PUBLISHED BY THE HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES JAN-FEB 08 aimal services / rescues / shelters The Facts About Ferrets Testifyig for Aimals Bad Cats, Bad Cats Whatcha Goa Do?
Shelter Medicie, p.53 I ve oticed with dismay that wheever I lecture to veteriarias about cruelty, the room is ever as crowded as it is whe I talk about disease trasmissio... >> aimal services / rescues / shelters 30 Teach the Childre Well Educators aim to leave o child behid, but may of the most importat lessos kids ca lear about kidess ad o-violet coflict resolutio, for example are ow beig edged out i favor of stadardized lessos ad regular testig. But by tyig your lessos to ew educatioal requiremets, you ca get humae educatio back ito the curriculum. 36 What is a Good Death? While commuities across the coutry work to reduce euthaasia rates, some shelters struggle with a more fudametal issue: edig the use of the carbo mooxide chamber. Log cosidered a out-of-date method, gas chambers remai i use i some commuities due to old laws ad lack of fudig ad traiig. But through legislatio ad metorig programs, aimal advocates are helpig shelters make the switch.
aimal services / rescues / shelters 5 Letterbox 7 Scoop Study examies stress reductio methods for shelter workers; the SPCA of Texas takes dow a puppy mill; the romace of Valetie s Day helps a Virgiia shelter hit o potetial adopters; a Lake Tahoe bear gets lucky; ad more. 18 Coffee Break I your space, you talk about your favorite parts of your day-to-day work. 21 Creature Feature They re log, they re lea, ad they re ot so mea! Feisty ferrets have a rep for beig ibbly ad stiky, but these relatives of the weasel have gotte a bad rap. We provide a guide for their care withi the shelter ad a glimpse of why their advocates have a maia for mustelids. 43 The 101 Departmet A day o the witess stad ca make eve the most gregarious aimal cotrol officer ervous, but our tips o providig effective court testimoy ca prepare you for the crossest of cross examiatios. 49 Q & A Author Jo Katz has bee workig with dogs for decades. But whe a dog he loved deeply became umaageably aggressive, he was faced with a terrible choice. Katz talks about his border collie, Orso, ad the difficulty owers ad shelters face whe dealig with aggressive dogs. 53 Shelter Medicie Veteriarias are ofte i the best positio to otice sigs of aimal cruelty, yet studies have show they seldom report their suspicios. Dr. Lila Miller wats to see more veteriarias takig the lead o cruelty issues i their commuities. 59 The Behavior Departmet Bad cats, bad cats whatcha goa do? A post-adoptio survey helps the Aimal Rescue League of Bosto figure out how their adopted cats are gettig o i their ew homes. 68 Off Leash Witer brigs froze water bowls to Carroll Couty, Md., but ow whe aimal cotrol officers talk to egliget pet owers, they have sciece o their side. Aimal Shelterig is a publicatio of The Humae Society of the Uited States. ANIMAL SHELTERING MAGAZINE STAFF Editor Carrie Alla Staff Writer/Copy Editor Katia Atoiades Circulatio & Marketig Maager Michelle Riley Advertisig Maager ReNae Vorgert Desig Bussolati Associates Editor i Chief, Periodicals Nacy Lawso HSUS REVIEWERS & CONTRIBUTORS Joh Syder, Vice Presidet, Compaio Aimals Kim Itio, Director, Aimal Shelterig Issues Betsy McFarlad, Director of Commuicatios, Compaio Aimals Stephaie Shai, Director of Outreach, Compaio Aimals Cory Smith, Program Maager, Aimal Shelterig Issues Chairma, Board of Directors, Humae Society of the Uited States David O. Wiebers, M.D. Presidet ad CEO, Humae Society of the Uited States Waye Pacelle ABOUT THIS MAGAZINE Aimal Shelterig (ISSN 0734-3078) is published bimothly by The Humae Society of the Uited States. Our magazie serves the people o the frotlies of aimal protectio by offerig practical expertise, techical kow-how, forums for debate, program profiles, ews o the latest research ad treds, ad a sese of ispiratio ad commuity amog those strivig to make the world a better place for aimals. Subscriptio Prices Sigle-copy subscriptios are $20 each ($25 for subscribers outside the U.S.). Orgaizatios orderig extra copies for staff, voluteers, board members, ad others ca receive special discouts: orders of 2 to 9 copies cost $14 per copy; orders of 10 copies or more cost $10 per copy. Members of Shelter Parters receive a 10-percet discout. For more iformatio, visit aimalshelterig.org. Circulatio Offices To order, reew, chage your address, or iquire about other subscriptio-related issues, visit our website at aimalshelterig.org or cotact our circulatio office: Aimal Shelterig P.O. Box 351; Cogers, NY 10920-0351 866-512-3111 (toll free) 845-267-3004 (local) 845-267-3478 (fax) aimalshelterig@cambeywest.com Editorial Offices Please sed letters to the editor, Coffee Break submissios, ad article ideas to: Aimal Shelterig magazie/hsus 2100 L St., NW Washigto, DC 20037 202-452-1100 (phoe) 301-258-3081 (fax) asm@humaesociety.org aimalshelterig.org Advertisig Iformatio Cotact ReNae Vorgert, Aimal Shelterig s advertisig maager, at 701-572-9100 or rvorgert@humaesociety.org. Job Listigs To post a free job aoucemet, visit aimalshelterig.org. Reprit Iformatio We ecourage private humae orgaizatios ad public aimal services agecies to reprit Aimal Shelterig articles by HSUS authors i whole or i part, without prior permissio, provided that the repritig serves educatioal purposes i keepig with the magazie s itet. Please credit the article s author as well as Aimal Shelterig magazie, ad sed us a copy of the reprited material. If you are iterested i repritig articles by o-hsus authors, special permissio may be required; e-mail us at asm@ humaesociety.org. The Small Prit The HSUS does ot edorse or guaratee ay products, services, or vedors metioed i Aimal Shelterig, or ca it be resposible for problems with vedors or their products or services. Also, The HSUS reserves the right to reject, at its discretio, ay advertisig. Views expressed by o-hsus authors are ot ecessarily those of The HSUS. 2008 The Humae Society of the Uited States. All rights reserved. Aimal Shelterig Jauary/february 2008
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Letterbox Stephaie Shai ad her family adopted Molly (show with Shai i photo at left) seve moths after her brother, Pada (with Shai s daughter Mia, right). Essay Takes the Cake Ad Shelter Workers Eat It! Your woderful article metioig your good experiece at our shelter ( Judgmet Calls: Small Kids? No Dogs Allowed by Stephaie Shai, Sept-Oct 2007, p. 30), was brought to my attetio shortly after publicatio. I wated you to kow that the very ext morig, the chief operatig officer ad I suck i two gourmet cakes for the staff at our New York Aveue shelter. The staff had o idea why I was there, as I had wated it to be a surprise! I had bee able to get my hads o several copies of Aimal Shelterig, ad I gathered the staff together aroud the frot desk ad read your article out loud. As it dawed o everyoe that you were talkig about them, people bega to smile ad exchage glaces ad whe I got to the part that amed Pada, they started to cry (especially whe they saw Pada s picture). As you saw for yourself firsthad (ad poited out i your article), they do their work i very primitive facilities, ad yet they care so deeply! Most of the time, they are dealig with difficult issues ad ofte do t receive the recogitio ad appreciatio they deserve. Your article helped them feel a sese of pride i their work ad cotributios ad meat more to them tha you could ever kow. Seeig the quality of the staff ad the potetial of this orgaizatio helped me make the decisio last August to come work with these woderful people to brig forward the cause of aimals i Washigto, D.C. O the oe had I was t surprised by what I read, but I also could t be more proud of their work ad to be a part of this great orgaizatio. Lisa LaFotaie Presidet ad CEO The Washigto Humae Society Editor s Note: I her essay, Stephaie Shai detailed her family s search for ad adoptio of their dog Pada. Seve moths later, Shai s daughter Bella was browsig local shelter websites ad spied Pada s sister, who had bee retured to the shelter followig a previous adoptio. Shai s family adopted the dog ow amed Molly ad brought her home to reuite her with her brother. Deaf ad mostly blid, Molly is already busy mappig out Shai s home. I really ejoyed the articles about shelter policies ad how they are morphig costatly. Guidelies ad stadards are ecessary i the adoptio process but are oftetimes hard to set ad harder yet to adhere to. Some of the shelter s most valuable assets are the couselors who work with potetial adopters. They explai the adoptio process, aswer questios, ad iform the adopters about the pets they are iterested i. This is a great time to get some iformatio about their lifestyle ad help the adopters make wise decisios accordigly. The couselor should be takig metal otes, ad if there is ay cocer about a applicat, she should cosult a supervisor. This is better tha waitig util the applicatio has goe through ad the tellig the people waitig expectatly i the lobby that they have bee deied. O the adoptio applicatio at the shelter I voluteer at, there are questios regardig traiig, iteractig, ad carig for the ew pet, ad there is a place to fill out iformatio about past or existig pets. If the applicat respods that they will use a shock collar to trai the dog, or adopt a cat oly to keep it outside all the time to mouse, that is cause for cocer ad educatio. Our staff let applicats kow where the shelter stads o these issues ad offers them some alteratives. The key is explaiig your specific guidelies ad perhaps redirectig a adopter to aother aimal that fits her lifestyle better. It is importat that the reasos for your guidelies are carefully explaied ad questios are aswered. It is ot eough to say I do t kow or to offer a oe-size-fits-all respose like Big dogs ca t live with youg childre. Short of havig adopters take a lie-detectio test, you have to give the geeral public the beefit of the doubt, but there are steps you ca take, before ad after the adoptio takes place, to esure the aimal eds up i a appropriate home. Holly Williams, Voluteer Aimal Rescue League of Iowa Des Moies, Iowa CELEBRATE SPAY DAY USA 2008! GO TO HUMANESOCIETY.ORG/SPAYDAY FOR IDEAS.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////Scoop Support Your Local Euthaasia Techicia Study gathers stress-reductio ideas from those i the most difficult jobs By Carrie Alla Is there a staffer at your shelter who performs euthaasia? If so, whe s the last time you smiled at her, asked how she s doig, or listeed to her whe she eeded to vet? Seem like small thigs? They re ot especially if you re a maager. I a recet study of stress-reductio suggestios compiled from resposes of shelter workers aroud the coutry who perform or assist with euthaasia, support ad ecouragemet from colleagues ad maagemet raked umber oe o the list of thigs respodets say would help them cope with the stress iheret to their work. Published i the Joural of Applied Aimal Welfare Sciece (Vol. 10, No. 4), What Shelters Ca Do About Euthaasia- Related Stress: A E xamiatio of Recommedatios From Those o the Frot Lie examies the resposes of more tha 300 employees from 62 shelters aroud the coutry. Researchers S teve R o g e l b e r g, P h. D., N a t a l i e DiGiacomo, M.S., Charlie Reeve, Ph.D., ad others idetified treds that may aid shelter maagers lookig for ways to help their staff. Sevety-four percet of the respodets were female, ad most were 25 to 34 years old. Most were certified euthaasia techicias. Close to half had at least a high school educatio; aother 42 percet had atteded college as well. The survey queried respodets about their work eviromets, attitudes, ad experieces with euthaasia. It also solicited free-form recommedatios: Please tell us what you thik shelter maagemet should or could do to assist shelter workers i dealig with euthaasia-related stress. Eighty percet of respodets completed the sectio, ad researchers sorted the 359 suggestios ito 26 thematic categories. The most commo aswers fell ito the followig categories: Be supportive ad ecourage support from others (metioed by 13 percet of respodets); provide couselig ad professioal help (12 percet of respodets); allow for rotatio of euthaasia staff (11 percet); hire or provide more staff to do euthaasia (10 percet); allow for breaks ad time off (9 percet). Other categories icluded arragig support groups, commuicatig more effectively, ad providig more skills-based traiig. The most popular suggestios had to do with promotig uderstadig ad support betwee euthaasia techicias ad oeuthaasia employees who work sideby-side, the authors wrote, otig that the resposes idicated that a good umber of euthaasia techicias believe their coworkers criticism makes their jobs more difficult. The authors also idetified aimal shelters as culturally uique. Promotig a culture of support withi ay orgaizatio is a valuable goal i geeral; withi aimal shelterig orgaizatios, it may be a imperative, they wrote. After all, it is ofte the case that those charged with euthaasia resposibilities experiece a dearth of support from the public ad eve family ad frieds. Nobody wats to euthaize aimals; it takes a strog mid ad skilled, getle hads to do the job. Euthaasia techicias kow that already. But a little ackowledgmet from colleagues ad supervisors ca help them remember it ad go a log way toward easig their burde. AS Draga Trifuovic/istockphoto.com CELEBRATE SPAY DAY USA 2008! GO TO HUMANESOCIETY.ORG/SPAYDAY FOR IDEAS.