Do me a favor for your own safety!

SC`s Stars II · June 2010

So as many of you know I work at a humane society. Because so many of the dogs are under socialized and have unpredictable temperments, we have very strict rules about visiting the kennels. Our rules read as the following (these are posted on the door right before you enter the kennel area) 1. DO NOT stick your fingers into the kennels. 2. DO NOT attempt to feed or pet any dog without a staff's approval 3. DO NOT leave children under the age of 15 alone in the kennels. 4. DO NOT attempt to open any kennels. 5. If you wish to see a dog, please ask a staff member. Now here I am, cleaning and organizing and I hear the door open. I peek around the corner to see these 2 boys, about 8 years old walk in. I wait, thinking thier parent is right behind them. But no one comes. Me: "Excuse me, is your parent here?" Boys: "No." Me: "Then I'll have to ask you to leave. You have to be 15 to be in here by yourself." Boys: "You can't tell us what to do!" Me: "Yes, I can. Now I ask that you please leave for your own safety as well as the dogs." Boys: "Then why are you in here by yourself?" Me: "I work here. Can you please go find your parent, then you can come back if they are with you." Boys: "NO!" (they proceed to walk over to the kennels and stick their fingers in the kennels) Me: "Boys, please don't do that!" Boys: -ignore me- Me: -walks back to get boss, keeping my eye on them- My BOSS had to go track down their parent who was at the OTHER shelter at the bottom of the hill. Oh.My.Goodness.

RoyalRaccoon · June 2010

Do you volunteer at a private shelter? When I was volunteering at a private(but contracted) shelter they were very strict. No one under 18 in the kennels by themselves(a staff member will escort you if you don't have a parent there), and no one under 18 at all in the puppy/quarantine room. They would physically escort you out if you choose to break the rules(people under 18 kept wanting to go in puppy/quarantine room). However, up at the county shelter you could pretty much go anywhere, but quarantine as long as you looked old enough to be reasonable(about 13ish I assume). Private shelters have to pay more for insurance and what not, while county doesn't, so private shelters tend to be very cautious, or at least that's what I've concluded. For future reference I'd talk to your boss to ask if you are allowed to physically escort an unattended child out to the lobby or what not, if they in or attempting to enter the kennels alone, because it's bound to happen again. I can't stand kids, especially obnoxious ones that are allowed to run around in public.

SC`s Stars II · June 2010

PrinceSushi wrote:

Do you volunteer at a private shelter? When I was volunteering at a private(but contracted) shelter they were very strict. No one under 18 in the kennels by themselves(a staff member will escort you if you don't have a parent there), and no one under 18 at all in the puppy/quarantine room. They would physically escort you out if you choose to break the rules(people under 18 kept wanting to go in puppy/quarantine room). However, up at the county shelter you could pretty much go anywhere, but quarantine as long as you looked old enough to be reasonable(about 13ish I assume). Private shelters have to pay more for insurance and what not, while county doesn't, so private shelters tend to be very cautious, or at least that's what I've concluded. For future reference I'd talk to your boss to ask if you are allowed to physically escort an unattended child out to the lobby or what not, if they in or attempting to enter the kennels alone, because it's bound to happen again. I can't stand kids, especially obnoxious ones that are allowed to run around in public.

It's a county shelter. Our shelter is on the top of a hill, and at the bottom of the hill there is a big dog shelter. The shelter is a shelter that will put down dogs, but we as a human society do not. It is incredibly small and we do not have the facilities that we should since we get no government funding, it is all out of donations. As soon as you walk in the door there are cats on each side. There is a door about 12 feet past the front door that leads to the kennels. So usually everyone can see everyone. It's just something that worried me.

Pepper97 · June 2010

Wow, I've volunteered at our county shelter since I was 10, but my mom did have a paying job there, and I've always been very mature for my age. We never had any dogs that would create a problem, the potential adopters have always been free to feed any dog a treat, take any dog out for a walk. I would've escorted the family out of the shelter. Anyone that disrespectful to humans is going to be disrespectful to an animal. Rules are rules, set for a purpose. If you have problem dogs like that, the rules need to be enforced. A few years ago, we had a couple and a 4/5 year old child come in right before closing. At our shelter, children under 8 have to stay with a guardian at all times, though if a child 8/under that is alone isn't causing any harm, we usually let it fly. We told the couple they could look around, that we were about to close but we would be there for a few more hours cleaning/feeding so they could browse while we were there. They all walked into the feline room, and I went to the quarentine room to feed the dogs back there. The next thing I know, there's a 4 year old sitting in the middle of the room filled with potentionally rabid dogs, holding a kitten. He was being very rough with the poor kitten. I quickly took the kitten away from him, took him out of the quarentine room back into the feline room to find an entire litter of 6 kittens had escaped. Someone had left the door open. I put the kitten back in the cage, gave the baby back to his parents, and ran around looking for the other five kittens. I found one in the quarentine room, dancing around the cages making all the dogs insaine, 3 others in the puppy room, and the last one in the dog room. It's a wonder none were injured. After all of the kittens were safe, I tried to find the family, but they were already gone. None of the other workers knew about the incident, I hadn't had time to tell them. I asked my mom where the family had gone, she told me they'd adopted a kitten and left. I still wonder to this day if the cat's alive.

Pepper97 · June 2010

Wow, I've volunteered at our county shelter since I was 10, but my mom did have a paying job there, and I've always been very mature for my age. We never had any dogs that would create a problem, the potential adopters have always been free to feed any dog a treat, take any dog out for a walk. I would've escorted the family out of the shelter. Anyone that disrespectful to humans is going to be disrespectful to an animal. Rules are rules, set for a purpose. If you have problem dogs like that, the rules need to be enforced. A few years ago, we had a couple and a 4/5 year old child come in right before closing. At our shelter, children under 8 have to stay with a guardian at all times, though if a child 8/under that is alone isn't causing any harm, we usually let it fly. We told the couple they could look around, that we were about to close but we would be there for a few more hours cleaning/feeding so they could browse while we were there. They all walked into the feline room, and I went to the quarentine room to feed the dogs back there. The next thing I know, there's a 4 year old sitting in the middle of the room filled with potentionally rabid dogs, holding a kitten. He was being very rough with the poor kitten. I quickly took the kitten away from him, took him out of the quarentine room back into the feline room to find an entire litter of 6 kittens had escaped. Someone had left the door open. I put the kitten back in the cage, gave the baby back to his parents, and ran around looking for the other five kittens. I found one in the quarentine room, dancing around the cages making all the dogs insaine, 3 others in the puppy room, and the last one in the dog room. It's a wonder none were injured. After all of the kittens were safe, I tried to find the family, but they were already gone. None of the other workers knew about the incident, I hadn't had time to tell them. I asked my mom where the family had gone, she told me they'd adopted a kitten and left. I still wonder to this day if the cat's alive.

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Do me a favor for your own safety!

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