Animal Welfare Professionals

Hello everyone, 

I have been in animal welfare going on 3 years now, but my position is a newer role at our facility.

We were originally pre-processing out animals for adoptions (typically at the beginning of the day) that were to go home the same day AFTER their spay/neuter/veterinary exam. We were doing the same for our public spay/neuter days as well- so processing them out of our system so we had everything put together at the time of pick up. 

The problem we are running into now is; 1. If we pre-process and they don't pick up or we don't delete the outcome and they don't pick up till the following day, etc. our numbers are thrown off. Which would also be trouble in the case of an emergency. *our shelter is located in Southern Oregon and there are a lot of wildfires.

and 2. It could potentially be a liability issue if the animal is processed out of our system and something happens. 3. People were processing them out before our veterinarian could put her notes into the medical summary, which just causes more work for everyone. 

SO- we have stopped pre-processing out animals, but since we are a small shelter, there is just me, one full time customer relations specialist and one part-time customer relations specialist. It's been making it stressful and hectic when we have all these people show up and we have to process them out one at a time, on top of our other walk in adoptions, return to owners, etc etc. 

What does your shelter do as far as waitlists, processing out animals, how to make it a smoother and more easy process, anything! 

I'm open to any advice or help- we have been having a hard time managing it all, and making people wait longer than their scheduled pick-up times. 

Thank you so much!!

Do people make appointments to pick-up the animals?  When we started making appointments it changed the world for the front desk.  We schedule one per half-hour -- you could do them more frequently if that works for you.  We know who is leaving next, can gather whatever printouts, meds, etc. are needed and process the adoption calmly.

Hello everyone, 

I have been in animal welfare going on 3 years now, but my position is a newer role at our facility.

We were originally pre-processing out animals for adoptions (typically at the beginning of the day) that were to go home the same day AFTER their spay/neuter/veterinary exam. We were doing the same for our public spay/neuter days as well- so processing them out of our system so we had everything put together at the time of pick up. 

The problem we are running into now is; 1. If we pre-process and they don't pick up or we don't delete the outcome and they don't pick up till the following day, etc. our numbers are thrown off. Which would also be trouble in the case of an emergency. *our shelter is located in Southern Oregon and there are a lot of wildfires.

and 2. It could potentially be a liability issue if the animal is processed out of our system and something happens. 3. People were processing them out before our veterinarian could put her notes into the medical summary, which just causes more work for everyone. 

SO- we have stopped pre-processing out animals, but since we are a small shelter, there is just me, one full time customer relations specialist and one part-time customer relations specialist. It's been making it stressful and hectic when we have all these people show up and we have to process them out one at a time, on top of our other walk in adoptions, return to owners, etc etc. 

What does your shelter do as far as waitlists, processing out animals, how to make it a smoother and more easy process, anything! 

I'm open to any advice or help- we have been having a hard time managing it all, and making people wait longer than their scheduled pick-up times. 

Thank you so much!!

Hello everyone, 

I have been in animal welfare going on 3 years now, but my position is a newer role at our facility.

We were originally pre-processing out animals for adoptions (typically at the beginning of the day) that were to go home the same day AFTER their spay/neuter/veterinary exam. We were doing the same for our public spay/neuter days as well- so processing them out of our system so we had everything put together at the time of pick up. 

The problem we are running into now is; 1. If we pre-process and they don't pick up or we don't delete the outcome and they don't pick up till the following day, etc. our numbers are thrown off. Which would also be trouble in the case of an emergency. *our shelter is located in Southern Oregon and there are a lot of wildfires.

and 2. It could potentially be a liability issue if the animal is processed out of our system and something happens. 3. People were processing them out before our veterinarian could put her notes into the medical summary, which just causes more work for everyone. 

SO- we have stopped pre-processing out animals, but since we are a small shelter, there is just me, one full time customer relations specialist and one part-time customer relations specialist. It's been making it stressful and hectic when we have all these people show up and we have to process them out one at a time, on top of our other walk in adoptions, return to owners, etc etc. 

What does your shelter do as far as waitlists, processing out animals, how to make it a smoother and more easy process, anything! 

I'm open to any advice or help- we have been having a hard time managing it all, and making people wait longer than their scheduled pick-up times. 

Thank you so much!!

Do you break up the schedule? Maybe drop offs between 8-10, pickups between 3-5, adoptions anytime, and with first priority? Do you use ShelterLuv software? You can process pre-adoptions as fosters so they stay in your system, and you can show location as "vet." You could create a location category of "pre-adoption/vet". ShelterLuv is a super easy software and you can process everything electronically (or with printouts if you like paper). 

Hello everyone, 

I have been in animal welfare going on 3 years now, but my position is a newer role at our facility.

We were originally pre-processing out animals for adoptions (typically at the beginning of the day) that were to go home the same day AFTER their spay/neuter/veterinary exam. We were doing the same for our public spay/neuter days as well- so processing them out of our system so we had everything put together at the time of pick up. 

The problem we are running into now is; 1. If we pre-process and they don't pick up or we don't delete the outcome and they don't pick up till the following day, etc. our numbers are thrown off. Which would also be trouble in the case of an emergency. *our shelter is located in Southern Oregon and there are a lot of wildfires.

and 2. It could potentially be a liability issue if the animal is processed out of our system and something happens. 3. People were processing them out before our veterinarian could put her notes into the medical summary, which just causes more work for everyone. 

SO- we have stopped pre-processing out animals, but since we are a small shelter, there is just me, one full time customer relations specialist and one part-time customer relations specialist. It's been making it stressful and hectic when we have all these people show up and we have to process them out one at a time, on top of our other walk in adoptions, return to owners, etc etc. 

What does your shelter do as far as waitlists, processing out animals, how to make it a smoother and more easy process, anything! 

I'm open to any advice or help- we have been having a hard time managing it all, and making people wait longer than their scheduled pick-up times. 

Thank you so much!!