The good people who work at the Saratoga County Animal Shelter have a tremendously challenging job. For example, they need to keep their cool when an angry dog owner comes in to pick up his dog after it was rescued from running loose in traffic. Rather than expressing gratitude for the safe return of the animal, these owners respond with anger over the inconvenience to them and the fine they must pay.
Handling pets that have been abused or neglected is another stressful
aspect of the job. Since most shelter workers are attracted to the job
because they have a fondness for animals, seeing the results of abuse
or neglect can be terribly disturbing. I can only imagine that a
shelter worker has to develop a thick skin and an ability to leave the
stress and emotion at work, rather than bringing it home at the end of
the day.
Cleaning out the kennels, day in and day out, is something that must be done every morning before 10 a.m. when the shelter opens, and every afternoon after 4 p.m. when it closes. The employees must also work the desk and answer calls, often responding to the same questions again and again. They also may need to bathe dogs that come in from the streets. In a small shelter, like our county shelter, every employee must learn all of the tasks. Cross training is essential. So how do they do it all and manage to keep from becoming discouraged, or even burned out? I posed this question to Dan Butler, the shelter Supervisor, because Dan knows first hand about burn out in shelter work. A look at his long career, his seven-year break from it, and his vision today for the future of the county shelter, is a story of patience, hard work, commitment and renewal.
Dan was destined to work with animals. Beginning as a fifth grader, he regularly helped out the local veterinarian, Dr. Elmer Robinson. Further, when his dad was the chief financial officer for Skidmore College, Dan lived with his seven siblings and his parents in the Scribner House on North Broadway. There they had a menagerie of animals including rabbits, cats, dogs, fish and birds. They even had crowing roosters and a hen that lived in the carriage house, on North Broadway, no less! In short, animals and their care made up a large part of Dan's youth.
When the Saratoga County Animal Shelter was first built in 1978, Dan was one of three shelter workers. He recalls that back then, there were more puppies and kittens because people were less likely to spay or neuter their animals. He also remembers that it was rare for older animals to be adopted. At the same time, there were fewer animal rescue organizations, and there were fewer individual volunteers that could help with the animals. For 20 years, Dan worked under these difficult conditions. Then in 1999, he knew he needed to leave the shelter for his well being and the well being of the people around him. After seven years away from the shelter, working "with great groups of guys" in the public works department, Dan was reinvigorated and ready to come back to the shelter world.
Dan feels that over the years there have been signs of positive change in public opinions concerning animals and adoption. He also finds that there are more people wanting to volunteer at the shelter, there are many more rescue groups forming in the area, and there is interest in supporting a new building to replace the old shelter that had become outdated and inadequate. Things are looking up for the shelter and the animals. Dan fueled his revitalized energy to help design a new shelter, to work creatively with volunteers, and to engage with the many rescue organizations.
Today, Dan has a staff of five full-time and four part-time employees. He also has a team of volunteer dog walkers that take the dogs out for walks so the animals can get a break from their pens. Other volunteers take cats to malls, senior citizen centers, and other locations for off-site adoption clinics. Dan also gets help placing animals with the several rescue groups. In addition, there are donors who have helped with the costs of spaying and neutering, other needed medical procedures, and raised beds for the animals. Friends of the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, the fund raising arm of the shelter, has been instrumental in many of these initiatives that call for sustained fundraising.
After interviewing Dan, I began to realize that, in him, the shelter workers and the volunteers have a wonderful role model. Dan was smart enough to know when he needed a break from the shelter. He also knew when he was renewed and able to come back with a more positive vision and a deeper understanding of the day-to-day challenges that can take a toll. We are all very glad you are back, Dan! Furthermore, I am sure the staff and volunteers appreciate his understanding that each of them will find their own way to thrive and survive the challenges of shelter work. They can also remind themselves of Dan's words, "Above everything else, it is all about the animals; it's always about the animals."
For further information on the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, visit www.saratogacountyny.gov or call (518) 885-4113. Also, if you have questions about your pets, pet adoption or other related topics send them to jsweet@skidmore.edu. If we do not have the answers, we will contact people who do!
Cleaning out the kennels, day in and day out, is something that must be done every morning before 10 a.m. when the shelter opens, and every afternoon after 4 p.m. when it closes. The employees must also work the desk and answer calls, often responding to the same questions again and again. They also may need to bathe dogs that come in from the streets. In a small shelter, like our county shelter, every employee must learn all of the tasks. Cross training is essential. So how do they do it all and manage to keep from becoming discouraged, or even burned out? I posed this question to Dan Butler, the shelter Supervisor, because Dan knows first hand about burn out in shelter work. A look at his long career, his seven-year break from it, and his vision today for the future of the county shelter, is a story of patience, hard work, commitment and renewal.
Dan was destined to work with animals. Beginning as a fifth grader, he regularly helped out the local veterinarian, Dr. Elmer Robinson. Further, when his dad was the chief financial officer for Skidmore College, Dan lived with his seven siblings and his parents in the Scribner House on North Broadway. There they had a menagerie of animals including rabbits, cats, dogs, fish and birds. They even had crowing roosters and a hen that lived in the carriage house, on North Broadway, no less! In short, animals and their care made up a large part of Dan's youth.
When the Saratoga County Animal Shelter was first built in 1978, Dan was one of three shelter workers. He recalls that back then, there were more puppies and kittens because people were less likely to spay or neuter their animals. He also remembers that it was rare for older animals to be adopted. At the same time, there were fewer animal rescue organizations, and there were fewer individual volunteers that could help with the animals. For 20 years, Dan worked under these difficult conditions. Then in 1999, he knew he needed to leave the shelter for his well being and the well being of the people around him. After seven years away from the shelter, working "with great groups of guys" in the public works department, Dan was reinvigorated and ready to come back to the shelter world.
Dan feels that over the years there have been signs of positive change in public opinions concerning animals and adoption. He also finds that there are more people wanting to volunteer at the shelter, there are many more rescue groups forming in the area, and there is interest in supporting a new building to replace the old shelter that had become outdated and inadequate. Things are looking up for the shelter and the animals. Dan fueled his revitalized energy to help design a new shelter, to work creatively with volunteers, and to engage with the many rescue organizations.
Today, Dan has a staff of five full-time and four part-time employees. He also has a team of volunteer dog walkers that take the dogs out for walks so the animals can get a break from their pens. Other volunteers take cats to malls, senior citizen centers, and other locations for off-site adoption clinics. Dan also gets help placing animals with the several rescue groups. In addition, there are donors who have helped with the costs of spaying and neutering, other needed medical procedures, and raised beds for the animals. Friends of the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, the fund raising arm of the shelter, has been instrumental in many of these initiatives that call for sustained fundraising.
After interviewing Dan, I began to realize that, in him, the shelter workers and the volunteers have a wonderful role model. Dan was smart enough to know when he needed a break from the shelter. He also knew when he was renewed and able to come back with a more positive vision and a deeper understanding of the day-to-day challenges that can take a toll. We are all very glad you are back, Dan! Furthermore, I am sure the staff and volunteers appreciate his understanding that each of them will find their own way to thrive and survive the challenges of shelter work. They can also remind themselves of Dan's words, "Above everything else, it is all about the animals; it's always about the animals."
For further information on the Saratoga County Animal Shelter, visit www.saratogacountyny.gov or call (518) 885-4113. Also, if you have questions about your pets, pet adoption or other related topics send them to jsweet@skidmore.edu. If we do not have the answers, we will contact people who do!
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