Christine,
This is a great question. at one of our shelters we do try our best to schedule an appointment for a few reasons and the main ones being we are short staffed. When a person calls and wants to surrender we try to find out the root cause of the " want" to surrender. We refer the client to our community support team to see if we can offer more resources before a surrender. An exmaple would be if the client wants to surrender because the animal has a medical issue then the community support team will refer them to our low cost full service clinic and community support team will cover the exam fee and that gets the client in the door. If there is a medical issue then the staff at the clinic ( usually myself) will speak with the vet, figure out the issue and get an estimate. Based on the estimate I then have a conversation with the client about the animals condition and disucc payment options whether it be care credit, scratch pay or a potential payment plan or the client just make a small deposit and the clinic covers the rest of the bill. We also have been able to help through the safety net foster program and also offering resources souch as dog food, dog houses and dewormer. I have foudn it some what helpful having clients schedule an appointment because if gives them a little more time to think bout it and gives us a chance to offer more resources. However that also has a down side as well as clients will still just show up and they also may dump the animal as well. I hope this information is helpful to you.
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Marissa Reid
Clinic Director
LifeLine Animal Project
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Access To Care Specialist
Clinic Management Specialist
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-19-2021 05:52 AM
From: Christine Calder
Subject: How many of you schedule intake appointments?
Out of curiosity, how many of you schedule intake appointments at your shelter? How far out do you book these appointments? Do you have any discussion before surrender? Do they fill out a surrender form or intake form before they arrive, the day of surrender, or never?
#AdmissionsandIntake(includingIntake-to-placement)
#Behavior,TrainingandEnrichment
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Christine D. Calder DVM
Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
Calder Veterinary Behavior Services
www.caldervbs.com
Veterinary Behaviorist
Behavior Specialist, MPF
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