Hi!
I am with Washoe County Regional Animal Services in Nevada and as a government agency we are not allowed to delete things from the page. We are able to hide offensive comments according to very specific social media guidelines set by our communications department (threats of violence, cursing, racist remarks etc.) which can make things a bit challenging. We have only been able to have our own social media accounts for just under a year so we are coping with now having an open forum to directly interact with the public in a new way.
In general our community will pop in to correct misinformation and defend us against negative comments, but we do try to address negative and misinformed comments when we can. We always work to back up our responses with data which is all subject to public records request so it is generally easier to be upfront with the facts and the realities of shelter work. We have crafted several "canned responses" to frequent misconceptions, complaints or questions, (wildlife, deceased pets on freeway, care pets who are injured/sick on intake receive, what to do if your pet is missing, how to adopt a pet, euthanasia, general complaints, noise complaints. We also try to comment/respond to other comments that may be educational opportunities. For example we had a comment asking why we took in a pigeon as they are commonly viewed as wildlife and we excitedly took the opportunity to make a comment about the differences in the types of pigeons, the ones that are wild in our area, and the ones that are not wild in our area and are likely pets and how to spot the difference. In general our tone on social media is helpful, factual, and excited to have an opportunity to help the public understand animals and pets in our area.
In cases where someone has a nonspecific complaint or misunderstanding that is not easy to clear up via social media we have the following canned response:
"Hello, thank you for reaching out with your questions and concerns. We encourage you to attend our Animal Services Advisory Board meetings, which is your opportunity as a citizen to hear updates about WCRAS and to ask questions and voice your concerns. We have a meeting on
[Insert next meeting date and time], via Zoom. Meeting details can be found on our website here:
https://www.washoecounty.gov/animal/wcras_advisory_board/index.php. We also welcome you to come in or call us to answer any of your questions or for a tour of our facility."
One of the most common negative comments we address is about euthanasia in our shelter. We also have a canned response crafted for those as well:
"Hello, thank you for reaching out with your questions and concerns. WCRAS works very hard to place unclaimed animals that enter our shelter into rescue groups that work to help them find a new home. We have a ten-year average of over 90% live release of stray animals that come into our care, which is a number we are very proud of. Over 40% of our stray animals get returned to their owners and over 50% get transferred to our rescue partners for adoption. We work with more than 20+ rescues to try and get pets out into a long - term supportive environment and ultimately hopefully a happy home, however we are unable to guarantee this outcome. All rescues that we work with have the option to select a pet to take in or to make them available for other rescues. Euthanasia is not a desired outcome for any pet that comes into our shelter, as evidenced by our already very low euthanasia rates. Our staff work with pets to help them attempt to overcome behavioral issues through recurring positive interactions, enrichment time (playing, walking, working for treats, meeting other dogs, exploring new areas and new smells etc.) to help a pet have a better chance at being selected for transfer by one of our rescue partners. However, in cases where behavioral issues are severe and we are unable to make progress with a pet, humane euthanasia is a possibility.
We encourage you to attend our Animal Services Advisory Board meetings, which is your opportunity as a citizen to hear updates about WCRAS and to ask questions and voice your concerns. We have a meeting on
[Insert next meeting date and time], via Zoom. Meeting details can be found on our website here:
https://www.washoecounty.gov/animal/wcras_advisory_board/index.php. We also welcome you to come in or call us to answer any of your questions or for a tour of our facility."
Being transparent with our data, processes, and openness to allowing public discourse through our public meetings seems to work well for us and although there are still many in our community with a negative perception, we are slowly moving the needle to help the public better understand the complexities of the work and our true desire to provide every pet with the best outcome possible.
We are also working to demystify shelter work by creating live videos showing what happens behind the scenes, what happens to a pet when you drop it off and it is taken behind the intake door, what does it look like/mean when we say our shelter is full, what do our enrichment activities look like, what systems are in place to prevent disease transmission, what does it look like when we clean the kennels, what do we do with reptiles, fish, small animals etc that come in.
Transparency, allowing the public to see that we take pride in our work, we are not hiding things from them, and that we do everything we can to provide a positive outcome for the pets in our care (because no one likes to euthanize animals) has been our approach since we started on social media and has really worked well for us. It also helps that we have several staff that come together to craft responses to complex questions to ensure that it is clear, concise, and fits with the tone of our page which makes it easier to ensure that responses are well thought out, factual, and non-defensive.
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Quinn Sweet
Outreach Program Coordinator
Washoe County Regional Animal Services
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-19-2022 07:55 AM
From: Alexis Pugh
Subject: When do you respond, and when do you delete and move on?
Hi all- I wanted to hear from other shelter leaders, marketing and communications professionals, and really anyone with a public facing role. I think we all know that it does not matter how good you are doing, or if you are getting it right 99% of the time. In animal sheltering, perfection is the only allowable level of performance for many in the advocacy community, and if you make a mistake or a decision that they disagree with, they're going to let you know.
While I consider it important to talk through issues with citizens in my community and try to find common ground, when do you decide not respond? Do you respond only if they live in your community? Your state? At what point do you draw the line that spending time answering attack emails is taking away from the lifesaving work you need to be doing?
I've attached a really great decision tree resource that helps you navigate this decision making process, and I try and use it as much as possible, but I would love to hear from others how you navigate the vitriolic world that we are too often subjected to.
https://blog.justgiving.com/how-does-your-charity-deal-with-social-media-harassment/
#MarketingandSocialMedia
#OrganizationalManagement
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Alexis Pugh
Director, Memphis Animal Services
www.memphisanimalservices.com
Organizational Management
& Pet Support Services Specialist
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