I used to think that volunteers were the best thing that could ever happen to an animal sheltering organization; then I moved to southwest Virginia. I understand the vested interest that volunteers have in the success of an adoption program; but, I found a place where volunteers thought that they should drive the organization.
It all started when one of the local animal welfare organizations infiltrated our shelter with their own volunteers. One of their volunteers sat in a County Commission meeting on the first day of my arrival to lament me being hired. This same volunteer would sit in on many County Commission meetings, using her status as a volunteer (as being in the know), to misrepresent information about our euthanasia rates.
This is the first organization that I have ever directed that did not have an adoption program. All animal were placed through other rescue groups and that is the way that everyone wanted it. We could be the bad guys and they could be the good guys. Well, that was going to change.
I decided to start adopting animals from my shelter. The volunteers that came from the other rescue organization all quit. They staged a walkout when we started adopting pets. What a stupid thing to protest.
We started seeing an immediate increase in our placement rate. Dog adoptions were over 92 percent. We had an incident in which a couple dogs that were loved by a few volunteers started showing aggression to staff and visitors. I have a rule that any time a dog starts trying to eat the hand that is feeding it, it is time for that dog to go.
The two dogs were euthanized and the remaining volunteers decided to organize a protest by picking the shelter and bullying us on social media. They brought in the local media and wanted to show the shelter staff the trouble they can cause if we don’t do what they tell us to do.
Although the volunteers would never be able to bully us to adopt out aggressive dogs, they were successful with those who oversaw our organization. They didn’t like drama and they felt that giving in to the volunteers would decrease drama. From my view point, they were more concerned about keeping the drama to a minimum than protecting the public.
I am sharing this story to show you that in the animal welfare business, you can be on the right side of an issue and still lose. Throughout my career, I always said, “If you are going to get into trouble, get in to trouble doing the right thing.” In this business, your first priority is to protect your community.
For a volunteer program to be successful, it is important that your volunteers are on the same page that you are one. Feelings can run high between organizations, understand the motivation for those that claim to be your friends.