Back in my early twenties(over twenty years) I worked at the PSPCA in Phildelphia. I was always the main voice in meetings sticking up for cats. Pretty much every one at the time liked cats but the emphasis was mostly on dogs. I thought it was wrong to focus mostly on one species- dogs, especially when cats were surrendered and euthanized the most there at that time. (Also, cats are more suitable pets for most people living in an urban environment, like Philadelphia.) I would argue quite a bit for cats; and, I was the first person to actually push for TNR and cat rescues groups to come in to take adoptable cats.
I also came under scrutiny by other co-workers when I had cages put in my office to hold cats. (The cats in my office sometimes did stink bc they were sometimes males just freshly neutered from my TNR program- but there wasn't enough space in the hospital to house them. So, I not wanting to limit access to the cats being neutered would have them in my office.) It was not comfortable for me or my fellow office companion, Jen but I would rather stink then deny a cat the opportunity to be surgically sterilized for its managed colony. I still remember getting called up into the Executive Director's office and being told I had to take the cages out of my office due to the smell- as the manager of maintenance, Mike brought up the complaint to my boss, Erik. It upset me greatly but I was not going to accept this death sentence for cats without a fight. I exclaimed I did not like the smell either but every office in this shelter should have animals. Every space in this building should have animals if space was the reason for them to be killed or not sterilized. I won that small fight for the stinky tom cat I had in my office that day. That cat did eventually get adopted too- coincidently by a radio host (lady) on WIP when I took him there as a representative for the PSCPA. It was a rags to riches story. I was grateful for my boss to listen to my side. However, I was disgusted by the maintenance department's lack of compassion for the animals and for the lack of respect to my office as he did work for the PSPCA after all.
I remember the Head of PR coming into my office asking if it were dogs, would I fight so much for them as I do cats. I remember being offended by her comment at first. However I still remember my response to her, "I will always fight for the "underdog", whoever needs me the most." See, it does not matter who it is you are fighting for. What matters is the need you fill for the wrong to be righted. I gave a voice to the cats, when no one else there gave them a strong enough voice to be heard and to save them.
While I was at the PSPCA, I also re-wrote the cat and some dog information sheets. Before I wrote them they were in long paragraph form- too wordy. Most people won't read something wordy. I wrote the information sheets to be more easily read and more specific to cat issues. For example, I wrote a Q&A form on cat litter box issues. If information is provided in an easy format, people would be more inclined to use it. If people have access to quality information about cat health and behavior issues, they will have efficient tools to deal with problems, lessening animals being surrendered to the shelter.
I also started a FREE TNR program there called Project Purr. This program was a pilot program to have cats from a managed colony in Philadelphia surgically sterilized by our veterinarians. Dr Murarka was the head veterinarian at the time there and did a couple sterilizations weekly for free. Our teamwork, along with the colony caregivers, helped lessen the amount of stray/feral cats in Philadelphia.
I also started the Foster Care Program at the PSPCA. The former shelter manager, Karen, was supposed to do it but failed miserably at the job. She had less than a handful of animals being fostered each month. I took over the position (while still being the Humane Educator) to save hundreds if not thousands of needy animals. I was saving so many animals with such an influx of volunteers (I personally recruited) that I had to hire an assistant, Jessica, to deal with all the fosters. It was a tough but wonderful life saving time.
I also instituted a program where if you were surrendering a mom cat and babies, we would offer you a free spay of the mom cat if you would take her back home to live with you. The kittens would become "property" of the PSPCA and eventually adopted out. The shelter manager, Karen was supposed to offer this (in the back) at the surrender desk but too often failed to do so. I think she let her ego get in the way of saving lives.
I still remember going to seminars on shelter protocols and proper safety. After one such seminar, I made copies of all the info I received to give to all the Directors at the weekly meeting. I shared this info because I believe that knowledge is power. I wanted everyone to be afforded the valuable info I had received. One of the most important discoveries I learned was that PARVO, a main killer in shelters for dogs, could be eradicated by washing the bedding, cleaning rags, etc with a bit of bleach added to the wash cycle of those items. Karen, the shelter manager refused to implement using bleach. She said the ragged towels would have bleach stains. I rebutted saying no, that only happens when you use too much bleach plus lives our more important than bleach stains. Erik, the Executive Director agreed with me. (Mind you, Karen was the same person who told workers they had to cut off the head of a snake to check for rabies after the snake bit someone. I overheard her saying this and laughed at her. I told her snakes can't get rabies. They are not mammals. Her face went red- not sure of if it was from anger or embarrassment. I did not care. I walked away.)
As the Humane Educator, I enjoyed doing educational programs for students. Most of the programs before me were geared to young kids. However, I saw the need for older kids to learn about animals and compassion since the City was becoming violent and most older kids took care of their pets. I created several new programs for the department. The one that I saw with the most influence was my Mediation program. It was implemented to demonstrate the effectiveness of mediation in problem solving. I would have students come up with ten solutions to a pet problem. For instance, a dog defecating on a neighbor's yard. I appointed one student the dog owner and one student the neighbor with the yard being defecated on. The class would come up with ten solutions and I (or a student volunteer) would write them on the chalkboard. After the solutions were written on the chalkboard, I would ask the dog owner to pick one he did not agree with..we would then write a line through it. When they picked a solution off I would ask why they did not accept the solution. This makes the other side develop an understanding or empathy for another. I would then go to the yard owner to pick a solution they refused to accept and so on. With the final two solutions, the class would then have a say as to what resolve could happen peacefully. Sometimes both solutions left would be the answer. Sometimes one side would give in. The students really enjoyed it. It was engaging and useful to their everyday life, not just with their pets.
I still remember some of my last days at the PSPCA when I left as the Director of Volunteers. I had created the whole department from just a handful of volunteers to at least a hundred in months. (As my body and mind grew weary from my obvious pregnancy I no longer wanted the stress but felt satisfied in what I created would be instilled.) I still remember some volunteers making me tear up with their sadness for me leaving. I remember quite a few saying they would have never volunteered if it wasn't for me. That I made them feel needed and wanted. It was not an easy decision to leave.
I miss my time at the PSPCA. I worked with some of the finest people in Philadelphia. My Executive Director was a good man who really taught me how to be an effective and fair manager. He did not micro manage his staff. He believed in us and gave us the opportunity to make lives better, all lives better in PA.
