When asked to explore the mechanisms of an animal shelter, I was hesitant to visit one but knew I had to provide credibility to the assignment. I was so nervous that I coerced a friend to come with me to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc., or BARCS, the closest shelter near me. I didn’t want to see dogs in need of a home or a family, let alone animals in kennels. Why stop by for what would inevitably be an upsetting experience?
But that’s just it; say both shelter workers and volunteers across the state. “Everyone thinks of shelters as a doom for animals,” says Dr. Teresa Southard, veterinarian for BARCS. Volunteer Jean Sommers quickly dismisses the stereotype to argue that shelters have a positive rather than negative impact on the lives of animals. “For some of the dogs, being in a shelter is a step up in life. They’ve been tied up in the backyard with no food or water. Or maybe they were not fed regularly,” says Sommers.
Southard adds that shelters care for animals that otherwise would have no hope for a loving home or even life. Staff members and volunteers at BARCS—or shelters in general, for that matter—play a specific but cohesive role, not unlike a piece of a puzzle. Together, these people of varying skills work collaboratively to promote animals for adoption.
Take Jackie Atkins, for example. As customer service representative at BARCS, Atkins serves as the liaison between the animals and the public. When animals are brought in to the shelter, she learns as much as possible about them from medical records and past owners, though many animals may have neither. If, by chance, an owner does surrender an animal, Atkins admits to providing comfort to the owner but also to providing truthful statistics: the shelter is already at capacity, taking in over 60 animals per day.
After animals are processed, Southard thoroughly examines each one from nose to tail. She scans for microchips and evaluates the animal for any injuries or illnesses that may require medication or medical treatment, such as growths or tumors. “We look at the paws to see if they’re bleeding. We look at the ears to see if there are ear mites,” she says. If an animal arrives without medical records, age may be determined in part from its teeth and sexual maturity. Southard then vaccinates the animal and treats it with flea and worm preventatives. The dog may also receive a rabies vaccination, time permitting, readying it for adoption.
Southard describes many of the animals as being nervous and scared during the examination. And really, it’s easy to see why, as much of the dogs’ anxiety stems from sensory overload: sights and sounds of new people and animals and unfamiliar scents bombarding their olfactory systems. But the staff at BARCS are there to help. “I can’t explain to them that it’s okay and I won’t hurt them,” she says.
Like many of the staff, Animal Care Attendant Denny Lawrence interacts hands-on with the animals. When I met him, he was kind enough to walk me through the dog runs and introduce me to a number of friendly, adoptable animals. Though some dogs were sleeping, the majority stood near the walkway and licked Lawrence’s fingers as he stuck his hand through the doors. I was surprised by the overall lack of noise—there was no ear piercing howling or whining—just some excited barking followed by the occasional wet nose that poked out to sniff me.
As we continued walking, I noticed charts hanging on the outside of each dog run. One chart specified dietary restrictions and another chart read, “I know sit.” Lawrence describes himself as the “ambassador” for the animals and therefore keeps close tabs on their behavior and personalities, adding any necessary notes on the charts. When people are looking to adopt a dog with specific characteristics, he typically knows which animals are best suited for them.
Various people want to adopt an animal but aren’t really sure of the specifics. Prior to escorting them to the dog runs, Lawrence will ask a series of questions to uncover their needs and preferences for wanting a pet. “It’s not the matter of walking through and finding a really pretty dog or cat,” he says of the adoption process, “I start asking them, ‘Why are you here?’”
As both staff and volunteers make clear, the shelter will not turn away any animal brought to its doors. BARCS processes more than 12,000 animals per year and transfers animals to other shelters and rescue groups on a continuing basis. As program manager, Debra Rahl oversees the transfer of animals to other organizations and each year sends several thousand animals to rescues across the country through networking with like organizations.
If a person adopts an animal, staff educate that person how to care for as well as how to transition the new animal into a home environment. Adoption Counselor Rachel Frock informs people where to purchase supplies, and she reinforces the importance of vet care and crate training. “I always encourage people to get into obedience classes right away,” she states.
Staff are enthusiastic about seeing animals leave the shelter with a loving family, especially if a particular animal has been housed at the shelter for a lengthy period of time. “We announce over our intercom when an animal is leaving, and everyone’s clapping and happy to see it go,” says Rahl. If a person is on the fence about adopting, she encourages them to foster or raise animals in their home environment for a period of time. Volunteers may also foster dogs with injuries or dogs recovering from surgery. Currently, BARCS has approximately 200 animals in its foster care program.
But although the staff work doggedly to adopt out animals, the shelter generally holds close to 400 animals and staff express an urgent need for volunteers. “Dogs were made to run, jump, play, and socialize. In a rescue, they can’t. It’s a very artificial situation,” says Lawrence. Volunteers like Les Weinberg are particularly valuable, as he devotes his time to walking dogs. “I just try to understand their situation, needing to get outside and get fresh air,” he says of the animals. “I may be coming in to walk dogs that haven’t been walked for days.”
Terry Kleeman has been a volunteer at BARCS for approximately six years, and she instructs dog training classes two days a week at the shelter. “Our job isn’t done once the dog goes out of the door. You want to be there to support the owner and be able to offer the classes for them to have something to come back to,” she says. The six week class costs $60 for those who have adopted from BARCS. Kleeman teaches the animals basic manners to include learning commands and walking on loose leashes. She also teaches the volunteers interacting with the shelter animals, so that volunteers are consistent with their commands.
Kleeman works as a jack-of-all-trades as she also assists the vet technicians, volunteers at the shelter’s rabies clinic, cleans food bowls, and washes laundry. “There is so much todo. Any part that you participate in, whether it’s helping thestaff or helping other vets, helps the dogs become more adoptable,” she says. “You think that doing laundry might be a menial thing, but the laundry’s literally piled high,” she adds.
Similarly, Sommers finds satisfaction in assisting the staff and is constantly trying to recruit help. For more than four years she has been teaching orientation classes to people who may be looking to volunteer at the shelter. She leads interested volunteers through a tour of the facility and details the opportunities available to them. “Most of the people want to handle the animals, so after their orientation, they sign up for dog walking or cat socialization training,” she says.
Many volunteers work full time and are not always able to commit to specific days and hours on a regular basis. Working professionals like Cheryl Ross, who develops and manages affordable housing for a living, are among the faces of volunteers. She channels her expertise into improving the physical structure of BARCS; she participated in developing the surgery center of the facility by hiring contractors and overseeing the process. Ross also preps animals for surgery and assists with their after care, and she also administers vaccines.
According to Rahl, the shelter welcomes volunteers even if they’re not able to physically come to the facility. “We’re looking for people to do some typing, to come out to special events, [to] pick up donations,” she says. Lawrence adds that there are plenty of opportunities for people not looking to interact directly with the shelter animals. “We need people to do laundry, wash dishes, stock food containers, [and] clean and sanitize,” he says.
Ross chimes in that any time provided by volunteers is welcome time. “If someone can walk dogs for an hour a week, that’s one more hour that dogs can interact and get out of those cages,” she states. “Truthfully, if everyone could just do a little, nobody would need to do a lot. It’s not the time or number of hours; it’s the quality of hours they put in.” Weinberg, seconding Cheryl adds, “There’s no contract, no time commitment.”
Across the state, volunteers at other shelters play valuable roles, too. Kurt Davis is a volunteer at the Maryland SPCA and socializes the animals on a continuing basis. “The idea is to keep them comfortable with human contact,” he says. Beth Burgess, a volunteer at the Baltimore Humane Society, explains that simply loving and caring for the animals is rewarding in and of itself. “These little animals didn’t ask to be born and they didn’t ask to be homeless. They are like most creatures, just wanting a community where they are loved and cared for,” she says.
Sue Smallwood began volunteering after she had to fill out an evaluation for work. On the evaluation, the last question asked was, “What are you doing for your community?” Sue admitted that she had to write “nothing” on the form, which was a bit of a wake-up call at the time. She then began to seek out opportunities to give back to those in need and found herself at the SPCA.
Smallwood now works at the front desk, and she greets the public and answers questions. She may witness simple acts of kindness from time to time, such as a child donating birthday money or gifts to the shelter. “There’s little kids who will come in that will have a birthday party and instead of asking for gifts, they ask everybody to bring something that could be donated,” she says, “And they are so proud to bring their bags of goodies, to put their money in an envelope, to hand over all of their stuff from their birthday.”
At the end of the day, both staff and volunteers devote their time to improving the quality of life for the animals at the shelter. Kleeman says, “When you see the difference that you’re making in an animal’s life—it is just very rewarding for me, and it’s worth every effort, it’s worth every sweat.” Robin Small, director of operations of the Annapolis SPCA, finds her work fulfilling as well. “Every day I get to see animals, who at one time had an unknown future, leave our shelter and go to loving homes.”
As we continued walking, I noticed charts hanging on the outside of each dog run. One chart specified dietary restrictions and another chart read, “I know sit.” Lawrence describes himself as the “ambassador” for the animals and therefore keeps close tabs on their behavior and personalities, adding any necessary notes on the charts. When people are looking to adopt a dog with specific characteristics, he typically knows which animals are best suited for them. 
But although the staff work doggedly to adopt out animals, the shelter generally holds close to 400 animals and staff express an urgent need for volunteers. “Dogs were made to run, jump, play, and socialize. In a rescue, they can’t. It’s a very artificial situation,” says Lawrence. Volunteers like Les Weinberg are particularly valuable, as he devotes his time to walking dogs. “I just try to understand their situation, needing to get outside and get fresh air,” he says of the animals. “I may be coming in to walk dogs that haven’t been walked for days.”
