet, no one even knows what it is, that it is not recognized and utilized to their favor. I don't understand how not one person at that shelter had no clue what the Adopt-A-Cat event was, much less took the time to find out, on their own. I don't understand why a veterinarian representing the shelter didn't think to bring that up, in advance, and plan for, through a meeting, or perhaps just in passing to a staff member. I don't understand how a vet on the board of directors can showcase a pet on a local news station weekly segment, make a statement that the shelter currently has 100 cats, yet not consider a well-known national event to aid in lowering that number significantly. As of June 7, there were 78 cats and kittens shown on the yvas.org website. There were 19 dogs. Today, June 12, there are 96 cats and kittens shown on the yvas.org website. That's a stark increase of 18 cats in just 5 days. There are 27 dogs. Imagine if an Adopt-A-Cat event were being held. I'm willing to give the YVAS a temporary pass this time. Only because they've been without a director (until last week, that is), and because apparently "no structure", and "no volunteer force" is currently in place. If you think you're confused on that last part, so am I. Allow me to explain.....
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