Animal Welfare Professionals

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am interested in assisting my local animal welfare center as a staff pet adoption coordinator.  My skills are primarily leadership, organization, enthusiasm and prior corporate world experience (animal lover too of course).  The issue I have is with the requirement that the person in this position would be required to determine animals that may need to be euthanized.  Although I am fully aware of this aspect of animal welfare, I would not be comfortable or confident with this particular responsibility.  Does anyone have suggestions for marketing myself as a good fit for this position, provided the agency is willing to remove this line item from my responsibilities?  

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

I would suggest to them that important decisions like that should be made by the Executive Director of the shelter or -- even better -- by a committee within the shelter headed by the Executive Director.  That gets the burden off your shoulders and also tells them that euthanizing animals is something that you have given a good deal of thought to.  It also assures the shelter's board of directors that life/death decisions are made with significant input by several people and not by just one person. 

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Charlotte W Craig
Animal Welfare Alliance
Poplar Bluff, MO
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2023 01:50 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Pet Adoption Coordinator

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am interested in assisting my local animal welfare center as a staff pet adoption coordinator.  My skills are primarily leadership, organization, enthusiasm and prior corporate world experience (animal lover too of course).  The issue I have is with the requirement that the person in this position would be required to determine animals that may need to be euthanized.  Although I am fully aware of this aspect of animal welfare, I would not be comfortable or confident with this particular responsibility.  Does anyone have suggestions for marketing myself as a good fit for this position, provided the agency is willing to remove this line item from my responsibilities?  

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

My old shelter had a meeting with all the staff in leadership roles to determine whether euthanasia was on the table for an animal. The volunteer coordinator would bring her own opinion as well as the opinions of volunteers who had worked with the animal, the manager would bring her opinion as well as that of the the kennel staff. Everyone would state their opinions, offer suggestions for how to work with the animal's issues, and come to a conclusion. 

I would clarify whether this is a decision that you would be making alone or if you would have support and a genuine discussion with your coworkers to talk about options. As hard as it is to help with that decision, I can tell you that having no input is far worse. 

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Marilyn Wheaton
Client Services
AnimalsFirst
Leesburg VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2023 01:50 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Pet Adoption Coordinator

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am interested in assisting my local animal welfare center as a staff pet adoption coordinator.  My skills are primarily leadership, organization, enthusiasm and prior corporate world experience (animal lover too of course).  The issue I have is with the requirement that the person in this position would be required to determine animals that may need to be euthanized.  Although I am fully aware of this aspect of animal welfare, I would not be comfortable or confident with this particular responsibility.  Does anyone have suggestions for marketing myself as a good fit for this position, provided the agency is willing to remove this line item from my responsibilities?  

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

There are two separate big questions here: (1) how an organization makes euthanasia decisions, and (2) how to market yourself for the position of adoption coordinator.

(1) We use a Pet Evaluation Matrix, which allows us to view each animal as an individual while still evaluating our organizational and community capabilities. I would encourage any organization to look at their organizational view of euthanasia decisions. This means that any decision is not one person's, but rather takes into account all of the factors at play, which are hard to keep in one person's mind - the community's capacity, the organization's capacity, the animal's level of suffering. It is important that the adoption coordinator has a part in making euthanasia decisions, whether that's in individual decisions or in making certain something like a Pet Evaluation Matrix is up to date - you would be most aware of what adopters can and cannot handle in your community, and able to tweak programming to move that dial. For example, let's say diabetes is something that is not treatable in your facility, and that your organization makes decisions to euthanize animals with diabetes. There are several ways that having this in writing can lead to solutions - if you're pulling the data a seeing that there are euthanasias for diabetes, but you have spoken with potential adopters who have previously had diabetic animals and would not mind adopting one again, you can start solving for this. A potential adopter list, going to funders for post adoption support, going to funders for in-facility support. We don't know how to move the needle on euthanasia without collecting the data (both on the animals and the community) and without the input of everyone involved, including the adoption coordinator.

(2) Marketing yourself! For me, the best adoption coordinator is the one who can show the most devotion to open, nonjudgmental adoptions. This may not be true for the organization you're applying for, but I sure hope it is! Look at the population of pets in the shelter and imagine where they are coming from and how to best reunite them with those communities - return to owner is first, but return to community/neighborhood/etc. should be our next priority. If you're seeing a lot of outdoor cats or blocky headed dogs, and are not doing adoptions in the zip codes those animals are coming from, come to your interview with a solution for that! It is also a pretty big deal to say that a job requirement is not something you would fulfill - making euthanasia decisions - so come in with a plan for that as well. My suggestion is leading the organization to make a transparent euthanasia policy and an evaluation matrix - put it on your website, communicate with volunteers, staff, adopters, transfer partners, and other stakeholders. Remember also that working in animal welfare is primarily about human animals and their relationships with their pets, so while love of animals is great, it is a baseline - remember to communicate your love of people and your community during the application process (everyone will take for granted your love for non-human animals)!

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Emily Wood
Director
Broward County Animal Care
Fort Lauderdale FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2023 01:50 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Pet Adoption Coordinator

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am interested in assisting my local animal welfare center as a staff pet adoption coordinator.  My skills are primarily leadership, organization, enthusiasm and prior corporate world experience (animal lover too of course).  The issue I have is with the requirement that the person in this position would be required to determine animals that may need to be euthanized.  Although I am fully aware of this aspect of animal welfare, I would not be comfortable or confident with this particular responsibility.  Does anyone have suggestions for marketing myself as a good fit for this position, provided the agency is willing to remove this line item from my responsibilities?  

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms

It's a challenging responsibility that can weigh heavily on anyone's conscience. I've had a similar experience in the past when I wanted to work with an animal welfare organization.

In my case, I focused on showcasing my skills in leadership, organization, and my passion for animal welfare. I emphasized my ability to effectively coordinate pet adoptions, create engaging campaigns, and build strong relationships with potential adopters. By highlighting these strengths, I hoped to demonstrate that I could contribute significantly to the organization without taking on the euthanasia decision-making role.
During the interview process, I made it clear that while I fully understand the importance of euthanasia in certain cases, it's not a responsibility I felt comfortable or confident with. I expressed my willingness to support the organization in other aspects of their work and suggested alternative ways I could contribute effectively.

The key is to have an open and honest conversation with the agency. Explain your concerns and propose solutions. They might be willing to accommodate your request by removing that specific responsibility from your role, especially if they value your other skills and experience.

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Daniel Burr
Operations Manager
Little Ones
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-30-2023 01:50 PM
From: Anonymous Member
Subject: Pet Adoption Coordinator

This message was posted by a user wishing to remain anonymous

I am interested in assisting my local animal welfare center as a staff pet adoption coordinator.  My skills are primarily leadership, organization, enthusiasm and prior corporate world experience (animal lover too of course).  The issue I have is with the requirement that the person in this position would be required to determine animals that may need to be euthanized.  Although I am fully aware of this aspect of animal welfare, I would not be comfortable or confident with this particular responsibility.  Does anyone have suggestions for marketing myself as a good fit for this position, provided the agency is willing to remove this line item from my responsibilities?  

#AdoptionsandAdoptionPrograms