Rather than all our small posts I thought we could have an ongoing shelter worker thread.
To start, a day in the life of the shelter for those who are thinking about volunteering but aren't too sure what is involved and how they can help. This isn't any one particular day, just the whole range of what can go on, there are busy days and quiet days
8am - show up to find a taped up box of kittens or cat in carrier sitting at the front door, call the vet to make an appointment for them, call the volunteers to see if anyone can take them to the vet so they don't have to come inside in case they are sick.
Do a room check to make sure all the kitties are ok and not really sick / out of their cages / whatever else can go wrong since last night.
8:30am - volunteers start arriving for feeding and cleaning. Each cat has a chart that says what food they get, how much food each feeding. Empty their litter box, fill their water bowls and give them a fresh blanket to sleep on. While the volunteer sprays down the cage with disinfectant, the cat gets 5 mins out of the cage to run around.
9:30am - reception and adoption volunteers arrive. They answer the phones, do the laundry, show potential adopters each room of cats once the person has been ok'ed by the adoption counsellor.
10:00am - doors open and phone starts ringing. The usual calls, lost kitties, found kitties, can I give up my pet, vet calls about current shelter cats.
11:00am - someone walks in with cat saying they have to give it up because it is sick. Ask person to leave and come back in without cat as we don't want it spreading to other cats in the shelter (all animals spend a few days at the vet before coming to the shelter to be claimed by their owners if it happens and to be sure they are healthy). Find a vet and ask owner to take it there after filling out surrender papers.
11:30 feed & clean is finally finished, and gets to work on anything else that needs doing if they have the time, photos for petfinder, laundry etc.
12:00 eat lunch while catching up on adoption paperwork at desk. Quick check of all rooms to make sure all the cats are ok and haven't spilled their water, upturned their litter boxes or anything else.
1:00pm - afternoon reception / adoption volunteers come in to replace morning ones. Have a quick meeting to make sure everything is handed over properly and everyone knows what is going on.
1:30-2:00pm - TLC volunteers arrive and spend some time with each of the cats, making sure they all get some play time out of the cage and some hugs, pets, scritches, grooming, whatever else needs doing.
3:00pm - volunteer tells adoption counsellor that cats are acting 'off' and sure enough we have several kitties for a vet visit, probably sick from the surrender who was brought in despite the sign on the door asking people not to come in with animals.
3:00 - 3:30pm - afternoon feed & clean arrive and refill bowls, scoop litter and whatever else needs doing in cat rooms.
4:00 - someone adopts a long term resident and all volunteers want to say goodbye.
5:00 - someone walks in just as shelter is closing with last minute problem.
6:00 - adoption counsellor finishes paperwork an hour after finish time and finally gets to go home to see their own cats.
To start, a day in the life of the shelter for those who are thinking about volunteering but aren't too sure what is involved and how they can help. This isn't any one particular day, just the whole range of what can go on, there are busy days and quiet days
8am - show up to find a taped up box of kittens or cat in carrier sitting at the front door, call the vet to make an appointment for them, call the volunteers to see if anyone can take them to the vet so they don't have to come inside in case they are sick.
Do a room check to make sure all the kitties are ok and not really sick / out of their cages / whatever else can go wrong since last night.
8:30am - volunteers start arriving for feeding and cleaning. Each cat has a chart that says what food they get, how much food each feeding. Empty their litter box, fill their water bowls and give them a fresh blanket to sleep on. While the volunteer sprays down the cage with disinfectant, the cat gets 5 mins out of the cage to run around.
9:30am - reception and adoption volunteers arrive. They answer the phones, do the laundry, show potential adopters each room of cats once the person has been ok'ed by the adoption counsellor.
10:00am - doors open and phone starts ringing. The usual calls, lost kitties, found kitties, can I give up my pet, vet calls about current shelter cats.
11:00am - someone walks in with cat saying they have to give it up because it is sick. Ask person to leave and come back in without cat as we don't want it spreading to other cats in the shelter (all animals spend a few days at the vet before coming to the shelter to be claimed by their owners if it happens and to be sure they are healthy). Find a vet and ask owner to take it there after filling out surrender papers.
11:30 feed & clean is finally finished, and gets to work on anything else that needs doing if they have the time, photos for petfinder, laundry etc.
12:00 eat lunch while catching up on adoption paperwork at desk. Quick check of all rooms to make sure all the cats are ok and haven't spilled their water, upturned their litter boxes or anything else.
1:00pm - afternoon reception / adoption volunteers come in to replace morning ones. Have a quick meeting to make sure everything is handed over properly and everyone knows what is going on.
1:30-2:00pm - TLC volunteers arrive and spend some time with each of the cats, making sure they all get some play time out of the cage and some hugs, pets, scritches, grooming, whatever else needs doing.
3:00pm - volunteer tells adoption counsellor that cats are acting 'off' and sure enough we have several kitties for a vet visit, probably sick from the surrender who was brought in despite the sign on the door asking people not to come in with animals.
3:00 - 3:30pm - afternoon feed & clean arrive and refill bowls, scoop litter and whatever else needs doing in cat rooms.
4:00 - someone adopts a long term resident and all volunteers want to say goodbye.
5:00 - someone walks in just as shelter is closing with last minute problem.
6:00 - adoption counsellor finishes paperwork an hour after finish time and finally gets to go home to see their own cats.