Page 37 - AreaNewsletters "Oct'18" issue

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“Every day is different, and there is always a lot to do, so the days go by fast.” –Masih, Buddy Center Pet Admissions Associate. Your rst thought may be, “what is pet admissions?” This is the department that welcomes every animal to our shelter, making each one feel as comfortable and safe as possible when walking through our doors. This includes lost and stray pets, animals relinquished by owners who can no longer care for them and pets who have reached the end of their lives; we turn no animals away. This is also where people are reunited with lost pets. As you can imagine, each day can bring a wide range of emotions and situations—with none identical to the next.
It should come as no surprise that people who work in the pet admissions department do much more than welcome pets to the shelter. They evaluate animals to determine if there are any behavior or medical concerns, vaccinate pets and provide medication to pets in our care.
Masih is a pet admissions associate and has worked at the Buddy Center for three years. He starts his 10-hour work
day by checking the night kennels, which are available for people to utilize should they nd a lost dog at 10 p.m. and need a safe place to take him after-hours, for example. Today there are no animals in the night kennels, so Masih enters the day’s appointments into the computer to prepare for the day ahead. “It’s going to be busy. We have more appointments than usual today.”A volunteer from veterinary services has taken care of administering medication to animals who require it, so next we check on a German shepherd who is reported to have wounds on her back. Remember that part about every day being different? This dog arrived at the Buddy Center with another dog. The pair had been abandoned, were very thin and didn’t trust people. Additionally, they didn’t know how to walk on leashes. So Masih picks up and carries Arya, the 66-pound dog, to an exam room.
Masih, another member of the pet admissions team, a supervisor and volunteer all work together to examine
the frightened dog. The team speaks softly and gently to Arya, calming her while they examine, shave and treat the affected area. We return Arya to the kennel and move on to vaccinations. We vaccinate a few dogs and a cat then begin to evaluate animals who have recently arrived at the shelter.
We start with Freyja,
a beautiful Belgian
Malinois. Freyja walks
great on the leash as
Masih escorts her to
the evaluation room.
Here, they check her weight, overall health including teeth and evaluate her behavior. This is done to determine if the pet needs additional veterinary care or behavior training before becoming available for adoption. They also scan for a microchip, vaccinate, give heartworm preventative and dewormer. Last, they snap a photo to keep on le and enter in any notes from the evaluation. They continue
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Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters • October 2018
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