Man’s Best Friends

By: Max Groce

I have been a pet owner all my life and I’m definitely a dog person.  We’ve always had rescues of some kind, so when I was told that I would be working at the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County I was very excited. I arrived at around two o’clock at their building out in Shelby farms. When I drove up I was surprised how modern and nice the building looked. I went in trough the intake office where they take pets in. I talked to one of the staff and she led me to Katie who was my coordinator for that day. Katie then gave me a quick orientation on what the Human Society is all about.

Katie informed me how they get mistaken all the time for being Memphis Animal Control which they are not at all. They do some intakes of animals from them but that is about the only business they have with them. She then proceeds to tell me about how it all kind of works. The Humane Shelter only takes in pets that are in life threating condition. She says it’s hard because they have to turn a lot of people away but it’s a must because of their lack of space. She tells me it’s getting harder for most shelters all over Memphis because of the overpopulation. That’s why the recently started project stop, which is a low income qualifying spay and neuter and program, where you can come get your pets spay and neutered and shots as well for the lowest cost in the city. This is what I worked on most of the time I was there.

The one and only Posey

Katie then introduced me to Matt; he set me up in an office and I started my work. He started me doing call backs for voice mails left at their office for program stop. I had to call them back verify the information put into an excel format that was already set up and then handle the client. I got at this for about 2 and half hours and it’s actually kind of enjoyable. You feel like you’re actually doing something because you’re talking to people and making sure there still interested and semi getting them set up to help their pets. To make it even better the front office where I was located they had two dogs up there, Posey who was an older fluffy dog who was just as relaxed as she could be. There was also a puppy named Nightwing who I was close to adopting if didn’t already have two monster dogs at home.

Manning the phones

After I got done doing that Katie came and snatched me up to take me outside to do profiles on some of the new dogs that had arrived.  This was one of my favorite parts and I think it’s everybody’s favorite part who works there. We went out to the dog playgrounds, “which there were several” and the designated dog walkers would bring out different dogs and I would play with them. To be honest, I wasn’t too good at making profiles because I was too distracted by playing with some of the dogs, all of them which were awesome. You could definitely notice how each of them had different personalities.  I think my favorite was a three legged pit-bull named Honey-boo. She wasn’t a year old and she was the most playful and sweet dog I had met that day for sure. I would say that’s one of the greatest benefits of volunteering there, which is an honest appreciation for the work that this organization does. It’s incredibly rewarding to take an animal that had been injured and abused, whether it’s chemical burns or bum leg, and then nurse it back to health where they can experience happiness and joy again. To be given a chance to witness this great organization was and awesome experience in itself.

The best part of my whole day

Thank you for reading! I’m searching for a job as a business analyst. If you know of a great fit, please send it our way: mailto:jobleads@volunteerodyssey.com.

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