I am not trying to be mean, but...

catloverin_ks

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I dunno how it is around your town/cities, in the shelters,but the closest one we have is about 15 minutes from me and I visit once a week. And everytime I go in, it seems like its always an old woman, or an old man that are volunteering. Its so good that they wanna be there, but seriously the woman today, should NOT of been there!! She couldnt hardly even walk~it was sad
I noticed that one cat didnt even have litter in his box.
Then some guy and his girl came in to "reclaim" a dog and the old woman was not believing the man that it was his dog!

Just wondered what its like at your shelter(s)??
 

leto86

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Well, from Sunday to friday, I am the youngest one there.. by 30 years at least.


But on Satuday we get ALOT of kids in to help. Too many sometimes. You'd think it'd be faster with more people to clean... but it takes longer because some aren't doing what they are supposed to, some aren't doing anything at all.. and you have to keep showing them how to do things or telling them to leave the cats until the work is done.


But the majority of our every day volunteers are 40+.
 

strange_wings

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We don't have one.

There's a group that's raising money, has bought the land, and has people onboard that have already built the model for it. The people themselves... I'm not sure how many of them have a realistic view of how it's going to be. They say they're only going to accept some surrenders, they don't realize lots of people will dump animals... especially in a rural community where lots of people do so already.


I'm sure none of them have spent time in one of the city shelters. As rude as it sounds, some of the people proposing it are rather um.. upper class? and probably wouldn't want to spend hours cleaning kennels or litter boxes, or time with animals that are not theirs. There's still a big distinction here between stray = deserves to be "removed" and pet = love.


I tried suggesting to them, a room full of vets, and animal "lovers" that we really need a TNR program in this area... the reaction (mostly from the vets) wasn't exactly kind.


(sorry, I rambled a bit)
 

Moz

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It's all young people volunteering at our shelter, with the exception of Brad, an older cowboy who does the dishes.
 

dragoriana

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Originally Posted by catloverin_ks

I dunno how it is around your town/cities, in the shelters,but the closest one we have is about 15 minutes from me and I visit once a week. And everytime I go in, it seems like its always an old woman, or an old man that are volunteering. Its so good that they wanna be there, but seriously the woman today, should NOT of been there!! She couldnt hardly even walk~it was sad
I noticed that one cat didnt even have litter in his box.
Then some guy and his girl came in to "reclaim" a dog and the old woman was not believing the man that it was his dog!

Just wondered what its like at your shelter(s)??
I was the youngest person at VAAT. Most of the women were either single 40 something mums or in their 60s/70s. Only one or two were a teeny older than me. All the young people were working with the dogs.
 

greycat2

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We have a cat shelter (no dog shelter) about 5-10 minutes away in our town and the ages vary here but mostly there are women in their 30's and up. There are a few men there as well.
 

white cat lover

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I think I'm about the yougest one there! The other two gals...one is 30 & the other is old & nasty(she tells me I'm ugly a lot!)...like 45. There's a guy there....like maybe 35-40? Has two kids in high school.

We get the "little kid" crowd every once in awhile. Nice in the summer to send them out to walk dogs. 4 kids to a dog.
In the winter, they just make things more difficult. When there are younger volunteers, you have to watch them to make sure they are doing things right, washing between animals, etc.
 

dragoriana

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Originally Posted by white cat lover

the other is old & nasty(she tells me I'm ugly a lot!)...like 45.
Have you tried setting one of the unruly dogs on her? *grins evily* what a rude old thing
 

miagi's_mommy

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the youngest volunteer there is 20, she's awesome and besides her, I am the youngest volunteer there.
(I am 21)
 

cinder

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the other is old & nasty(she tells me I'm ugly a lot!)...like 45.
Not that you would ever do such a thing, but telling someone who is 45 that they are old would be considered by some to be just as rude as telling someone they're ugly.


I worked on a few committees at the shelter. There were usually a couple guys and the rest women, mostly all middle aged. The TNR group was about the same mix. Actually some of the youngest women there were the veterinarians. Some of the older ladies really couldn't do any heavy work, but they could sit and watch while the animals come out of anesthesia, put together surgery packs, check in people... In a cooperative effort, every job is important. When you're dealing with volunteers you get the good with the bad, and that includes young and old.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by Cinder

Not that you would ever do such a thing, but telling someone who is 45 that they are old would be considered by some to be just as rude as telling someone they're ugly.
I liked her until she told me I was ugly. I will go out of my way not to irritate people IRL. But she just out of the blue one day turns to me & says, "You're not very pretty. Your hair & face make you look ugly."


After that I call her the "old lady" of the place. And not in a friendly way, either. I won't let one mean lady stop me from volunteering!
 

cinder

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But she just out of the blue one day turns to me & says, "You're not very pretty. Your hair & face make you look ugly."
Hmph... You shoulda replied that her attitude made her ugly. Would I be wrong in guessing that maybe your *look* does not coincide with hers? Some of them old people just don't get certain hair colors/styles, piercings, tatoos, etc.


If she says it again, tell her to knock if off or you'll have to put a muzzle on her.
 

white cat lover

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Originally Posted by Cinder

Hmph... You shoulda replied that her attitude made her ugly. Would I be wrong in guessing that maybe your *look* does not coincide with hers? Some of them old people just don't get certain hair colors/styles, piercings, tatoos, etc.


If she says it again, tell her to knock if off or you'll have to put a muzzle on her.
Tempting....I don't know that I said/did anything to warrant a comment like that. ...shrugs... She's entitled to her opinion, however. Just as I am entitled to mine!
 

sarahp

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At my shelter there is maybe about 5 or 6 people under 25, a bunch under 40, and a bunch between 40-65, and a few retired folk who help out.

It's a really good mix of cat lovers
 

starryeyedtiger

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I work at our local shelter. I also am the primary foster mom for the kittens. I LOVE it there
Everyone gets along well for the most part and we are all in it for the right reasons- to make sure the animals get the best care possible and find loving homes. It's a great environment
Once in a while though i do admit i get frusterated with some volunteers- some of them just give inaccurate info to people who are looking to adopt- one guy who's a little bit "off" over the weekend told some lady who wanted to come in on monday and adopt a pup that we weren't open to the public on mondays!
What the devil!
We are open every single day but sunday. Yet he wanted to argue with me even though i worked there- i just ignored him as politely as i could and pulled the lady aside to let her know we would be open today. I mean goodness- that guy could have prevented a wonderful animals from going into a great home because he thinks he "knows it all" - it gets frusterating when the volunteers try to get an attitude with the employees- it makes our jobs much harder. That being said though- those types of volunteers are few and far between- and we have EXCELLENT ones who are there all the time- i love the fact that some parents bring their children in and teach them how to clean and walk the animals- teaching them responsibility and a love for animals
It melts my heart!!
We also have a group of devoted high schoolers who come religiously every week to walk the dogs and help clean- i love those guys and girls! They are really going to make a difference with the things they are doing
/ There is one other thing i thought of that is also frusterating about working at a city run shelter- the people who get sent over to do community service hours- a lot of times they're punks who don't want to do anything, are argumentative, and just rude! We had a 17yr old guy in this weekend who was a royal nightmare!!!! Thankfully though- one of our older animal control officers (big guy - he's really nice but he doesn't take any dirt) put him to work. Hopefully that kid will straighten himself out - but i just don't think our shelter is the place for them to do community service- especially when they really don't want to change- they don't care about the animals, they don't want to be there, and they are just rude- i wish they'd find somewhere else to send them and let the people who truely want to be there be there without them getting in the way. Other than that though, no complaints- i love it there.....I love it soooo much that i take my work home with me in the form of my foster kittens
I started volunteering there long before i got my job there. I have an AWESOME relationship with my coworkers and we all work together as a team to get things accomplished and make sure our animals are taken care of. It's a really nice environment and really supportive.
 

miagi's_mommy

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Your shelter sounds like the shelter where I volunteer, Nikki!
I am the only one that comes in every day that is a volunteer and most of the kids that do community service do NOTHING and stand there and bring their cell phones to talk on.


It gets rather annoying. the lady who runs the shelter will ask them to leave if they just want to play on their cell phones and not help out. this one kid that was doing community service was helping me and another lady vaccinate cats and went to go walk dogs right after that and came back 10 minutes later and I asked who needs to be walked and he said he walked them all.

I didn't believe him, because we had 13 dogs back there.. so I walked them again which is no biggie since I am the #1 dog walker/dog lady there.
and he just held onto a dog I gave a bath and just stood there and didn't move when I asked him or anything. I think he's all done with his hours, I hope.
 

starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by Miagi's_Mommy

Your shelter sounds like the shelter where I volunteer, Nikki!
I am the only one that comes in every day that is a volunteer and most of the kids that do community service do NOTHING and stand there and bring their cell phones to talk on.


It gets rather annoying. the lady who runs the shelter will ask them to leave if they just want to play on their cell phones and not help out. this one kid that was doing community service was helping me and another lady vaccinate cats and went to go walk dogs right after that and came back 10 minutes later and I asked who needs to be walked and he said he walked them all.

I didn't believe him, because we had 13 dogs back there.. so I walked them again which is no biggie since I am the #1 dog walker/dog lady there. and he just held onto a dog I gave a bath and just stood there and didn't move when I asked him or anything. I think he's all done with his hours, I hope.
Yup- community service people can get really frusteration.
However it is nice when one or two of them realize what a positive place it is and keep up the work after their hours are over as volunteers. Happens once in a blue moon
I feel ya on the bath thing- i bathed 18 puppies today
3 of which attempted to be "jumpers" lol lets just say i had to take a SECOND shower when i got home
The great thing about the shelter i'm at is the other technician, Christie- we have the same job/duties and we get along REALLY well- so working as a team is not a problem and we get our work done well and quickly
/ By the way- i LOVE the volunteers/ dog walkers at our shelter!
Right now we have over 40 dogs- it's soooo hard for us to walk them all on top of everything else we have to do -so when people take the time to come in and socialize them- it's soooo nice! The dogs really love it too!
We keep a little dry erase board and record all the dogs that get walked each day so we can alternate them as much as possible
We also ALL work together to clean the dog kennels and the rest of the shelter- even our head person down to the lowest paid person...it's really nice because everyone is soooo sweet to each other and helpfull- just makes it a great environment.
If one of us has too much work and needs help- the other person's always right there chipping in
It really is a great shelter.
 
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