Work stories: Rabies edition

We've had many incidences lately where rabies exposure protocol has had to be utilized and scrutinized. Basically, no one wins when a bite occurs, whether it involves a human victim or not.

My first story is still in progress, but it's been a doozy so far and should be resolved today.

Two huskies were picked up by animal control Friday morning. They had killed a raccoon, the owner was on her way and the raccoon had been sent off for testing. We were informed of this case specifically to ensure that everything was done correctly. If proof of current rabies vaccination was shown, the dogs could receive boosters and go home. If not, the owner would have to arrange six month quarantine or the dogs would be euthanized.

The owner showed up around 10:30 AM with rabies certificates from one of our rabies clinics. The vaccinations were given in October of 2011. One dog had received a one-year vaccination and the other received a three-year vaccination. I informed the owner that she could reclaim one dog after it got a booster, but she couldn't reclaim the other. She basically cried the whole time and left with her one dog.

Around 5:15 PM, she returned and handed my coworker a piece of paper. My coworker was leaving, so she handed her over to me. The piece of paper was a photocopy of the same rabies vaccination certificate that she had shown me 7 hours earlier, but the dates and tag number had been obviously altered. The weight of the ink and the handwriting was different than the rest of the certificate, and the white-out borders were visible.

"...Do you have the original certificate that you showed me this morning?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, but this one has been obviously altered. I cannot accept it."

"Ok."

Had I thought of it, I would have made a copy of the copy and kept it as proof. Altering a public health records is a serious issue. Had someone else seen it and reclaimed her dog to her, she could be responsible for releasing rabies into the general public.

By the way, the raccoon tested positive.

..............

Another case that's ongoing. There have been numerous parties involved in this case, and it's pretty annoying to be yelled at from so many different sides, when the most reasonable response to 80% of the people is, "It's really none of your damn business."

A dog was brought in as a stray bite dog. When informed that the dog could not be rehomed, the finder said that she was the owner, even though she had only had the dog for a couple days.

Now, we're getting messages from fosters saying that the dog has been "set up to fail", others asking "what we can do", the neighbor coming in and being super pushy, meanwhile everyone is scrambling to try and find a legal way to get the dog out the front door. Believe me, we don't just let things go. We may get yelled at by management for getting "too involved", but none of us want these animals to die and we work as hard as we can to find any other options.

There are no notes on the bite, but by all accounts the dog is very nice (and otherwise adoptable). But no one realizes what a legal mess that these types of cases cause. His hold was up Friday, but we're keeping him until this gets resolved, which might be tricky because we just learned the "owner" is in Arizona right now.

.....................

A family came in the other day to visit their dog that had "come into contact" with a groundhog. The groundhog had been sent out for testing but the brainstem had been compromised and the test was inconclusive. I informed them that bite dogs cannot be visited without an animal control officer escort, and they got upset and said that they had been told they could come visit. "Well, yes, if the officer goes with you." The woman then goes on about how they had been getting the run around from everyone and couldn't get a straight answer from anyone and blah blah blah.

Hey, lady, whose fault is it that your dog attacked a groundhog? Did WE put the little critter in your yard and then release your dog? No. We're just here, doing our job, trying to keep you and the community safe. So stop bitching and go home and knit a sweater. You can pick your dog up in 10 days.

Work stories

Back by popular demand. These are just from today, but there's always something nuts going on.

1.

Guy with a leaf blower outside, blowing leafs. Leaf blower goes silent, man angrily bursts through door.

"I just stepped in a huge pile of dog shit!"

Guy gets a plastic bag to wrap his boot. Decides to not use bag. Is given option to use hose out back.

Surly guy emerges from bathroom. When asked if he feels better, he grumbles, "Not really."

Find out later that guy left crap in the sink in the bathroom. A true gentleman. If only he'd had some clue that there may be poop outside, he may not have gotten so cranky.

2.

Young lady drags or is dragged in by big black dog. Dog happily greets me by grinning over the counter.

"I have to surrender my dog. He just killed another one of my cats and my landlord said I have to get rid of him."

I explain that we cannot rehome animals known to have killed other animals; though we have some cat-unfriendly dogs, none of them have, to our knowledge, killed any cats. I suggest rehoming independently, since we cannot.

"Well, I guess I don't have a choice."

Like we're forcing her to give us her dog. Right.

We go through the whole process, and the final question is:

"Do you want his body back for burial?"

"Wait, you mean you won't even give him a chance? He's going to be euthanized automatically?"

"We cannot rehome dogs who have killed other animals." For the fifth time.

*grooooan*

*glare* 

Thanks.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that my supreme hatred for all living things caused you to allow your dog to not kill one, but multiple pet cats. I'm sorry that I have caused you to bring this dog in. Thank you so much for giving us your dog. We were all just sitting around, wishing there was some delightful, handsome, goofy dog that we could suck the life out of. Perfect.

You made my day.

3.

Guy calls, saying he wants to get his cat back. His ex-girlfriend surrendered their cats about seven weeks ago and didn't tell him until yesterday. He says one cat was adopted but he wants the other cat back. Since he didn't bring the cat in and everything was in his ex's name, I told him he could come in and adopt the cat.

Guy comes in, saying he wants his cat back, but he can't find her. Over the course of about half an hour, the building is scoured by numerous volunteers and staff. The cat is nowhere to be found. The guy starts freaking out, saying, "You put her down. You can tell me. You guys already put her down." I try to calm him down, saying that we're still looking for and that there would be a record if she had been euthanized.

"Well, obviously not."

He doesn't realize that his other cat wasn't adopted: she was euthanized because she was so traumatized that she couldn't adjust to being on the adoption floor. The whole time he's there he doesn't ask about her, he just tells me repeatedly that she had been adopted. I don't know who told him that, but okay.

Eventually we realize that one cat was euthanized and one was transferred to rescue, but in the paperwork, both were attached to one cat, the one that was put down. So, the other cat was showing as available and in the building, but had actually been transferred to a rescue.

I explain this to the guy (tactfully leaving out the whole "one of your cats really was euthanized" thing), and tell him two things we can do. I can ask the rescue coordinator to contact the rescue and see if they still have the cat. If they do, they can get back to him about reclaiming her. And/or, he can submit a public records request to find out where the cats went. He wants both cats back, even though I tell him that the cat is no longer legally his.

"But... they're my cats."

*facedesk*

He pushes the point that I could just tell him, acting all sneaky like, even though he has been ranting a raving and drawing the attention of everyone in the lobby. He then proceeds to have a full conversation with himself:

"Would you really lose your job for telling me where my own cat went? 'Oh, you helped a guy get his cat back. You're fired!' That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I mean, really?"

And on and on.

He answers a phone call and finally gets so loud that he attracts the security guard's attention. He then wanders outside. While he's outside, we find out that the cat that went to rescue had already been adopted. Woohoo!

He never comes back in, and I am given permission from my supervisor to not call him back. Small blessings.

.....

And these aren't even the stories involving concealed weapons, kitten enemas or feral spaceships!

Work stories

It's been a doozy of a few weeks, so brace yourself. Also know that Inigo, from my previous batch of stories, has gone to rescue. I hope he gets the life he deserves in a home that wants him, even when comp'ny visits.

1.
Two teenagers come up to the counter and one boy says they have a dog that needs medical attention. We find out that she has a prolapsed uterus and practically her entire reproductive system is on the outside. I saw that dog's cervix. Unfortunately, teenagers cannot surrender property to the county, so we had to wait for his dad to arrive and sign the dog over. The surgical team came to check the dog out before they signed her over and told them that the dog would likely have to be euthanized because of the severity. It had been like that for at least a week and was infected. The boy just couldn't afford the surgery the vets had told him she needed. He was heartbroken.

Lucky for her, they had finished surgery for the day and the surgeon was practically giddy for the challenge. It still looks pretty awful but she's healing well. She is currently in a foster home while she finishes her recovery.

UPDATE (4/4): Pepper recovered just fine. I can't remember what finally happened to her, but she went into foster and I believe she was adopted.

2.
If you follow me on Facebook you already know about Nemoy, Sputnik and Capone.

Saturday, a couple walks in to the shelter with a large plastic carrier. The smell of urine immediately fills the lobby. They say an elderly parent was "blessed" with kittens but cannot care for them. The couple lives in a neighboring county so we cannot accept the cats, so the couple leaves. A coworker suspects a dump is about to occur, so I go outside and ask a group of volunteers if one of them could follow the car. About that time, I notice that the couple is putting the carrier in the trunk of their car. Once my mouth is able to close, I wonder if that's illegal. The volunteers tell me that they asked the couple why the kittens were in the trunk and they said they didn't live far. The neighboring county is at least a 45 minute drive.

A few minutes later, a volunteer walks in with the carrier. The couple had turned left out of the parking lot, which is a dead-end. They hit a U-turn at high-speed, certainly sending the kittens in the trunk flying inside the carrier, and the volunteer laid on the horn and commandeered the kittens. I peek into the carrier and see three small, orange tabby kittens huddled together. They reek of piss and I reach in and pluck them out one by one and place them in a transfer cage. The disgusting and decrepit carrier is whisked away to the dumpster.

Upon arrival in receiving the kittens realize what a raw deal they've been dealt and decide they're not gonna take it. They refuse to be handled and are taken to the feral room.

The couple returns later in the day to retrieve their carrier. I cannot find their carrier but promise to let them know if it turns up. Mysteriously, it hasn't.

Two days later, I go in to see if the kittens have changed their minds. They have, and 45 minutes later they are all vaccinated and christened and placed in quarantine to await vet exam. They are underweight, saturated in urine, filthy and under-socialized. I'm in love.

The vet decides that they are not good foster candidates because they are "unthrifty", which means they look like crap and are feeble. They have until close of business to find a rescue or they will be euthanised in the morning. I panic and call the rescue that pulled Zeta, and they assure me all will be well. The volunteer who took possession of the kittens on Saturday graciously offers to foster them and bathe them before they have surgery. They are so filthy that she requests an extra day to clean them up.

This morning the boys show up for surgery bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They are loved, neutered, then loved some more and go back to foster. The rescue will pick them up on Monday and they will be adopted out to amazing homes. Unless I can convince my husband to let me have them since I love them. I'll keep you posted.

3.
This one is for my coworker.

A woman walks in with her son and a cat in a carrier. She dramatically tells us how she has a debilitating heart condition and simply cannot care for the cat any longer, because cats are so high maintenance and none of her children have hands. At least, that's the only logical explanation we could come up with.

Some people are just so strong and inspiring.

4.
A guy is seen outside the shelter with a skinny dog on a rope, picking the dog up by his hide and beating him because he will not walk on the "leash." A kennel attendant approaches as the man is tying the dog to a table outside. He hands the dog over and comes in to do the paperwork.

I learn that the dog was given to the man when he was 3 months old. It does not have a name, and the owner was "some Mexican guy named Freddy". Freddy left 6 months ago and was supposed to return after one. His phone number has been disconnected. The dog has been in a pen outside for six months. He is skinny because his "caretaker" can't afford to feed both his own dog and Freddy's dog.

I name him Slim Jim and he is put on the adoption floor. He is sweet as pie, severely underweight and dehydrated. He needs foster or rescue, but they decide his chances will be better on the adoption floor.


The cruelty of people never ceases to amaze me.

Work stories

Yesterday:

Couple walks in with a wicker pot cover.

"We found these three kittens. Mama's run off and they was just born yesterday."

We explained how kittens that young without a mom are euthanized immediately because they'll starve to death. The woman says she got a bottle and milk but couldn't feed them because the bottle was too big. We suggested getting kitten bottles and trying again.

"I don't want to."

Well thank you, ma'am, I'll just take those kittens off to die. Much obliged.

Then they ask if I have something to put the kittens in. I say yes, prepare a transfer cage and place the kittens in it. As I'm walking away, they place the basket on the donation rack. Thanks for making me handle these kittens for no reason.

I left them screaming in the euthanasia room.

Today:

An old guy, maybe 70, 80, walks in and says he needs to drop off his dog. I explain the process and probable outcome and ask him to bring the dog in because it is too hot to be in a car, even with the windows rolled down.

Why are you surrendering the dog? "I have comp'ny and they don't like him, so I have to get rid of him." How long are they staying with you? "About a week." You could board him for a week. If you leave him here, he'll probably be put down. *shrug*

As I enter his information in, I notice he'd surrendered another dog about 3 weeks ago. "That was his mother." Would you like to know what happened to her? "Did y'all put her down?" Yes.

I renamed him Inigo.

Brilliant gems of the day

1.
Two children walk up to the front desk, one about 13 and the other about 8. Both are awkwardly holding scruffy dogs by their armpits. 
"Hi! We'd like to donate our dogs!"
"You mean surrender them?"
Yes!
We don't have any open kennels, so there's a high chance your dogs could be euthanized if you surrender them.
-blank stare-
Put down...?
-blank stare-
Put to sleep?
Oh! But they wake up, right?
No.
Ohhh. So you mean...?
Yes. Dead.
-sad face-

2.
A woman walks in. She is pushing a stroller with a baby in it, holding a toddler by the hand, carrying a half-full large bag of dog food and holding a chain leash to a boxer. She only has two hands, and the baby in the stroller is flailing about and the boxer looks frazzled, almost as frazzled as her owner.
"I need to drop my dog off."
"We don't have any open kennels, and there's a high chance she might be put down."
Oh, but she's a very nice dog.
It doesn't matter. If we don't have space, we don't have space. The only way would be if we took another dog and put her in their kennel, and we don't want to make that decision. I'm sure you wouldn't want to go back there and decide which dog goes to make space for her.
You mean, I can go and choose a puppy and put her there instead?
No.

Work story

A gem from yesterday, because I am too tired to type the others. This one takes it, though.

A lady comes in with two separate cat carriers and her 10-year-old daughter. There is a kitten in each carrier. She puts a pink carrier on the counter and says, "I need to surrender this kitten." How long have you had it? "Oh, I just got it yesterday." Where?"Franklin County." Is it friendly and healthy? "Well..."

The kitten is dying. It is a 2 month old black and white kitten. Its eyes are almost completely crusted shut, its eyes are closed, it is breathing fast out of its mouth. I am absolutely shocked when she opens the carrier. That kitten is dying. "Oh, no, I just came from Banfield and they said it's fine, it just doesn't feel well." No ma'am, that kitten is dying. Someone lied to you. That's not normal. Did they give you any medicine? "No." Then you need to go back and yell at someone for not telling you your kitten is dying.

Real story, partially inferred, mostly pieced together from conversations with the doctor from Banfield and staff from Franklin County Animal Control:

Woman adopts two kittens for $25. Kitten appears to have an eye infection or cold, but woman insists that she will take kitten to vet and take care of it. Woman takes kitten to vet next day, kitten is severely congested but woman declines medicine and states she will simply surrender kitten to shelter because she cannot afford treatment. ONE HOUR LATER, kitten is presented with what appears to be moderate to serious URI (upper respiratory infection; read: cold) exacerbated by heat exhaustion. Despite claiming to have gone directly from vet to shelter, it is suspected that kitten was left in car for at least half an hour while family presumably ate lunch.

5 more minutes in the car, and that kitten would have died.

Not to mention the cat that wasn't surrendered. What the hell is going to happen to that cat?

During our conversation, I was sure that the kitten was going to die before I could even get it back to euthanasia. In fact, its head lolled back and its mouth was hanging open for most of the conversation.

Luckily, though, our 20 minute process enabled the kitten to cool down, and he even perked up when I put his carrier on the table in euthanasia. When the techs went to put him down, he was lively enough that they took him to vet treatment instead, where they got some fluids in him. He's dehydrated with moderate URI, but alive.

Work stories

I don't remember how my day started, but here's how it ended:


A couple came to surrender six cats- two adults and four kittens. The guy came in while the lady sat outside with the cats and smoked. He was pretty upset about one of the cats; the others were a stray mama cat and her kittens about 10 weeks old.

He said that they were moving and weren't allowed to have any cats in their new home. I took the cats in and as he was filling out the form outside with his wife, a volunteer said, "Aren't those the people who surrendered all those cats a while back?" And sure enough, it was. The wife had used her ID on the previous visit a month ago, so the connection wasn't made immediately. They surrendered six cats on their previous visit, 5 of which had been euthanized because of socialization/health and only one survived, honestly partly because of freak show value: he's almost 40 lbs.

This prompted a rant in receiving that there is no accountability for people surrendering animals, and that "the system is broken." Amen to that.


A family came in toward the end of the day to surrender their cat, a 10-year-old declawed medium-haired female. Why? She is incompatible with our other pets. How long have you had her? 10 years. Can you tell me exactly what is going on? Well, basically... We adopted two kittens 18 months ago and decided not to declaw them. We declawed our first cat because she scratched our baby on the face, but that was ten years ago. The new kittens just beat the hell out of her because she can't properly defend herself and won't bite. So we tried keeping her in a room by herself, but she keeps peeing on everything and everyone is miserable so we're bringing her here. Are you aware that if we cannot rehome her (and her chances are worse because of her age) that she will be put to sleep? Yes.

At this point, her son tearfully says, "So, does that mean we're taking her home?" "No."

You are a terrible person. Have fun in your car with your crying child, and congratulations on teaching them how to be a responsible adult. You deserve far worse than having your priceless possessions pissed on.


A woman with her mom came to surrender her dog, a young adult "pit" mix. Looked more like a shepherd mix to me. Everyone was busy, so she got in line. The lobby was quickly filled with the stench of infection. It was so gross we almost asked her to wait outside, but she was already in and deserved to get all the dirty looks she received.

When I got to her, she said that her kids were heartbroken, but she couldn't afford to take care of the dog. This woman was immaculate and had obviously not spared any expense on herself, but couldn't be bothered to take care of her dog. When asked what the smell was, she said, "I don't know, I think she has something infected on her neck." Could it be from the collar? "That's what I thought, but it's not." Uh huh. Has she been to the vet? "Oh, yeah, she has." Which vet? "Banfield." Right.

Not only did she lie about the dog going to the vet (she'd been seen last fall, and the only concern were her nails were too long, and today they were seriously overgrown), but she tried to give me a false address and inaccurate ID. When I got the dog to the back and had a chance to look at her, I found out that the dog's collar and harness had rubbed her skin raw. Both her neck and under her armpits were infected and open. I sat with her and started removing her torture devices and waited for the vet to come.

I was livid and would have liked nothing more than to strangle the owner. And animal control couldn't do anything because they had already surrendered the dogs; animal control usually threatens owners with cruelty unless they surrender the animals immediately.

The system is broken.


That's how my day ended, dealing with those quality people, one after the other, probably all within one hour. I was ready to hide in the bathroom until the front doors locked. So exhausted.

Work stories

2 most notable stories of the day, both sad for different reasons. 

Story one: This lady comes in to adopt a kitten that she had previously canceled her deposit on and then uncanceled, so of course I think she's a flake. Turns out her brother-in-law was killed by an underage drunk driver and she inherited his two teenaged sons, so she's understandably nervous about taking on more responsibility. But she decided to go forward and even adopt an adult she also fell in love with. We wait the ten minutes for both cat and kitten to get FIV/Felv tested. 

Of course the adult turns out to be Felv+ and is euthanized, so I have to give her a refund, apologize profusely and congratulate her on her kitten as she cries her signature onto all the paperwork. 

Kill me. 

Story 2: This woman with a bad attitude comes in with a cat in a carrier so scared he crapped in it. She proceeds to tell us how she needs to return the cat to us because he isn't using the litter box and she is getting married and moving in with her fiancé who doesn't want the cat. She has other cats and of course he hasn't been to the vet, but he's a perfect cat otherwise and oh wait he's from the SPCA, what do you mean it's not the same? 

When reminded that her contract requires her to return him from whence he came, she becomes indignant and says there's a moving truck in front of her house. 

Then she has the nerve to ask if we can get the cat shit out of her carrier. Are you f*ing kidding me?! She's lucky I didn't piss in it myself and stuff the whole mess down her throat.

Every. Day.

Sacagawea

A beagle got reclaimed today. Weird, in itself. At first I wasn't impressed with the owner, but after speaking with her and thinking about it a little, I'm glad she's being such a responsible pet owner. First off, the beagle was her first pet, and she'll readily tell you that a beagle is a terrible first dog. She won't be getting another. She also asked why unaltered animals cost more to reclaim than spayed/neutered animals, and after explaining, she said, "Yeah, I should get her spayed." Hopefully she'll do that. Then, we started talking about beagles in general and I told her how nice her little girl looked and told her that the two I've had (temporarily) had yeast skin infections. She said, "She does, too." I honestly couldn't tell. This may be the first beagle that's been reclaimed to a decent owner who actually cares about quality of life. After all the idiots and jerks, it's nice to meet someone different.