The Weber County Animal Shelter is on a mission to turn itself around.
It’s been a challenging year, filled with staffing shortages, a parvo outbreak that forced 20 dogs to be euthanized and an animal hoarding case where more than 150 dogs and cats were found in an Ogden home. But changes have rolled out, too, with new programs and a director who took the helm in June.
Through the issues, the shelter was already revamping its volunteer program, said Weber County Commissioner Sharon Bolos. She oversees the shelter and has filled in as the interim director.
That’s why the April hoarding case ended up offering the shelter a silver lining. It brought in almost 100 volunteers, she said, who helped groom dogs and clean kennels.
“It was really a way to sort of bring the shelter out into the public and say, ‘We need your help,’” she said.
A small number of dedicated volunteers have stuck around, and the shelter is focused on putting them to work.
“If they're willing to come and clean kennels, please come and help us clean kennels. If they want to come and walk dogs, or they want to take a dog for a day, we want to make sure that everyone who wants to volunteer has an opportunity to do that,” she said.
The two men accused of animal hoarding appeared in court July 15. And while the hoarding case brought attention to the shelter, other updates were already underway.
After employees shuffled their schedules around in March, the shelter reinstituted adoption hours on Saturdays. The new hours are popular with families, Bolos said.
Doggy Daycation came on the scene in May. Animal lovers can sign out a dog for an afternoon, which helps staff learn how it behaves in the real world. Employees can’t tell how a dog interacts with different people or animals, or what it enjoys, from interactions inside the shelter.
“You get to know a lot more about the animal’s personality if you can take it on a hike, or you can take it to a family reunion,” Bolos said, and that’s helpful for potential adopters.
The new director of animal services, Siri Main, took over in June. Reading about the shelter’s past struggles during late-night Google searches as she applied for the job was “a little bit nerve-wracking,” Main said, but she loved the team and was determined to make an impact.
In addition to the new director, the county hired two full-time animal services employees and three part-time kennel techs, according to Bolos.
Going forward, Main wants to improve the shelter’s tracking of adoptions, fosters and medical cases. In turn, that data will help with grant applications and answering to the community, she said.
And while the volunteer program has made strides, Main wants to strengthen it further. She pictures a system where staff can call on volunteers when they need help with things like transporting a cat.
“That way, one of my staff members aren't pulled away from that necessarily,” she said, “and they're more focused on treating animals, feeding animals, caring for animals in-house.”
The parvo outbreak and hoarding case were learning experiences, she said. The shelter has overhauled its cleaning protocols, and staff take advice from local veterinarians and the Utah-based nonprofit Best Friends Animal Society.
But a shelter is just a stop-gap. At the end of the day, Main would love to see fewer animals in the facility, so she’s thinking about how to keep them from ending up there in the first place. That could mean advising owners on their fencing or helping provide pet food for those in need.
“So really encompassing the issue as a whole, and not just constantly working in this revolving door of animals in and out,” she said.
They’ll know the changes are working if the number of animals in their care goes down, Bolos said, and if they can operate without relying on partners.
“I'm really looking forward to a different image of the shelter,” she said.
That means becoming a source of pride for employees and the community, while interacting with the public and letting people know where to go to find their next pet.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
