Then you better start swimming'/Or you'll sink like a stone/For the times they are a-changin'...

It has been a ridiculously long time since I last blogged. I could say, "Oh, things just got too busy" or make some other excuse. The truth of the matter is that I just couldn't bring myself to sit down in front of the computer and write about my job the way I used to. Remember the last post I put up, the one all about "kitten season" and the incredible amount of pressure we were under? Yeah, that didn't let up. Well, I guess technically we are still on the tail end of kitten season now.

We took in an incredible amount of animals since June. I can't give any specific numbers, but I can tell you that even with fosters, even with increased adoptions, even with ALL of the programs we have been trying to implement over the course of the last year, our "save rate" was nowhere near the 90% mark. I was so discouraged that at a certain point, I lost every ounce of enthusiasm I ever had for my job, and with that, any desire to share my experiences with you. I will be totally honest--I was actually keeping my eyes peeled for another job. I couldn't deal with the prospect of unnecessary euthanasia anymore, and it was all I could do to clock in every work day. I was at my wits end.

But then, something pretty incredible happened. I attended the Great Shelters Conference here in Cincinnati and was floored by the amount of success people are having at improving their save rate to the 90% mark. I have actually heard a few people say "Well, of course they are successful, they get to pick and choose which animals they take in!" But that isn't true. There are municipal, open-intake shelters just like ours who have achieved what some call "No-Kill" status through the implementation of the same programs we have been working so hard to develop at Boone County Animal Shelter.

This week, everything changed at Boone County. It had become apparent to me that talking about improving our save rate was fine and dandy, but at a certain point you have to roll up your sleeves and just do it. You have to commit to the reality that in order to prevent needless euthanasia (for space reasons, medical reasons, whatever the reason) you will exhaust EVERY avenue, every option and every resource. That is what this week was, for us. At the beginning of the week we were incredibly full of cats and kittens. Instead of finding reasons to euthanize animals in order to make space, guess what we did? Got online, developed a promotion, advertised, took out our mobile adoption unit and saved around 20 cats/kittens. Are we still a little fuller than I would prefer? Yes. But I'm not worried because I have faith in myself, my dedicated fellow staff members, our incredible volunteers, and in particular, our Shelter Director.

I can't speak for my coworkers--I suppose some may not be as enthused as I am about the changes at BCAS, but I can say that this week is the first time in a VERY long time that I have left the shelter at night happy and satisfied that I did everything I could to save lives that day. Also exhausted, of course, but I'm not complaining.

I am so hopeful about the future of the animals at Boone County Animal Shelter. In other news, I have the cutest foster ever who is determined to prevent me from typing anymore on this entry. More to come soon!