Animal Posse Inside the Washington Parish Animal Shelter - Animal Posse

Episode 8

Inside the Washington Parish Animal Shelter

Published on: 21st March, 2025

Ever wondered what it really takes to run an animal shelter? Join us this week as we sit down with Kelsey Knight, the dedicated director of the Washington Parish Animal Shelter. We'll delve into the daily challenges and heartwarming triumphs of caring for our furry friends. Kelsey shares her passion for animal welfare and offers insights into how you can make a difference in your own community. Get ready for a dose of compassion and a peek behind the kennel doors!

Transcript
Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today, let's welcome Kelsey Knight.

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She is the director of the

Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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hi Kelsey.

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How are you?

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I am good.

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I am excited to talk with you today about

the Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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That's something that a lot

of people don't know what goes

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in into working at a shelter.

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A lot of people know the rescue

side, but they don't know

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anything about the shelter side.

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To start, can you describe your

journey to becoming the director of

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the Washington Parish Animal Shelter?

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Kelsey: As a young kid, I always

wanted to work with animals.

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I think some of us are just

born with that calling.

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And I can definitely say that.

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So when I got out of high

school, I started grooming dogs.

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So I was a dog stylist, and I realized

as I was working that I had this

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knack for working with dogs that

were super fearful of being groomed.

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So I let that become my specialty.

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And I had, clients that just

followed me wherever I went because

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no one else could do their dogs.

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And then I started doing cats and bathing

and trying to cut a cat while it's fully

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awake and aware of what's going on.

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Not many people want to do that,

but I was like, I can do it.

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I have the patience.

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So I.

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Started doing cats and I got

really burnt out very quickly.

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I did grooming for six years,

and by the end of those six

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years I was just exhausted.

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I didn't have the energy to go into work.

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I was pushing clients

back and pushing them back

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because by that point I had

nothing but, fearful dogs and cats.

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And so every day it was just a struggle

with every single client I had.

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And I started getting tagged

in a Facebook post, and I'm not

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really on Facebook a lot, so I was

like, let me see what's going on.

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And they had a position for a shelter

manager and I had volunteered at shelters.

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I had groomed dogs at shelters and rescue.

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So I was like, I think I wanna do this.

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I immediately had it in my head of

I know where I want my parish to go.

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I know what I want to do with this.

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So I went in and I interviewed and I

bawled like a baby in the interview.

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I just cried my eyes out and I

was like, this is my dream job.

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. I've always wanted to work with animals.

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I've always wanted to save lives

and give everything I have to them.

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And this is the best

opportunity in the world.

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There's no greater job than

being like a shelter manager.

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And I somehow got the job.

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So in 2019, I walked

into a empty building.

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It had nothing in it except like a couch.

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It didn't even have desks

or chairs or anything.

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And within I think two weeks we

had our first three dogs at the

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shelter, which were just drops off.

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Someone had seen or found out

that there was gonna be a shelter

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there, so they came and dropped

off some dogs and I was like, okay.

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Their names were Paul Lola

and Trunk, and they really.

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Taught me a lot on how to

work with dogs in the shelter.

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And, you had, one of them

had been bitten by a snake.

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So I immediately had to figure

out how do I talk to vets?

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How do I, deal with

this and live with this?

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And now it's been almost

six years at the shelter.

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Dixie: Wow.

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That's amazing.

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That's a interesting story going

from the grooming to doing that.

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That's wonderful.

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Phil: So, so the shelter started in 2019.

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That was the in inception of

the Washington Parish shelter.

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Kelsey: Yeah, the doors

th,:

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Phil: Oh, fantastic.

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Okay.

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So you were there from the beginning then.

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Okay, cool.

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Kelsey: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I was the first

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employee and I'm still there.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's awesome.

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What does a typical day look like for you?

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Kelsey: It really, I'll say it

depends on the day of the week.

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It depends on.

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A whole lot of stuff.

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We are absolutely believers that,

if it's a full moon, it's gonna be

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crazy because every time there's

a full moon, everything's crazy.

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But mostly a normal day, let's

say the, we're not doing intakes.

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We don't have like crazy

adoptions or anything.

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It's a lot of paperwork, , a

lot of on the phone.

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I have spent an entire eight hour

shift on the phone and then I go

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home and I'm like, I can't talk.

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Don't ask me how my day was.

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I'm so tired of talking.

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Lots of data collection.

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That's a big part of my

job is the smallest thing.

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I'm like, okay, how can I use this fact

to learn more about my parish and learn

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more about the animals and learn more

about my adoption pool so that I can do

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better and make my dogs better make us.

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A bigger asset to the parish

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and then we have, sometimes

we have crazy days.

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Dixie: Right.

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Yeah, I can imagine.

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What are the biggest challenges

that face your shelter right now?

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Kelsey: Having a parish that is

overwhelmed with our animal population,

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both with canines and felines.

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We have so many kittens and

puppies and dogs and cats that we

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don't have empty homes right now.

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A lot of even my adopters

come in and they're like, oh

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yeah I have two dogs at home.

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How does this dog act with other dogs?

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Or I have two cats, so how

does this dog react to cats?

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It's very rare to get.

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A new adopter that does not

already have pets in the home.

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So we see a lot of times, especially when

we're out in the field doing like adoption

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events at Tractor Supply or other places

that people walk by and they're like,

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I would adopt, but I have three dogs I

would adopt, but I have five animals I

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would adopt, but I am already at capacity

for what I can care for in my home.

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And so that's our biggest

struggle right now.

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If we had more adoptions, we could

get more dogs in that needed help and

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really move our animals much quicker.

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So then you fall back on

what about transports?

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During Covid we had

transports out the wazoo.

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Everything was getting shipped everywhere.

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Even dogs with like behavior

problems or health issues.

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We were able to get those dogs out

to New York, New Jersey, Washington.

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And what happened was we overwhelmed them.

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We sent so many animals up north that now

they're overburdened with our population.

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I'm still getting calls from

people being like, yeah, I adopted

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this dog in, 21 from you guys.

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I'm like, oh, you just

called me from Minnesota.

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What is my dog doing in Minnesota?

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So we really don't have, those options

to send out massive amounts of animals.

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And so everything has fallen back into

what we can get out in the parish.

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So that's number one.

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Bottom line, if we had more open

homes, empty homes, we could get

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more adoptions, which in turn

allows us to take in more animals.

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Dixie: And what types of animals do you

typically see coming into the shelter?

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. Kelsey: So we are not animal

control at the shelter.

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So we don't have any legal authority.

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We can't go out and seize animals.

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We can't go out and, write

citations or do anything like that.

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So mostly what we see are

stray and owner surrender.

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So an owner surrender, obviously,

they chose to care for that animal.

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Have that animal, we put them on our

intake list, we get that animal in on

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the opposite side, you have your stray

surrender where maybe a stray dog has

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come into the yard or maybe like it's a

business or something, and they're like,

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there's no owner, no one's claiming it.

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It needs to come into the shelter..

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Now we do take in almost all of

the emergency cases that come.

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Through like our phone

log or our messages.

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So we get a lot of dogs that are

severely injured hit by a car, different

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stuff like that just because we're

super medically based at the shelter.

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So we're actually able to care

for those animals and treat them.

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Phil: Okay.

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And I know y'all are in a rural area.

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Do you ever take anything other

than cats or dogs dogs, like any

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kind of livestock or anything?

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Kelsey: So we don't have

the capacity for livestock.

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We've helped assist in some situations

with horses and goats and stuff,

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but we don't have the space or the

fencing to actually house animals.

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We have gotten some birds of prey that we

sent out, so we've gotten a falcon before.

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Owls, you get your little baby

squirrel calls and raccoons and

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possums and stuff like that, but

we cannot keep them at the shelter.

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So even if we're holding them

short term, we have to send them

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out to a sanctuary or a rescue.

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Dixie: And how has the shelter

adapted to changes in animal

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welfare practices over the years?

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Kelsey: I will say in 2019,

I didn't know anything.

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I was so green, like I had

no idea about anything.

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But one thing about me personally is.

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All I do is research.

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All I do is educate myself.

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So anytime someone was like, oh, we're

gonna have a course about this, or

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we're gonna have a class about this,

or we're gonna be talking about this,

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I'm like let me in on that Zoom call.

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Let me drive over here

and see what's going on.

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And so then once you start meeting

the other directors of the shelters

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and you start meeting, you know these

genius minds, you're able to, call

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them up and say, Hey, I'm confused about

this, or I just got this situation in.

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And then you meet vets who are like, yeah,

gimme a call if you're ever, confused

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about something or if you need help.

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And then you step up and now all

of a sudden you're talking to

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the directors of, shelter med at

LSU, . Learning, everything about

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my job is learning data collection.

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What can I do better?

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Where can I do better?

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So when we started, we were basic medical

protocol, basic training, basic welfare.

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We had no idea.

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And now when a dog comes into our shelter

within 24 hours, that dog has almost been

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fully medically treated for everything.

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It's been wormed, vaccinated,

heartworm tested, it's given

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like flea and tick prevention.

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We've looked that dog over completely.

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Our vets are already aware that Hey, when

you come in, this dog has my belly button

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hernia or this dog is a criptorchid.

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Or all of those things.

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And then we reach out to the

trainers that we work with and we're

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like, Hey, this dog is super shy.

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Would you be willing to come

up and work with this dog

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for, one or two times a week?

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We have a trainer that comes.

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Twice a week to the shelter,

to dog test our dogs.

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Then we have an incredible man who like

twice a week comes and walks every dog

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in our facility, just takes them out on

a walk and walks them to get out energy.

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Like we're, we put our all into

these animals at the shelter.

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Dixie: Do you ever collaborate

with animal welfare organizations

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or other community groups?

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Kelsey: Oh, absolutely.

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So Washington Humane Society has

been one of our biggest partners

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from the inception of the shelter.

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We rely on them so much.

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They are like the friends of

Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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They helped us get our start

with spay neuter clinic.

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They were the ones who found the funding

to get us the anesthesia machines and the

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tables and the stuff that we have now.

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If there's ever a situation where

we're , we need help, getting this.

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Oxygen thing or whatever, like

they're the ones that we call when

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we need help with that side of it.

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But they support us in multiple ways, like

especially sharing our Facebook posts.

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Anytime we make a Facebook post, they're,

it's an immediate oh, I know they're

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gonna share it, it's gonna get to

their audience, which is not the same

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audience that we have at our shelter.

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We've worked with bigger groups

like Bissell best friends.

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Greater good.

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We've, worked with them.

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We're part of Bissell's

Fix the Future Program.

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So they actually pay our vets

to come in and spay and neuter

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animals for our public, pay them

in full to do all of that work.

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But then Washington Humane Society,

they get grants for all of the cats.

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So right now, in March we're doing

over, I think actually we might be at

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a hundred Cats this month, and they

have paid for every single one of

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those cats to be spayed or neutered.

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Dixie: That's great.

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So we don't have any.

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Kelsey: Yeah, we don't have

anybody paying for cats this month.

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And then, with Greater Good, we've

worked with their food program to

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distribute food out to low income

people in our public so that they

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can have food when they're in a bind.

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Yeah.

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It's all about public relations,

who we can talk to, who we can work

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together, what our shelter can do,

what you can do for our shelter.

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Dixie: Now, can you talk a

little bit more about your spay

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neuter program that you have?

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Kelsey: Absolutely.

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That is my baby.

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It's my brain child.

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So last year in 2024, we spayed and

neutered 961 Felines and canines,

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which is huge for a shelter our size.

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That's just an outstanding number.

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And it started in 2020.

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I really had no idea.

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I just knew spay neuter is the

foundation of cleaning up population.

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That's where you have to start everything.

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So we had a vet come in and she

was like, this is what you need.

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You need this, and this.

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And literally listed out all

the items we would need to have

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a spay neuter clinic start.

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And so we started with her and it

was really just shelter animals.

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We weren't doing anything

for the public at that time.

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Just because of liability.

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We weren't really a well versed team yet.

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We were still, hitting our

toes every once in a while.

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And then in 2021 we got

a little bit bigger.

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So instead of doing five dogs to

clinic, we were doing 15 dogs to clinic.

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And then in 2022, all

of a sudden we're doing.

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30 annals every single week.

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And then in 2024, at one time we

had five different vets working

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at our shelter on rotation.

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And we were sometimes doing

two or three clinics a week.

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And it really, it got to be overwhelming.

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So as 2025, we have

slacked off a little bit.

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We're still trying to do between

three and four clinics a month,

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and we're doing 30 to 40 animals.

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Actually this Saturday

we're doing a massive event.

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We are doing 60 animals this Saturday.

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So we've all been prepared for a 12

hour shift this Saturday at the shelter.

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Dixie: Do those events

fill up pretty quickly

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? Kelsey: Absolutely.

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So we actually have seen, which is

incredible, a lower number of cat calls.

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We have seen a lessening of

people needing to get cats in.

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Now, when we make a post, obviously we get

a lot of calls, but we're still seeing,

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we're still having to like, reach out to

people and be like, Hey, do you have cats?

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Do you have cats?

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You need done, does your

neighbor have cats that need

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done because we need cat spots.

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And so that in itself is just.

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Such, such a cool data point to have.

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Because I remember two years ago

where every other call was a cat call.

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It was a cat, dog, cat, dog.

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And now maybe we're getting one,

two cat calls a week and that's it.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's amazing.

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And usually

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Kelsey: it's to get into

our spay neuter clinic.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's amazing.

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Yeah.

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Kelsey: It's been a shock.

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But between our clinic and the Washington

Humane Society, crossroads Clinic, we're

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probably doing almost 300 cats a month.

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Between the two of us.

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Phil: Yeah.

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I know out here by us, there's times

where we gotta try and book a month

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or two ahead to try and get cats done.

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'cause they're just, slammed.

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That's amazing that y'all

can get that many done.

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Kelsey: And look, if we, if you

have cats and you need cats in, we

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have money for TNR Cats right now.

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But our normal price for cats is only $25.

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That is what it costs for you

to get a cat into our clinic

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and have it altered vaccinated.

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It now we do a mandatory ear tip

that is mandatory for us, and

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pretty soon we're gonna start

actually tattooing our ear tips.

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Instead of creating a secondary incision

on the abdomen, we're just gonna add

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tattoo ink to the already tipped ear and.

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So that's, I think that's gonna stop

a lot of owned cats from coming to

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us just because, I know they don't

want their little cat to have a

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green line on the tip of its ear.

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But we're really doing this for, TNR

cats while we do book owned cats.

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It's really for these ferals that

are out in the community populating.

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Dixie: Right, how many animals

can your shelter accommodate

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as far as cats and dogs?

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Kelsey: So we have three cat

cages, but we do not at this

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time take cats from the public.

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If we did just open our doors

and say, Hey, if you have a cat

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you don't want bring it here.

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We would be inundated.

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It would just be nonstop.

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We would have a hundred

cats on the first day.

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So the cats that we do get are all from

other municipalities, whether it be fire

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department, police department say they

go out on a call, there's a cat in a

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situation that is unsafe, they'll call us.

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We take that feline from them,

but we don't take owned or stray

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cats from the general public.

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So we have three cat houses

that we can safely house cats.

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Long term, we have 12 dog runs,

so really if it's 12 adult dogs,

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that's really all we can house.

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But obviously like a litter of puppies,

you can put them together in the same run

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or maybe you can put two dogs together

if they're from the same household.

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But right now we have 26

animals at the shelter,

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so we're super full.

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Dixie: And now you limit intakes by

appointment only, is that correct?

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Kelsey: So we have an intake list.

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So what happens is when people call us

and they have an owned or a stray dog,

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the first thing we ask is send pictures.

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Because when we, we get

a lot of lost dogs too.

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So the first thing we do is take

a look at that picture doesn't

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match anything that's lost.

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If it doesn't match anything that's

lost, then we send it out to our rescue

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partners that we have a little group for,

and we'll send it out to them because

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there's always a possibility that they

can pull that dog in faster than we can.

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Then they go on our intake list and

as we get adoptions and dogs out, we

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immediately call the next person in.

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A lot of times we get a big holdup

because we'll have someone that has,

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12, 14, sometimes 28 dogs at one time.

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And so we have to, get all of

those animals in from that one

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area before we can move on to

the next person in our list.

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Dixie: Do you have a foster system

in place or do you rely more

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on the rescues foster systems?

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Kelsey: So we really don't have

fosters in Washington Parish.

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And most of the fosters that are in the

parish are pretty much their own rescues.

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They're not pulling from our

shelter, they're not pulling they're

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pulling straight off the street.

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We have posted certain dogs for

foster and not received anything.

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Back from them.

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And then I know with like our

Humane Society, they haven't been

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able to really get fosters either

to come forward for certain dogs.

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So we have some fosters, but most

of the fosters that we have are

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like very specific kind of animals.

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Like only small dogs, only puppies

only, certain dogs of if they have

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like a health issue or something,

they're not just pulling straight out

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of the shelter because we're full.

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So that's not really an

option that we have right now.

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We are prepared for fosters.

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If you foster through us, food is

given, medical is given, we'll give

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a kennel to take the animal home so

that you have a kennel at home if you

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need to put the animal in the kennel.

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We just don't have people

reaching out, to offer fostering.

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Dixie: I know shelters get a bad rap.

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What are some of the misconceptions people

have about shelters or shelter animals?

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Kelsey: The biggest misconception is

that, we're just killing everything.

381

:

It comes in, we kill it, we get

something else in, we kill it,

382

:

blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

383

:

There are very few shelters

in:

384

:

Do they exist?

385

:

Absolutely.

386

:

They don't exist in Washington Parish.

387

:

Dixie: That's wonderful.

388

:

Kelsey: We are an entirely no kill parish.

389

:

And I say that with quotations

because every shelter, because of

390

:

public safety, has to euthanize dogs.

391

:

We have to, if a dog comes

into the shelter and it is a

392

:

danger to itself or others.

393

:

We cannot allow that animal back

out on the street to harm someone.

394

:

Not every dog that comes into the shelter

is perfect or flawless or can be fixed.

395

:

We're getting dogs and that have

killed other dogs like literally

396

:

have damned something so bad

that it is no longer living.

397

:

We obviously can't allow that to

go back out into our population.

398

:

We have dogs that come in that have

severely bitten people and once

399

:

they're passed that stray hold and

it is up to a judge most of the time.

400

:

But if we get the order that dog is not

allowed back in the public we, we can't

401

:

let that dog back out into the wilds.

402

:

The other reason that we

would euthanize is for health.

403

:

If we have a dog that's come in and

it's been hit by a car and it's pelvis

404

:

is shattered, it's, kidney has blown.

405

:

We would be doing a disservice to hold

that animal in the hopes that someone

406

:

else has the finances to help that animal.

407

:

And we just don't do that, obviously.

408

:

If something comes in and it's injured,

we're gonna do everything we can.

409

:

But there's also a certain line and

we talk to our vets, I'll call my

410

:

vet and I'll get on FaceTime or send

pictures and be like, this is what

411

:

I have, this is what's going on.

412

:

What do you think?

413

:

And if they turn around and they

say, you can't help that dog.

414

:

Okay, we cannot help this dog

so we won't allow suffering.

415

:

We are absolutely that.

416

:

It is qua quality of life

over quantity of life.

417

:

And so that's our biggest misconception.

418

:

I would say the other one

is that, we don't care about

419

:

the animals in the shelter.

420

:

That we just, take them in and it's we'll

hold 'em and then, throw 'em back out.

421

:

That's not true at all.

422

:

Our dogs are babies.

423

:

I remember the dogs that I've

had throughout the years.

424

:

People come into the shelter and

they're like, yeah, I adopted

425

:

this dog from you three years ago.

426

:

And I'm like, yeah, I remember that dog.

427

:

I love that dog.

428

:

The dog looked like this.

429

:

And it had this marking because these,

there, there's a reason we work with

430

:

animals, and it's because we love them.

431

:

We love them so much that we wanna do

everything we can to save them and protect

432

:

them and make sure that they're given

the best life possible in the shelter.

433

:

Some of the dogs are treated better in

the shelter than they could be treated.

434

:

In a home.

435

:

Because we are giving them

enrichment every single day.

436

:

Right.

437

:

They're getting yard

time every single day.

438

:

They're getting walked.

439

:

I know a lot of people, even

myself, I don't walk my dogs.

440

:

I'm like, you go out in the yard and play.

441

:

I'm not taking you for a walk.

442

:

Ours are getting walked around.

443

:

They're getting jobs to do

even while at the shelter.

444

:

And we have three actual shelter

cats, which are our babies.

445

:

They're inside, outside Free Roamers.

446

:

We have Bob who is literally our logo cat.

447

:

He's on our shirts.

448

:

He's on our rugs, he's on our logo.

449

:

Love him.

450

:

He's a Bob Tail and on our logo, he was

actually dumped at the shelter three years

451

:

before the shelter existed, where it was.

452

:

Oh wow.

453

:

And the guys next door, 'cause we

have the road crew next door, they

454

:

just fed him and took care of him.

455

:

Yeah, so he is almost nine years old now

and the shelter is literally his home.

456

:

He doesn't know anything

else but the shelter.

457

:

Always been there.

458

:

Then we have Thomas, which was probably

like a panleuk kitten and she survived,

459

:

but she has the neurological issues,

so she walks in circles constantly.

460

:

That's my baby.

461

:

I love her.

462

:

I adore her.

463

:

She follows me everywhere I go.

464

:

And then we have Willow who

has an autoimmune disease,

465

:

so she drools everywhere.

466

:

To the point where she literally,

if she shakes her head, drool

467

:

just flies everywhere and she

gets sick like every other day.

468

:

That's our babies.

469

:

We love them.

470

:

Phil: I know the feeling.

471

:

Dixie: What is the adoption process like?

472

:

Kelsey: So we have a very easy

adoption price price process.

473

:

So you walk in our shelter,

we'll take you to the back.

474

:

You can look at all of

the dogs at any time.

475

:

If you see a dog that you want and

you want, some time with it, we

476

:

have an adoption room where you

can go in there, hang out with

477

:

the dog as long as you want to.

478

:

If at the end you're like, yeah,

absolutely, I wanna take this dog home.

479

:

As long as that dog is

altered, you can adopt.

480

:

Same day we have a contract to

fill out and our normal adoption

481

:

price is a hundred dollars.

482

:

But that covers, vaccines, spay

and neuter, worm, everything.

483

:

And usually we'll even give heartworm and

flee intake prevention for the next month.

484

:

So you're getting a lot

for that a hundred dollars.

485

:

But we do specials all the time.

486

:

A few weeks ago we had a black dog

special where all adoption fees were

487

:

waived if you adopted a black dog

because we had seven black dogs in

488

:

the shelter and they weren't moving.

489

:

So we were like, okay, let's

get 'em into some homes.

490

:

Dixie: Yeah.

491

:

It's a shame that the black dogs

and black cats are the ones to least

492

:

or least likely to get adopted.

493

:

Kelsey: I heard something and now I

can't remember where I heard it from,

494

:

but, and it was one of my teachers.

495

:

But she said that the animals in the

shelter are the animals in your community.

496

:

So if our shelter is full of pit bull

breeds, that means that's what people

497

:

in our community are wanting because

they wouldn't be in our shelter if

498

:

they weren't, if there wasn't triple

the amount in the general population.

499

:

So even though we had all of those

black dogs, maybe it was the price

500

:

that was the factor because all

of those black dogs got adopted.

501

:

Dixie: Oh, that's great.

502

:

That's great.

503

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

504

:

We don't have any of them.

505

:

Boots was the last one to be adopted,

and she got adopted last week.

506

:

So every single one of

those black dogs, so it's.

507

:

It is hard and a lot of times, I'll

get a big giant pit bull in the

508

:

shelter and I'll go, alright bud,

you're gonna be with us for a while.

509

:

But a while is not forever.

510

:

And even if they're with us for

two or three months, they're

511

:

still gonna get adopted.

512

:

There's some special home out

there, but it also gives us

513

:

time to work on that animal.

514

:

So if the animal comes in and it's, not

fractious, but let's just say it's a

515

:

very hyper animal who doesn't know how

to walk on the leash, and that's why the

516

:

owner brought it into the shelter was

because it was jumping all over them.

517

:

That gives us the time to put in that work

so that dog doesn't jump on them anymore.

518

:

And now we have a dog

that's behaviorally sound.

519

:

Dixie: Do you offer any kind of support to

adopters after they take the animal home?

520

:

Kelsey: Yes and no.

521

:

So if it is a puppy and it is under

the age where it has gotten all of

522

:

its vaccines, we continue vaccinating

until that puppy is fully vaccinated.

523

:

If they come in and they're like,

Hey, we need some warmer, or we

524

:

need this, we'll continue that.

525

:

We used to have partners that we

worked with like there was a grooming

526

:

salon that offered a free bath.

527

:

If you adopted through us we

do give out like trainer cards.

528

:

We work with K Pro K nine, and, everybody

leaves with a card and it's Hey, if

529

:

you have any problems, call them.

530

:

They're who we partner with, they're gonna

be able to walk you through everything.

531

:

But not really anymore.

532

:

There's not a lot to give afterwards

once they leave the shelter.

533

:

We wish that were different, but we

just, don't have aftercare resources.

534

:

Dixie: And what about in terms of

a hurricane coming or a disaster,

535

:

do you evacuate your animals or do

you have a place for them to go?

536

:

Kelsey: Yeah, so actually by the state we

have to have evacuation plan sent to them.

537

:

I think it's every March, but I

usually try to send mine in January

538

:

so I don't have to worry about it.

539

:

But yeah if, we're really not at risk for

a fire because of where the shelter is,

540

:

where surrounded by pea gravel, we have,

parking lots, roads, the whole nine yards.

541

:

So really fire is off the table.

542

:

Our building has been through a

million and a half hurricanes.

543

:

She's still standing.

544

:

So unless the roof came off,

we probably wouldn't evacuate.

545

:

Our really only concern is if

a tornado comes through, but

546

:

Washington Parish government has.

547

:

Been so incredible to this shelter.

548

:

And that is such a rare thing to say

when you talk about, municipalities

549

:

and their shelters usually they're

just like, oh it's underfunded.

550

:

They don't care about it.

551

:

Washington Parish government

absolutely cares about our shelter.

552

:

We have an incredible generator.

553

:

I don't even know how big it is, but it

is massive and it can run the shelter

554

:

for three days if the power is cut off,

which is just absolutely incredible.

555

:

We have cots, we have

tarps, we have kennels.

556

:

We have everything we would need

in an emergency to move those dogs.

557

:

And we have partners that if something

happened inside the shelter, if

558

:

we had a fire inside the shelter

and we had to move everybody out,

559

:

we have places where they can go.

560

:

Dixie: And how is the shelter funded?

561

:

'cause you touched on that a little bit.

562

:

Kelsey: Yeah, so we do not

have dedicated funding.

563

:

So we, our parish, our people do not pay

a specific tax that comes to the shelter.

564

:

We also don't have animal control,

so we don't have any funding from

565

:

like tickets or fines or fees.

566

:

We are based off of a percentage of

money that is given to our health units.

567

:

So they have a budget and we, it's

like we're taking some money from

568

:

them and that's what we live off of.

569

:

So a 90% of what we do off of donations

and the partners that we work with.

570

:

So if you look at it broken down.

571

:

What we get for, from the health

unit, for our, yearly fund

572

:

that pays for the employees.

573

:

And then we have a little

bit left over for supplies.

574

:

And that's pretty much

our budget for the year.

575

:

Dixie: So are supplies

something that is needed?

576

:

Do you get donations from

individuals as well as these

577

:

rescue groups that you work with?

578

:

Kelsey: So I will say we don't

have a large volunteer pool.

579

:

We don't have a large foster pool.

580

:

But when it comes to our public

giving donations to the shelter,

581

:

buying things off of our Amazon

wishlist, they are incredible.

582

:

They're unstoppable.

583

:

I feel like we have to make a

thank you post like every other

584

:

day for someone donating something

to the shelter they're donating.

585

:

Food.

586

:

We have two different types of

food at the shelter that we feed.

587

:

So at our dogs are fed,

Purina, any kind of Purina.

588

:

And then we have a prison program at

Rayburn Correctional where we send dogs

589

:

for six months to get obedient trained.

590

:

They feed pedigree over there.

591

:

So a lot of times we'll need

food for our shelter or we'll

592

:

need food for that program.

593

:

And so we'll make a post and being

like, Hey, we need food for the prison.

594

:

And then we'll get, 10 bags within a week.

595

:

So yeah our public's really

good when it comes to donations.

596

:

Dixie: How can people volunteer

at the shelter and what types of

597

:

volunteer opportunities are available?

598

:

Kelsey: So we are open Monday

through Friday from eight to four.

599

:

We have a Saturday clinic,

maybe once a month.

600

:

But most of the time everyone

that works at the shelter right

601

:

now is mothers with children.

602

:

And most of our children are

young like 10 and younger.

603

:

So we try and take our weekends when

we can, but you can just come in like

604

:

we're open eight to four, so you can

walk in and be like, Hey, I'm here.

605

:

I wanna volunteer.

606

:

And there's always something to do.

607

:

Most of the time it has to do

with cleaning because that is the

608

:

thing that takes up the most time.

609

:

But it's also the thing that gets

pushed back the most because it's

610

:

really hard to we have right now, 5,

6, 7, 8, we have eight taxis in the

611

:

shelter that are just sitting in the

middle room, in the front room because.

612

:

We were cleaning today, we were doing

paperwork, we were doing everything else.

613

:

And I was like, I just don't have time

to break these down and clean them.

614

:

So a lot of it has to do with that.

615

:

But right now we have like

14 huskies at the shelter.

616

:

Wow.

617

:

And we are desperately, yeah.

618

:

Yeah.

619

:

We had a hoarding case, so it was

actually 22, and we've been able to

620

:

move some into rescue, but we still

have 14 at the shelter, not including

621

:

our other dogs that were already there.

622

:

And we had six of those.

623

:

So, we are desperate right now for

someone to come and bathe these poor

624

:

huskies because they're so dirty

and they like, have mats all over

625

:

them because of all the loose hair.

626

:

And that's definitely a

need we have right now.

627

:

We also have some fencing and stuff,

not fencing, but like shaders that we're

628

:

trying to put up at the shelter that we

just have not had the time to put up.

629

:

So I have all the materials and the zip

ties just sitting there and I'm like,

630

:

I don't know when I'm gonna get to it.

631

:

Dixie: Yeah I like that you're

allowing people to just go in

632

:

and help whenever they need to.

633

:

'cause I know a lot of other places

are a lot more structured and

634

:

they're like, oh, we don't want

the help if you can't commit to it.

635

:

But a lot of times people can't commit.

636

:

But some help is better than no help.

637

:

Kelsey: Absolutely.

638

:

If, so, what we see a lot is someone

like will come in and they have

639

:

like court ordered service hours.

640

:

And because of the way we're

structured, a lot of people can get

641

:

those service hours done in one day.

642

:

And it's okay, you've come in, I know

I'm probably never gonna see you again,

643

:

so I'm gonna use you all day and

then I'll, I'll never see you again.

644

:

But thank you so much for the help.

645

:

But yeah, it's not easy

to volunteer at shelters.

646

:

It's almost a job like you're

volunteering to do labor.

647

:

We don't have paperwork tasks,

we don't have filing tasks

648

:

like that's taken care of.

649

:

We need help with the animals.

650

:

We need help cleaning.

651

:

We need help like wrapping first,

like first spay, neuter clinic.

652

:

We have Ms.

653

:

Carolyn who is absolutely incredible.

654

:

She comes two or three days before our

spay neuter clinic and we'll wrap like

655

:

40 to 50 spay neuter packs for us.

656

:

And that's her entire day is just

sitting at a desk dealing with

657

:

surgical tools and wrapping them.

658

:

And that's all she does for an entire day.

659

:

It's so incredible.

660

:

Like every time she comes

in, I'm like I adore you.

661

:

Thank you.

662

:

Because that's one of my employees.

663

:

And our shelter, we only

have four employees.

664

:

We're actually down an employee

right now, so we're only at three.

665

:

And then because of our spay

neuter clinic this Saturday,

666

:

we've all had to stagger days off.

667

:

Or else we would be

like 20 hours over time.

668

:

So this almost this entire week, we've

only had two employees at the shelter

669

:

dealing with this massive amount of

animals and everything that we need to

670

:

clean and everything that we need to do.

671

:

And you just can't do it in eight hours.

672

:

Eight hours is not long enough.

673

:

And if you wanna go home and sleep,

it's okay, go home, go sleep, go find

674

:

something to eat, and just be prepared

to sweat your butt off the next day.

675

:

Dixie: Yeah, I love that you're so

passionate about working at the shelter.

676

:

That's great.

677

:

And so what would you say is the

most rewarding part of your job?

678

:

Kelsey: A few years ago, I would've

said when the dogs get adopted, I

679

:

understand sheltering way more now.

680

:

And honestly, I will say the most

rewarding part of sheltering is

681

:

understanding that I am doing something.

682

:

I am saving lives.

683

:

There's a lot of sleepless nights,

there's a lot of heartbreak and heartache.

684

:

A lot of people will say you

have to make yourself cold.

685

:

They say that in nursing too, is you

just have to shut yourself off, but we're

686

:

human and you can only shut yourself off

for so long before you just break down.

687

:

And every morning I go into the

shelter and some mornings I'm like,

688

:

I just don't wanna be here today.

689

:

And then other mornings I'm

like, I'm so grateful to be here.

690

:

But the most rewarding part for me is at

the end of the day when I'm going home,

691

:

I'll ask myself, is there anything that I

could have done more for my animals today?

692

:

Sometimes that answer is yes.

693

:

Sometimes it is.

694

:

Sometimes I could have spent extra

time, but when that answer is no,

695

:

when I am going home and I know that

I have done everything that I could

696

:

possibly do for my animals that

day, there is nothing more rewarding

697

:

to me than being able to say that.

698

:

Dixie: What are your hopes for the future

of animal welfare in your community?

699

:

Kelsey: So in the parish, I'll definitely

say that, we all get on the same page.

700

:

We have a educational base with our

public that we're all in kind of agreement

701

:

with the way that animals should be

taken care of, the way they should be

702

:

treated, how shelters work, how animal

control should work, what the laws are.

703

:

That's every shelter director's biggest

goal is that everybody's on the same page.

704

:

When we go out on a call or when a dog

comes into the shelter, everybody kind

705

:

of underst understands like basic care

and basic the basic needs of an animal.

706

:

That's such a big thing.

707

:

We have hosted educational classes in the

past on dogs and cats and TNR to be able

708

:

to get our public in and be like, Hey.

709

:

You guys got a new puppy, you

wanna vaccinate this puppy?

710

:

Let me tell you all about vaccinating

and worming and what we can do and

711

:

how we can help you make this puppy

super healthy for the rest of its life.

712

:

And, oh, you have a dog

that's out on a runner.

713

:

Let me show you how to make

this dog's life the best, even

714

:

though it's an outside dog.

715

:

Let me show you how we can make

this better for this dog and why

716

:

this dog needs this to keep this dog

sane while it's outside on a runner.

717

:

Because if someone is doing something

wrong, it's my job to educate them to

718

:

do something right, because they're not

being malicious if they don't know better.

719

:

So we have to have kindness with

the people that don't know better.

720

:

Because before I got into the

shelter, I didn't know better.

721

:

I have learned, and I can't stand on a

pedestal and say, oh, I'm the smartest

722

:

person in the world, because I wasn't.

723

:

I had to be educated on it.

724

:

So we have to educate everybody.

725

:

I will say on a state level, I wish that

animal ordinances were universal and

726

:

obviously that's not a perfect system

and that probably will never happen.

727

:

But

728

:

that there is more structure

to animal shelters.

729

:

Not all animal shelters

will be built identically.

730

:

But that we should all be able to

access the same care and resources

731

:

so that we don't have little

podunk shelters that don't have any

732

:

resources or don't have anything.

733

:

We've definitely seen that with, the

Bogalusa shelter recently that got shut

734

:

down, they just didn't have the resources.

735

:

There was one employee there who was

working seven days a week, and that

736

:

in itself is just, you can't do that.

737

:

You can't run on that.

738

:

And that's my hope is that everybody can

have the same resources, all the dogs

739

:

can have the same amount of food and vet,

access to vet care and stuff like that.

740

:

Dixie: Yeah.

741

:

Absolutely I totally

agree with you on that.

742

:

Especially rural shelters, are

often overlooked and they don't have

743

:

the funding that they should have.

744

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

745

:

And they don't have, they

don't have the education too.

746

:

I know a lot of, I, I won't call

out anything specifically but a lot

747

:

of the education for animal control

in Louisiana is very expensive.

748

:

Very expensive to be able to go to some

of these courses and get basic education.

749

:

And if they don't have access to that,

how are they supposed to know better?

750

:

Dixie: Absolutely.

751

:

I didn't know that there wasn't

any kind of resource for them where

752

:

they could just go learn the things

without taking these workshops.

753

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

754

:

Unless they're willing to go on their own

personal time and go to another shelter

755

:

and learn from them, or stay on the phone

or, just find stuff out on the internet.

756

:

There's no easy access to basic

animal sheltering education.

757

:

You have to know somebody

to find something out.

758

:

Or you have to pay an arm and a leg

and go, four or five hours away.

759

:

A lot of the big conventions that we have

went to and have not went to like the Best

760

:

Friends National Conference last year or

a few months ago, it was in California.

761

:

We wanted to go, that's not an option.

762

:

We don't have the funding

for a California conference.

763

:

But the year before it was in

Florida and we can drive to Florida.

764

:

So we were like, okay,

let's go to this conference.

765

:

We learned so much.

766

:

It was absolutely a great, wonderful time.

767

:

But we can drive there.

768

:

So it's less cost comparative to going to

California where you're gonna have three

769

:

different flights that you have to take

just going and, that's just too expensive.

770

:

So, yeah, a lot of the education

for animal control and animal

771

:

sheltering is behind a paywall.

772

:

Dixie: So where can our listers learn

more about your shelter and get involved?

773

:

Kelsey: I will say the

first thing is just come in.

774

:

There's no reason to ever think that

you can't come to the shelter if

775

:

the shelter, if you ever come to the

shelter and the shelter's closed,

776

:

it's a, either a holiday or the entire

staff has had to go do something.

777

:

Being a small staff, if someone takes off.

778

:

Then, the whole shelter kind of has to

close because we don't have anybody there.

779

:

So I know Wednesday we had some

body come to the shelter and

780

:

that's when we were picking up the

hoarding situation with 22 dogs.

781

:

It was me and one other employee.

782

:

So when we left to go get these 22

dogs, because we both had to go do

783

:

that, we couldn't do it by ourselves.

784

:

We had to close the shelter.

785

:

Our shelter has a phone number.

786

:

It's (985) 205-2023.

787

:

We have a tin roof in

the middle of nowhere.

788

:

So if you call our shelter and you

get the voicemail, please leave a

789

:

voicemail or send a text message.

790

:

We'll get back to you as

soon as we possibly can.

791

:

But sometimes if the shelter

phone is not in the front window.

792

:

It will not ring for us.

793

:

So make sure you leave a voicemail

or send us a text message.

794

:

You can also get in touch with

us through Facebook Messenger.

795

:

We all have that on our phones now, so if

something comes through, we can see it.

796

:

We probably won't respond until

business hours, but we'll definitely

797

:

be able to, receive that message.

798

:

Dixie: And what message would you

like to leave our listeners with?

799

:

Kelsey: If you want to be involved,

don't be afraid to get involved if

800

:

you can't get physically involved.

801

:

Share posts on Facebook.

802

:

When you see animals on the side

of the road, or you see someone

803

:

sharing something, mark down that

location, send that location to us

804

:

with a description of the animal.

805

:

If you don't have social media,

you can't physically get involved.

806

:

You're stuck at home all day.

807

:

Maybe think about fostering.

808

:

There's so many ways to assist,

and if your passion is animals, you

809

:

can help even in the smallest ways.

810

:

Dixie: I definitely agree with that.

811

:

I've enjoyed the conversation a lot.

812

:

It's very inspiring to know that

you started basically from nothing

813

:

and got to where you are now.

814

:

It really is amazing.

815

:

Kelsey: Thank you.

816

:

Phil: I've seen a bunch

of your dogs last year.

817

:

At Pet Fest at Lafreniere Park

and there were some, well.

818

:

Cared for

819

:

animals.

820

:

And

821

:

Kelsey: thank

822

:

you.

823

:

Phil: So I just wanna know, are y'all

gonna be at Pet Fest again this year?

824

:

Kelsey: We are not because of our short

staff, we had to decline this year.

825

:

We were really sad about it and

definitely sad because we declined

826

:

before we got in the Huskies.

827

:

So we're definitely like

regretting that decision.

828

:

But right now we just don't have,

we don't have the staff and we

829

:

don't have the volunteers to be able

to do such a big event like that.

830

:

Dixie: And the Huskies, do you have those

huskies online on your Facebook page?

831

:

Kelsey: They're not posted yet.

832

:

We're going through them.

833

:

Some of them are vaccinated and

spayed, neutered, some of them are not.

834

:

But they, we were supposed to get

pictures today, but we did not get

835

:

pictures of them because we were cleaning.

836

:

But yes, as soon as we post them, we're

gonna be able to say which ones are

837

:

ready to go immediately and which ones

have to wait to be spayed or neutered.

838

:

Nothing is ever adopted out of our

shelter, unspayed and un neutered.

839

:

That just does not happen with us.

840

:

Dixie: Yeah, that's a very important

thing too, 'cause we don't need a whole

841

:

bunch of extra huskies running around.

842

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

843

:

And I do wanna say, just in case any other

shelter directors listen to this that is

844

:

not a dis on any shelter that has to adopt

out because they cannot hold animals.

845

:

Some shelters have no choice but to adopt

out unaltered animals with a contract.

846

:

It is what it is.

847

:

And I'm not judging it, is

our availability to be able

848

:

to spay and neuter everything.

849

:

So we are going to spay

and neuter everything.

850

:

We can do it, so we are

gonna do it, but it is rare.

851

:

It's not all the time

that you can do that.

852

:

Dixie: Thank you so much for

speaking with us and I learned a lot.

853

:

It's a lot of things about the

shelter that I did not know.

854

:

It almost sounds like you're

a rescue instead of a shelter.

855

:

Kelsey: We run like one.

856

:

But at the end of the day, we are

still there for public safety.

857

:

Not being animal control has aided

a lot and us being able to do the

858

:

things that we do we are working on

getting animal control for the parish.

859

:

Our parish needs animal control.

860

:

It does not have it right now.

861

:

And that's something

we're working towards.

862

:

And obviously once we become

animal control, things may change.

863

:

But we're hoping that, we can

still do what we're doing and maybe

864

:

expand the shelter, get more runs,

get more employees, have a bigger

865

:

volunteer base that's willing to,

do physical stuff in the shelter.

866

:

And if they're willing to do that and come

out and, I don't see us changing too much.

867

:

I just see us expanding in the future.

868

:

Dixie: Yeah.

869

:

The more animals you can help, definitely.

870

:

The better.

871

:

Kelsey: Absolutely.

872

:

Dixie: All right, thank you so much.

873

:

Kelsey: Yeah, thank you

guys so much for having me.

874

:

Dixie: And that's all the time

we have for today's episode.

875

:

If you are in animal rescue, or if

you know someone that has a story that

876

:

should be told, please contact us.

877

:

We would love to have

you or them on the show

878

:

. Thanks for listening, and please

join us next week as we continue to

879

:

explore the world of animal rescue.

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About the Podcast

Animal Posse
A look inside the world of animal rescue
Dive deep into the world of animal rescue with heartwarming stories, expert interviews, and behind-the-scenes insights. From heartwarming adoptions to daring rescues, we'll explore the incredible bond between humans and animals.
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