I hate my local shelter!!!

Gah!! They make me so freaking angry!
They just got a Petfinder site and the way they take pictures of the animals isn't going to get any of them adopted! Let's just manhandle them into the picture why don't we? Put our hands around their necks and force them to look at the camera!
Keeyan looks well behaved while she's jumping up like that and the handler's cutting off her windpipe!
No wait! I want Jordan, what a stunning shot!
I love the comment about Lambchop:
This one WTH?!

What really grinds my gears about this rescue though is that they will not allow any other rescues to take a dog from their facility (if they even suspect you're with rescue you will not get a dog), they don't allow volunteers of *any* age or experience level (who the he!! wants a socialized dog anyway?!), and bully breeds are not adopted out (though they're allowed to be in the runs where potential buyers can see them and pet them!).



/rant

Yes it appears that photography is NOT their strong suit.......maybe they will get better at it??

And what is their reason for not adopting out bullies? That sounds weird, unless they are banned in that area.......in which case I believe they usually send them to the nearest place where they aren't banned (I think that's how it works)

Have you talked to them about the practices you find strange? (I agree with you too) Maybe they have very good reasons........whatever they may be.

Would they let you volounteer to take pictures for them?

(if you're okay with it of course and have time and everything)

~Tucker

Nope, they're not banned here.

You can't really talk to the staff, they don't ever have reasons for anything they do. Their answer is always talk to the boss who always happens to be busy or not there....ever. The whole place is shady, they recently had horses taken from their care after a horse knowledgable kid from my high school volunteered there and reported them for not knowing anything about horses.

Unfortunately, competance is not a requirement to work at a lot of shelters. Even liking animals isn't. Willingness to work a hard, sometimes dangerous, often dirty job for virtually no money is. Depending on which government department actually runs the place and the prevailing conditions there, animal loving may actually be a liability . . . see teenager 'stirring up trouble' about the horses. Hell, animal lovers may get in the way of the euthanasia process! And those rescue people . . . what a pain in the butt!

You see the problem. I'm not defending these shelters, but there are perfectly 'rational' reasons why they are that way . . . just stop thinking of it as a 'humane society' or an 'adoption center' and think of it the way many politicians do . . . a money-sink that has to be supported with valuable cash because you HAVE to have one of these things. However, from their point of view, its a waste of money to have it be anything other than a warehouse and euthanasia center . . . its unfortunate, but many, many people in positions of power think that way . . . and perhaps not entirely due to cold hearts . . . ask your average citizen if they'd like the money to go to buying school books for underprivilaged children or to funding the animal shelter . . . and see what they say

Do you have time to go down and take better pictures for them?

Yea, I sent them an email this morning, waiting for a reply.

I love the science diet in the background. Yeah the pics SUCK big time!

I take pictures for my shelter. It isn't that hard to get decent pictures. And its important to write BIOS on each animal. It takes longer but it makes it much more likely that they will get adopted from Petfinder. Tell about the dog's personality, if it likes to play, etc. I hope they let you take over because the animals will sure benefit from it!!

Scout_Chi just gave EXCELLENT info.

I have the same issue with the larger shelters around here. The shelters are usually run by people who just don't care. They do their jobs, they take the pictures, and that's it. Nobody spends time with the dogs, learns the dogs' temperaments, or things like that. And they sometimes just don't have time to.

Volunteers or rescues come into some of my local shelters and do all of this. They write up pleasant descriptions, spend a few minutes of their time taking pictures of the dogs for them, and voila! Instant increase in adoption rate, and decrease in euthanasia rate.

Here's an example-- This is my Foster dog. He came from an okay local shelter.

Here's Archie's old Picture and Description:


I was found as a stray. Because I was found as a stray the Monroe County Animal Control does not know my exact age, if I am vaccinated, altered, tempermant, housebroken or crate trained.

Archie's New picture! His description's too long for me to past here



That's just one of MANY examples I have, of my own foster dogs. The transformations are simply amazing.

If you have ANY spare time, at all, it would be wonderful if you could help them out!

Where Cider was going to be shipped off to if I hadn't taken her home.. They don't even bother with pics. They have a petfinder site. It's 'husky cross male adult' and that's it.. I've offered pic assistance before, people haven't ever emailed me back..