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Inside the Washington Parish Animal Shelter
Episode 8 • 21st March 2025 • Animal Posse • Unwanted Feline Organization
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Dixie:

Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the

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people and rescues making a

difference in the lives of animals.

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Today, let's welcome Kelsey Knight.

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She is the director of the

Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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hi Kelsey.

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How are you?

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I am good.

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I am excited to talk with you today about

the Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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That's something that a lot

of people don't know what goes

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in into working at a shelter.

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A lot of people know the rescue

side, but they don't know

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anything about the shelter side.

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To start, can you describe your

journey to becoming the director of

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the Washington Parish Animal Shelter?

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Kelsey: As a young kid, I always

wanted to work with animals.

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I think some of us are just

born with that calling.

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And I can definitely say that.

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So when I got out of high

school, I started grooming dogs.

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So I was a dog stylist, and I realized

as I was working that I had this

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knack for working with dogs that

were super fearful of being groomed.

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So I let that become my specialty.

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And I had, clients that just

followed me wherever I went because

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no one else could do their dogs.

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And then I started doing cats and bathing

and trying to cut a cat while it's fully

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awake and aware of what's going on.

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Not many people want to do that,

but I was like, I can do it.

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I have the patience.

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So I.

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Started doing cats and I got

really burnt out very quickly.

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I did grooming for six years,

and by the end of those six

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years I was just exhausted.

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I didn't have the energy to go into work.

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I was pushing clients

back and pushing them back

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because by that point I had

nothing but, fearful dogs and cats.

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And so every day it was just a struggle

with every single client I had.

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And I started getting tagged

in a Facebook post, and I'm not

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really on Facebook a lot, so I was

like, let me see what's going on.

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And they had a position for a shelter

manager and I had volunteered at shelters.

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I had groomed dogs at shelters and rescue.

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So I was like, I think I wanna do this.

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I immediately had it in my head of

I know where I want my parish to go.

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I know what I want to do with this.

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So I went in and I interviewed and I

bawled like a baby in the interview.

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I just cried my eyes out and I

was like, this is my dream job.

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. I've always wanted to work with animals.

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I've always wanted to save lives

and give everything I have to them.

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And this is the best

opportunity in the world.

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There's no greater job than

being like a shelter manager.

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And I somehow got the job.

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So in 2019, I walked

into a empty building.

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It had nothing in it except like a couch.

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It didn't even have desks

or chairs or anything.

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And within I think two weeks we

had our first three dogs at the

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shelter, which were just drops off.

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Someone had seen or found out

that there was gonna be a shelter

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there, so they came and dropped

off some dogs and I was like, okay.

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Their names were Paul Lola

and Trunk, and they really.

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Taught me a lot on how to

work with dogs in the shelter.

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And, you had, one of them

had been bitten by a snake.

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So I immediately had to figure

out how do I talk to vets?

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How do I, deal with

this and live with this?

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And now it's been almost

six years at the shelter.

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Dixie: Wow.

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That's amazing.

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That's a interesting story going

from the grooming to doing that.

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That's wonderful.

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Phil: So, so the shelter started in 2019.

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That was the in inception of

the Washington Parish shelter.

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Kelsey: Yeah, the doors

th,:

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Phil: Oh, fantastic.

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Okay.

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So you were there from the beginning then.

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Okay, cool.

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Kelsey: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I was the first

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employee and I'm still there.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's awesome.

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What does a typical day look like for you?

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Kelsey: It really, I'll say it

depends on the day of the week.

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It depends on.

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A whole lot of stuff.

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We are absolutely believers that,

if it's a full moon, it's gonna be

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crazy because every time there's

a full moon, everything's crazy.

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But mostly a normal day, let's

say the, we're not doing intakes.

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We don't have like crazy

adoptions or anything.

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It's a lot of paperwork, , a

lot of on the phone.

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I have spent an entire eight hour

shift on the phone and then I go

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home and I'm like, I can't talk.

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Don't ask me how my day was.

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I'm so tired of talking.

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Lots of data collection.

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That's a big part of my

job is the smallest thing.

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I'm like, okay, how can I use this fact

to learn more about my parish and learn

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more about the animals and learn more

about my adoption pool so that I can do

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better and make my dogs better make us.

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A bigger asset to the parish

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and then we have, sometimes

we have crazy days.

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Dixie: Right.

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Yeah, I can imagine.

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What are the biggest challenges

that face your shelter right now?

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Kelsey: Having a parish that is

overwhelmed with our animal population,

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both with canines and felines.

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We have so many kittens and

puppies and dogs and cats that we

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don't have empty homes right now.

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A lot of even my adopters

come in and they're like, oh

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yeah I have two dogs at home.

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How does this dog act with other dogs?

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Or I have two cats, so how

does this dog react to cats?

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It's very rare to get.

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A new adopter that does not

already have pets in the home.

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So we see a lot of times, especially when

we're out in the field doing like adoption

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events at Tractor Supply or other places

that people walk by and they're like,

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I would adopt, but I have three dogs I

would adopt, but I have five animals I

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would adopt, but I am already at capacity

for what I can care for in my home.

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And so that's our biggest

struggle right now.

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If we had more adoptions, we could

get more dogs in that needed help and

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really move our animals much quicker.

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So then you fall back on

what about transports?

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During Covid we had

transports out the wazoo.

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Everything was getting shipped everywhere.

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Even dogs with like behavior

problems or health issues.

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We were able to get those dogs out

to New York, New Jersey, Washington.

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And what happened was we overwhelmed them.

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We sent so many animals up north that now

they're overburdened with our population.

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I'm still getting calls from

people being like, yeah, I adopted

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this dog in, 21 from you guys.

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I'm like, oh, you just

called me from Minnesota.

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What is my dog doing in Minnesota?

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So we really don't have, those options

to send out massive amounts of animals.

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And so everything has fallen back into

what we can get out in the parish.

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So that's number one.

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Bottom line, if we had more open

homes, empty homes, we could get

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more adoptions, which in turn

allows us to take in more animals.

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Dixie: And what types of animals do you

typically see coming into the shelter?

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. Kelsey: So we are not animal

control at the shelter.

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So we don't have any legal authority.

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We can't go out and seize animals.

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We can't go out and, write

citations or do anything like that.

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So mostly what we see are

stray and owner surrender.

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So an owner surrender, obviously,

they chose to care for that animal.

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Have that animal, we put them on our

intake list, we get that animal in on

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the opposite side, you have your stray

surrender where maybe a stray dog has

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come into the yard or maybe like it's a

business or something, and they're like,

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there's no owner, no one's claiming it.

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It needs to come into the shelter..

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Now we do take in almost all of

the emergency cases that come.

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Through like our phone

log or our messages.

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So we get a lot of dogs that are

severely injured hit by a car, different

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stuff like that just because we're

super medically based at the shelter.

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So we're actually able to care

for those animals and treat them.

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Phil: Okay.

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And I know y'all are in a rural area.

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Do you ever take anything other

than cats or dogs dogs, like any

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kind of livestock or anything?

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Kelsey: So we don't have

the capacity for livestock.

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We've helped assist in some situations

with horses and goats and stuff,

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but we don't have the space or the

fencing to actually house animals.

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We have gotten some birds of prey that we

sent out, so we've gotten a falcon before.

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Owls, you get your little baby

squirrel calls and raccoons and

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possums and stuff like that, but

we cannot keep them at the shelter.

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So even if we're holding them

short term, we have to send them

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out to a sanctuary or a rescue.

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Dixie: And how has the shelter

adapted to changes in animal

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welfare practices over the years?

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Kelsey: I will say in 2019,

I didn't know anything.

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I was so green, like I had

no idea about anything.

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But one thing about me personally is.

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All I do is research.

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All I do is educate myself.

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So anytime someone was like, oh, we're

gonna have a course about this, or

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we're gonna have a class about this,

or we're gonna be talking about this,

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I'm like let me in on that Zoom call.

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Let me drive over here

and see what's going on.

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And so then once you start meeting

the other directors of the shelters

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and you start meeting, you know these

genius minds, you're able to, call

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them up and say, Hey, I'm confused about

this, or I just got this situation in.

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And then you meet vets who are like, yeah,

gimme a call if you're ever, confused

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about something or if you need help.

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And then you step up and now all

of a sudden you're talking to

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the directors of, shelter med at

LSU, . Learning, everything about

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my job is learning data collection.

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What can I do better?

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Where can I do better?

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So when we started, we were basic medical

protocol, basic training, basic welfare.

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We had no idea.

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And now when a dog comes into our shelter

within 24 hours, that dog has almost been

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fully medically treated for everything.

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It's been wormed, vaccinated,

heartworm tested, it's given

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like flea and tick prevention.

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We've looked that dog over completely.

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Our vets are already aware that Hey, when

you come in, this dog has my belly button

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hernia or this dog is a criptorchid.

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Or all of those things.

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And then we reach out to the

trainers that we work with and we're

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like, Hey, this dog is super shy.

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Would you be willing to come

up and work with this dog

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for, one or two times a week?

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We have a trainer that comes.

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Twice a week to the shelter,

to dog test our dogs.

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Then we have an incredible man who like

twice a week comes and walks every dog

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in our facility, just takes them out on

a walk and walks them to get out energy.

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Like we're, we put our all into

these animals at the shelter.

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Dixie: Do you ever collaborate

with animal welfare organizations

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or other community groups?

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Kelsey: Oh, absolutely.

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So Washington Humane Society has

been one of our biggest partners

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from the inception of the shelter.

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We rely on them so much.

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They are like the friends of

Washington Parish Animal Shelter.

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They helped us get our start

with spay neuter clinic.

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They were the ones who found the funding

to get us the anesthesia machines and the

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tables and the stuff that we have now.

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If there's ever a situation where

we're , we need help, getting this.

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Oxygen thing or whatever, like

they're the ones that we call when

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we need help with that side of it.

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But they support us in multiple ways, like

especially sharing our Facebook posts.

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Anytime we make a Facebook post, they're,

it's an immediate oh, I know they're

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gonna share it, it's gonna get to

their audience, which is not the same

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audience that we have at our shelter.

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We've worked with bigger groups

like Bissell best friends.

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Greater good.

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We've, worked with them.

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We're part of Bissell's

Fix the Future Program.

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So they actually pay our vets

to come in and spay and neuter

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animals for our public, pay them

in full to do all of that work.

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But then Washington Humane Society,

they get grants for all of the cats.

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So right now, in March we're doing

over, I think actually we might be at

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a hundred Cats this month, and they

have paid for every single one of

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those cats to be spayed or neutered.

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Dixie: That's great.

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So we don't have any.

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Kelsey: Yeah, we don't have

anybody paying for cats this month.

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And then, with Greater Good, we've

worked with their food program to

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distribute food out to low income

people in our public so that they

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can have food when they're in a bind.

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Yeah.

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It's all about public relations,

who we can talk to, who we can work

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together, what our shelter can do,

what you can do for our shelter.

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Dixie: Now, can you talk a

little bit more about your spay

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neuter program that you have?

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Kelsey: Absolutely.

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That is my baby.

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It's my brain child.

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So last year in 2024, we spayed and

neutered 961 Felines and canines,

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which is huge for a shelter our size.

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That's just an outstanding number.

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And it started in 2020.

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I really had no idea.

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I just knew spay neuter is the

foundation of cleaning up population.

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That's where you have to start everything.

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So we had a vet come in and she

was like, this is what you need.

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You need this, and this.

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And literally listed out all

the items we would need to have

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a spay neuter clinic start.

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And so we started with her and it

was really just shelter animals.

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We weren't doing anything

for the public at that time.

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Just because of liability.

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We weren't really a well versed team yet.

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We were still, hitting our

toes every once in a while.

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And then in 2021 we got

a little bit bigger.

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So instead of doing five dogs to

clinic, we were doing 15 dogs to clinic.

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And then in 2022, all

of a sudden we're doing.

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30 annals every single week.

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And then in 2024, at one time we

had five different vets working

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at our shelter on rotation.

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And we were sometimes doing

two or three clinics a week.

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And it really, it got to be overwhelming.

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So as 2025, we have

slacked off a little bit.

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We're still trying to do between

three and four clinics a month,

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and we're doing 30 to 40 animals.

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Actually this Saturday

we're doing a massive event.

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We are doing 60 animals this Saturday.

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So we've all been prepared for a 12

hour shift this Saturday at the shelter.

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Dixie: Do those events

fill up pretty quickly

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? Kelsey: Absolutely.

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So we actually have seen, which is

incredible, a lower number of cat calls.

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We have seen a lessening of

people needing to get cats in.

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Now, when we make a post, obviously we get

a lot of calls, but we're still seeing,

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we're still having to like, reach out to

people and be like, Hey, do you have cats?

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Do you have cats?

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You need done, does your

neighbor have cats that need

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done because we need cat spots.

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And so that in itself is just.

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Such, such a cool data point to have.

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Because I remember two years ago

where every other call was a cat call.

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It was a cat, dog, cat, dog.

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And now maybe we're getting one,

two cat calls a week and that's it.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's amazing.

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And usually

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Kelsey: it's to get into

our spay neuter clinic.

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Dixie: Yeah.

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That's amazing.

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Yeah.

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Kelsey: It's been a shock.

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But between our clinic and the Washington

Humane Society, crossroads Clinic, we're

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probably doing almost 300 cats a month.

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Between the two of us.

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Phil: Yeah.

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I know out here by us, there's times

where we gotta try and book a month

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or two ahead to try and get cats done.

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'cause they're just, slammed.

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That's amazing that y'all

can get that many done.

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Kelsey: And look, if we, if you

have cats and you need cats in, we

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have money for TNR Cats right now.

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But our normal price for cats is only $25.

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That is what it costs for you

to get a cat into our clinic

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and have it altered vaccinated.

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It now we do a mandatory ear tip

that is mandatory for us, and

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pretty soon we're gonna start

actually tattooing our ear tips.

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Instead of creating a secondary incision

on the abdomen, we're just gonna add

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tattoo ink to the already tipped ear and.

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So that's, I think that's gonna stop

a lot of owned cats from coming to

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us just because, I know they don't

want their little cat to have a

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green line on the tip of its ear.

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But we're really doing this for, TNR

cats while we do book owned cats.

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It's really for these ferals that

are out in the community populating.

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Dixie: Right, how many animals

can your shelter accommodate

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as far as cats and dogs?

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Kelsey: So we have three cat

cages, but we do not at this

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time take cats from the public.

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If we did just open our doors

and say, Hey, if you have a cat

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you don't want bring it here.

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We would be inundated.

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It would just be nonstop.

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We would have a hundred

cats on the first day.

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So the cats that we do get are all from

other municipalities, whether it be fire

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department, police department say they

go out on a call, there's a cat in a

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situation that is unsafe, they'll call us.

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We take that feline from them,

but we don't take owned or stray

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cats from the general public.

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So we have three cat houses

that we can safely house cats.

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Long term, we have 12 dog runs,

so really if it's 12 adult dogs,

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that's really all we can house.

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But obviously like a litter of puppies,

you can put them together in the same run

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or maybe you can put two dogs together

if they're from the same household.

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But right now we have 26

animals at the shelter,

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so we're super full.

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Dixie: And now you limit intakes by

appointment only, is that correct?

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Kelsey: So we have an intake list.

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So what happens is when people call us

and they have an owned or a stray dog,

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the first thing we ask is send pictures.

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Because when we, we get

a lot of lost dogs too.

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So the first thing we do is take

a look at that picture doesn't

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match anything that's lost.

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If it doesn't match anything that's

lost, then we send it out to our rescue

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partners that we have a little group for,

and we'll send it out to them because

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there's always a possibility that they

can pull that dog in faster than we can.

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Then they go on our intake list and

as we get adoptions and dogs out, we

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immediately call the next person in.

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A lot of times we get a big holdup

because we'll have someone that has,

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12, 14, sometimes 28 dogs at one time.

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And so we have to, get all of

those animals in from that one

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area before we can move on to

the next person in our list.

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Dixie: Do you have a foster system

in place or do you rely more

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on the rescues foster systems?

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Kelsey: So we really don't have

fosters in Washington Parish.

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And most of the fosters that are in the

parish are pretty much their own rescues.

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They're not pulling from our

shelter, they're not pulling they're

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pulling straight off the street.

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We have posted certain dogs for

foster and not received anything.

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Back from them.

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And then I know with like our

Humane Society, they haven't been

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able to really get fosters either

to come forward for certain dogs.

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So we have some fosters, but most

of the fosters that we have are

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like very specific kind of animals.

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Like only small dogs, only puppies

only, certain dogs of if they have

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like a health issue or something,

they're not just pulling straight out

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of the shelter because we're full.

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So that's not really an

option that we have right now.

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We are prepared for fosters.

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If you foster through us, food is

given, medical is given, we'll give

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a kennel to take the animal home so

that you have a kennel at home if you

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need to put the animal in the kennel.

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We just don't have people

reaching out, to offer fostering.

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Dixie: I know shelters get a bad rap.

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What are some of the misconceptions people

have about shelters or shelter animals?

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Kelsey: The biggest misconception is

that, we're just killing everything.

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It comes in, we kill it, we get

something else in, we kill it,

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blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

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There are very few shelters

in:

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Do they exist?

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Absolutely.

386

:

They don't exist in Washington Parish.

387

:

Dixie: That's wonderful.

388

:

Kelsey: We are an entirely no kill parish.

389

:

And I say that with quotations

because every shelter, because of

390

:

public safety, has to euthanize dogs.

391

:

We have to, if a dog comes

into the shelter and it is a

392

:

danger to itself or others.

393

:

We cannot allow that animal back

out on the street to harm someone.

394

:

Not every dog that comes into the shelter

is perfect or flawless or can be fixed.

395

:

We're getting dogs and that have

killed other dogs like literally

396

:

have damned something so bad

that it is no longer living.

397

:

We obviously can't allow that to

go back out into our population.

398

:

We have dogs that come in that have

severely bitten people and once

399

:

they're passed that stray hold and

it is up to a judge most of the time.

400

:

But if we get the order that dog is not

allowed back in the public we, we can't

401

:

let that dog back out into the wilds.

402

:

The other reason that we

would euthanize is for health.

403

:

If we have a dog that's come in and

it's been hit by a car and it's pelvis

404

:

is shattered, it's, kidney has blown.

405

:

We would be doing a disservice to hold

that animal in the hopes that someone

406

:

else has the finances to help that animal.

407

:

And we just don't do that, obviously.

408

:

If something comes in and it's injured,

we're gonna do everything we can.

409

:

But there's also a certain line and

we talk to our vets, I'll call my

410

:

vet and I'll get on FaceTime or send

pictures and be like, this is what

411

:

I have, this is what's going on.

412

:

What do you think?

413

:

And if they turn around and they

say, you can't help that dog.

414

:

Okay, we cannot help this dog

so we won't allow suffering.

415

:

We are absolutely that.

416

:

It is qua quality of life

over quantity of life.

417

:

And so that's our biggest misconception.

418

:

I would say the other one

is that, we don't care about

419

:

the animals in the shelter.

420

:

That we just, take them in and it's we'll

hold 'em and then, throw 'em back out.

421

:

That's not true at all.

422

:

Our dogs are babies.

423

:

I remember the dogs that I've

had throughout the years.

424

:

People come into the shelter and

they're like, yeah, I adopted

425

:

this dog from you three years ago.

426

:

And I'm like, yeah, I remember that dog.

427

:

I love that dog.

428

:

The dog looked like this.

429

:

And it had this marking because these,

there, there's a reason we work with

430

:

animals, and it's because we love them.

431

:

We love them so much that we wanna do

everything we can to save them and protect

432

:

them and make sure that they're given

the best life possible in the shelter.

433

:

Some of the dogs are treated better in

the shelter than they could be treated.

434

:

In a home.

435

:

Because we are giving them

enrichment every single day.

436

:

Right.

437

:

They're getting yard

time every single day.

438

:

They're getting walked.

439

:

I know a lot of people, even

myself, I don't walk my dogs.

440

:

I'm like, you go out in the yard and play.

441

:

I'm not taking you for a walk.

442

:

Ours are getting walked around.

443

:

They're getting jobs to do

even while at the shelter.

444

:

And we have three actual shelter

cats, which are our babies.

445

:

They're inside, outside Free Roamers.

446

:

We have Bob who is literally our logo cat.

447

:

He's on our shirts.

448

:

He's on our rugs, he's on our logo.

449

:

Love him.

450

:

He's a Bob Tail and on our logo, he was

actually dumped at the shelter three years

451

:

before the shelter existed, where it was.

452

:

Oh wow.

453

:

And the guys next door, 'cause we

have the road crew next door, they

454

:

just fed him and took care of him.

455

:

Yeah, so he is almost nine years old now

and the shelter is literally his home.

456

:

He doesn't know anything

else but the shelter.

457

:

Always been there.

458

:

Then we have Thomas, which was probably

like a panleuk kitten and she survived,

459

:

but she has the neurological issues,

so she walks in circles constantly.

460

:

That's my baby.

461

:

I love her.

462

:

I adore her.

463

:

She follows me everywhere I go.

464

:

And then we have Willow who

has an autoimmune disease,

465

:

so she drools everywhere.

466

:

To the point where she literally,

if she shakes her head, drool

467

:

just flies everywhere and she

gets sick like every other day.

468

:

That's our babies.

469

:

We love them.

470

:

Phil: I know the feeling.

471

:

Dixie: What is the adoption process like?

472

:

Kelsey: So we have a very easy

adoption price price process.

473

:

So you walk in our shelter,

we'll take you to the back.

474

:

You can look at all of

the dogs at any time.

475

:

If you see a dog that you want and

you want, some time with it, we

476

:

have an adoption room where you

can go in there, hang out with

477

:

the dog as long as you want to.

478

:

If at the end you're like, yeah,

absolutely, I wanna take this dog home.

479

:

As long as that dog is

altered, you can adopt.

480

:

Same day we have a contract to

fill out and our normal adoption

481

:

price is a hundred dollars.

482

:

But that covers, vaccines, spay

and neuter, worm, everything.

483

:

And usually we'll even give heartworm and

flee intake prevention for the next month.

484

:

So you're getting a lot

for that a hundred dollars.

485

:

But we do specials all the time.

486

:

A few weeks ago we had a black dog

special where all adoption fees were

487

:

waived if you adopted a black dog

because we had seven black dogs in

488

:

the shelter and they weren't moving.

489

:

So we were like, okay, let's

get 'em into some homes.

490

:

Dixie: Yeah.

491

:

It's a shame that the black dogs

and black cats are the ones to least

492

:

or least likely to get adopted.

493

:

Kelsey: I heard something and now I

can't remember where I heard it from,

494

:

but, and it was one of my teachers.

495

:

But she said that the animals in the

shelter are the animals in your community.

496

:

So if our shelter is full of pit bull

breeds, that means that's what people

497

:

in our community are wanting because

they wouldn't be in our shelter if

498

:

they weren't, if there wasn't triple

the amount in the general population.

499

:

So even though we had all of those

black dogs, maybe it was the price

500

:

that was the factor because all

of those black dogs got adopted.

501

:

Dixie: Oh, that's great.

502

:

That's great.

503

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

504

:

We don't have any of them.

505

:

Boots was the last one to be adopted,

and she got adopted last week.

506

:

So every single one of

those black dogs, so it's.

507

:

It is hard and a lot of times, I'll

get a big giant pit bull in the

508

:

shelter and I'll go, alright bud,

you're gonna be with us for a while.

509

:

But a while is not forever.

510

:

And even if they're with us for

two or three months, they're

511

:

still gonna get adopted.

512

:

There's some special home out

there, but it also gives us

513

:

time to work on that animal.

514

:

So if the animal comes in and it's, not

fractious, but let's just say it's a

515

:

very hyper animal who doesn't know how

to walk on the leash, and that's why the

516

:

owner brought it into the shelter was

because it was jumping all over them.

517

:

That gives us the time to put in that work

so that dog doesn't jump on them anymore.

518

:

And now we have a dog

that's behaviorally sound.

519

:

Dixie: Do you offer any kind of support to

adopters after they take the animal home?

520

:

Kelsey: Yes and no.

521

:

So if it is a puppy and it is under

the age where it has gotten all of

522

:

its vaccines, we continue vaccinating

until that puppy is fully vaccinated.

523

:

If they come in and they're like,

Hey, we need some warmer, or we

524

:

need this, we'll continue that.

525

:

We used to have partners that we

worked with like there was a grooming

526

:

salon that offered a free bath.

527

:

If you adopted through us we

do give out like trainer cards.

528

:

We work with K Pro K nine, and, everybody

leaves with a card and it's Hey, if

529

:

you have any problems, call them.

530

:

They're who we partner with, they're gonna

be able to walk you through everything.

531

:

But not really anymore.

532

:

There's not a lot to give afterwards

once they leave the shelter.

533

:

We wish that were different, but we

just, don't have aftercare resources.

534

:

Dixie: And what about in terms of

a hurricane coming or a disaster,

535

:

do you evacuate your animals or do

you have a place for them to go?

536

:

Kelsey: Yeah, so actually by the state we

have to have evacuation plan sent to them.

537

:

I think it's every March, but I

usually try to send mine in January

538

:

so I don't have to worry about it.

539

:

But yeah if, we're really not at risk for

a fire because of where the shelter is,

540

:

where surrounded by pea gravel, we have,

parking lots, roads, the whole nine yards.

541

:

So really fire is off the table.

542

:

Our building has been through a

million and a half hurricanes.

543

:

She's still standing.

544

:

So unless the roof came off,

we probably wouldn't evacuate.

545

:

Our really only concern is if

a tornado comes through, but

546

:

Washington Parish government has.

547

:

Been so incredible to this shelter.

548

:

And that is such a rare thing to say

when you talk about, municipalities

549

:

and their shelters usually they're

just like, oh it's underfunded.

550

:

They don't care about it.

551

:

Washington Parish government

absolutely cares about our shelter.

552

:

We have an incredible generator.

553

:

I don't even know how big it is, but it

is massive and it can run the shelter

554

:

for three days if the power is cut off,

which is just absolutely incredible.

555

:

We have cots, we have

tarps, we have kennels.

556

:

We have everything we would need

in an emergency to move those dogs.

557

:

And we have partners that if something

happened inside the shelter, if

558

:

we had a fire inside the shelter

and we had to move everybody out,

559

:

we have places where they can go.

560

:

Dixie: And how is the shelter funded?

561

:

'cause you touched on that a little bit.

562

:

Kelsey: Yeah, so we do not

have dedicated funding.

563

:

So we, our parish, our people do not pay

a specific tax that comes to the shelter.

564

:

We also don't have animal control,

so we don't have any funding from

565

:

like tickets or fines or fees.

566

:

We are based off of a percentage of

money that is given to our health units.

567

:

So they have a budget and we, it's

like we're taking some money from

568

:

them and that's what we live off of.

569

:

So a 90% of what we do off of donations

and the partners that we work with.

570

:

So if you look at it broken down.

571

:

What we get for, from the health

unit, for our, yearly fund

572

:

that pays for the employees.

573

:

And then we have a little

bit left over for supplies.

574

:

And that's pretty much

our budget for the year.

575

:

Dixie: So are supplies

something that is needed?

576

:

Do you get donations from

individuals as well as these

577

:

rescue groups that you work with?

578

:

Kelsey: So I will say we don't

have a large volunteer pool.

579

:

We don't have a large foster pool.

580

:

But when it comes to our public

giving donations to the shelter,

581

:

buying things off of our Amazon

wishlist, they are incredible.

582

:

They're unstoppable.

583

:

I feel like we have to make a

thank you post like every other

584

:

day for someone donating something

to the shelter they're donating.

585

:

Food.

586

:

We have two different types of

food at the shelter that we feed.

587

:

So at our dogs are fed,

Purina, any kind of Purina.

588

:

And then we have a prison program at

Rayburn Correctional where we send dogs

589

:

for six months to get obedient trained.

590

:

They feed pedigree over there.

591

:

So a lot of times we'll need

food for our shelter or we'll

592

:

need food for that program.

593

:

And so we'll make a post and being

like, Hey, we need food for the prison.

594

:

And then we'll get, 10 bags within a week.

595

:

So yeah our public's really

good when it comes to donations.

596

:

Dixie: How can people volunteer

at the shelter and what types of

597

:

volunteer opportunities are available?

598

:

Kelsey: So we are open Monday

through Friday from eight to four.

599

:

We have a Saturday clinic,

maybe once a month.

600

:

But most of the time everyone

that works at the shelter right

601

:

now is mothers with children.

602

:

And most of our children are

young like 10 and younger.

603

:

So we try and take our weekends when

we can, but you can just come in like

604

:

we're open eight to four, so you can

walk in and be like, Hey, I'm here.

605

:

I wanna volunteer.

606

:

And there's always something to do.

607

:

Most of the time it has to do

with cleaning because that is the

608

:

thing that takes up the most time.

609

:

But it's also the thing that gets

pushed back the most because it's

610

:

really hard to we have right now, 5,

6, 7, 8, we have eight taxis in the

611

:

shelter that are just sitting in the

middle room, in the front room because.

612

:

We were cleaning today, we were doing

paperwork, we were doing everything else.

613

:

And I was like, I just don't have time

to break these down and clean them.

614

:

So a lot of it has to do with that.

615

:

But right now we have like

14 huskies at the shelter.

616

:

Wow.

617

:

And we are desperately, yeah.

618

:

Yeah.

619

:

We had a hoarding case, so it was

actually 22, and we've been able to

620

:

move some into rescue, but we still

have 14 at the shelter, not including

621

:

our other dogs that were already there.

622

:

And we had six of those.

623

:

So, we are desperate right now for

someone to come and bathe these poor

624

:

huskies because they're so dirty

and they like, have mats all over

625

:

them because of all the loose hair.

626

:

And that's definitely a

need we have right now.

627

:

We also have some fencing and stuff,

not fencing, but like shaders that we're

628

:

trying to put up at the shelter that we

just have not had the time to put up.

629

:

So I have all the materials and the zip

ties just sitting there and I'm like,

630

:

I don't know when I'm gonna get to it.

631

:

Dixie: Yeah I like that you're

allowing people to just go in

632

:

and help whenever they need to.

633

:

'cause I know a lot of other places

are a lot more structured and

634

:

they're like, oh, we don't want

the help if you can't commit to it.

635

:

But a lot of times people can't commit.

636

:

But some help is better than no help.

637

:

Kelsey: Absolutely.

638

:

If, so, what we see a lot is someone

like will come in and they have

639

:

like court ordered service hours.

640

:

And because of the way we're

structured, a lot of people can get

641

:

those service hours done in one day.

642

:

And it's okay, you've come in, I know

I'm probably never gonna see you again,

643

:

so I'm gonna use you all day and

then I'll, I'll never see you again.

644

:

But thank you so much for the help.

645

:

But yeah, it's not easy

to volunteer at shelters.

646

:

It's almost a job like you're

volunteering to do labor.

647

:

We don't have paperwork tasks,

we don't have filing tasks

648

:

like that's taken care of.

649

:

We need help with the animals.

650

:

We need help cleaning.

651

:

We need help like wrapping first,

like first spay, neuter clinic.

652

:

We have Ms.

653

:

Carolyn who is absolutely incredible.

654

:

She comes two or three days before our

spay neuter clinic and we'll wrap like

655

:

40 to 50 spay neuter packs for us.

656

:

And that's her entire day is just

sitting at a desk dealing with

657

:

surgical tools and wrapping them.

658

:

And that's all she does for an entire day.

659

:

It's so incredible.

660

:

Like every time she comes

in, I'm like I adore you.

661

:

Thank you.

662

:

Because that's one of my employees.

663

:

And our shelter, we only

have four employees.

664

:

We're actually down an employee

right now, so we're only at three.

665

:

And then because of our spay

neuter clinic this Saturday,

666

:

we've all had to stagger days off.

667

:

Or else we would be

like 20 hours over time.

668

:

So this almost this entire week, we've

only had two employees at the shelter

669

:

dealing with this massive amount of

animals and everything that we need to

670

:

clean and everything that we need to do.

671

:

And you just can't do it in eight hours.

672

:

Eight hours is not long enough.

673

:

And if you wanna go home and sleep,

it's okay, go home, go sleep, go find

674

:

something to eat, and just be prepared

to sweat your butt off the next day.

675

:

Dixie: Yeah, I love that you're so

passionate about working at the shelter.

676

:

That's great.

677

:

And so what would you say is the

most rewarding part of your job?

678

:

Kelsey: A few years ago, I would've

said when the dogs get adopted, I

679

:

understand sheltering way more now.

680

:

And honestly, I will say the most

rewarding part of sheltering is

681

:

understanding that I am doing something.

682

:

I am saving lives.

683

:

There's a lot of sleepless nights,

there's a lot of heartbreak and heartache.

684

:

A lot of people will say you

have to make yourself cold.

685

:

They say that in nursing too, is you

just have to shut yourself off, but we're

686

:

human and you can only shut yourself off

for so long before you just break down.

687

:

And every morning I go into the

shelter and some mornings I'm like,

688

:

I just don't wanna be here today.

689

:

And then other mornings I'm

like, I'm so grateful to be here.

690

:

But the most rewarding part for me is at

the end of the day when I'm going home,

691

:

I'll ask myself, is there anything that I

could have done more for my animals today?

692

:

Sometimes that answer is yes.

693

:

Sometimes it is.

694

:

Sometimes I could have spent extra

time, but when that answer is no,

695

:

when I am going home and I know that

I have done everything that I could

696

:

possibly do for my animals that

day, there is nothing more rewarding

697

:

to me than being able to say that.

698

:

Dixie: What are your hopes for the future

of animal welfare in your community?

699

:

Kelsey: So in the parish, I'll definitely

say that, we all get on the same page.

700

:

We have a educational base with our

public that we're all in kind of agreement

701

:

with the way that animals should be

taken care of, the way they should be

702

:

treated, how shelters work, how animal

control should work, what the laws are.

703

:

That's every shelter director's biggest

goal is that everybody's on the same page.

704

:

When we go out on a call or when a dog

comes into the shelter, everybody kind

705

:

of underst understands like basic care

and basic the basic needs of an animal.

706

:

That's such a big thing.

707

:

We have hosted educational classes in the

past on dogs and cats and TNR to be able

708

:

to get our public in and be like, Hey.

709

:

You guys got a new puppy, you

wanna vaccinate this puppy?

710

:

Let me tell you all about vaccinating

and worming and what we can do and

711

:

how we can help you make this puppy

super healthy for the rest of its life.

712

:

And, oh, you have a dog

that's out on a runner.

713

:

Let me show you how to make

this dog's life the best, even

714

:

though it's an outside dog.

715

:

Let me show you how we can make

this better for this dog and why

716

:

this dog needs this to keep this dog

sane while it's outside on a runner.

717

:

Because if someone is doing something

wrong, it's my job to educate them to

718

:

do something right, because they're not

being malicious if they don't know better.

719

:

So we have to have kindness with

the people that don't know better.

720

:

Because before I got into the

shelter, I didn't know better.

721

:

I have learned, and I can't stand on a

pedestal and say, oh, I'm the smartest

722

:

person in the world, because I wasn't.

723

:

I had to be educated on it.

724

:

So we have to educate everybody.

725

:

I will say on a state level, I wish that

animal ordinances were universal and

726

:

obviously that's not a perfect system

and that probably will never happen.

727

:

But

728

:

that there is more structure

to animal shelters.

729

:

Not all animal shelters

will be built identically.

730

:

But that we should all be able to

access the same care and resources

731

:

so that we don't have little

podunk shelters that don't have any

732

:

resources or don't have anything.

733

:

We've definitely seen that with, the

Bogalusa shelter recently that got shut

734

:

down, they just didn't have the resources.

735

:

There was one employee there who was

working seven days a week, and that

736

:

in itself is just, you can't do that.

737

:

You can't run on that.

738

:

And that's my hope is that everybody can

have the same resources, all the dogs

739

:

can have the same amount of food and vet,

access to vet care and stuff like that.

740

:

Dixie: Yeah.

741

:

Absolutely I totally

agree with you on that.

742

:

Especially rural shelters, are

often overlooked and they don't have

743

:

the funding that they should have.

744

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

745

:

And they don't have, they

don't have the education too.

746

:

I know a lot of, I, I won't call

out anything specifically but a lot

747

:

of the education for animal control

in Louisiana is very expensive.

748

:

Very expensive to be able to go to some

of these courses and get basic education.

749

:

And if they don't have access to that,

how are they supposed to know better?

750

:

Dixie: Absolutely.

751

:

I didn't know that there wasn't

any kind of resource for them where

752

:

they could just go learn the things

without taking these workshops.

753

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

754

:

Unless they're willing to go on their own

personal time and go to another shelter

755

:

and learn from them, or stay on the phone

or, just find stuff out on the internet.

756

:

There's no easy access to basic

animal sheltering education.

757

:

You have to know somebody

to find something out.

758

:

Or you have to pay an arm and a leg

and go, four or five hours away.

759

:

A lot of the big conventions that we have

went to and have not went to like the Best

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:

Friends National Conference last year or

a few months ago, it was in California.

761

:

We wanted to go, that's not an option.

762

:

We don't have the funding

for a California conference.

763

:

But the year before it was in

Florida and we can drive to Florida.

764

:

So we were like, okay,

let's go to this conference.

765

:

We learned so much.

766

:

It was absolutely a great, wonderful time.

767

:

But we can drive there.

768

:

So it's less cost comparative to going to

California where you're gonna have three

769

:

different flights that you have to take

just going and, that's just too expensive.

770

:

So, yeah, a lot of the education

for animal control and animal

771

:

sheltering is behind a paywall.

772

:

Dixie: So where can our listers learn

more about your shelter and get involved?

773

:

Kelsey: I will say the

first thing is just come in.

774

:

There's no reason to ever think that

you can't come to the shelter if

775

:

the shelter, if you ever come to the

shelter and the shelter's closed,

776

:

it's a, either a holiday or the entire

staff has had to go do something.

777

:

Being a small staff, if someone takes off.

778

:

Then, the whole shelter kind of has to

close because we don't have anybody there.

779

:

So I know Wednesday we had some

body come to the shelter and

780

:

that's when we were picking up the

hoarding situation with 22 dogs.

781

:

It was me and one other employee.

782

:

So when we left to go get these 22

dogs, because we both had to go do

783

:

that, we couldn't do it by ourselves.

784

:

We had to close the shelter.

785

:

Our shelter has a phone number.

786

:

It's (985) 205-2023.

787

:

We have a tin roof in

the middle of nowhere.

788

:

So if you call our shelter and you

get the voicemail, please leave a

789

:

voicemail or send a text message.

790

:

We'll get back to you as

soon as we possibly can.

791

:

But sometimes if the shelter

phone is not in the front window.

792

:

It will not ring for us.

793

:

So make sure you leave a voicemail

or send us a text message.

794

:

You can also get in touch with

us through Facebook Messenger.

795

:

We all have that on our phones now, so if

something comes through, we can see it.

796

:

We probably won't respond until

business hours, but we'll definitely

797

:

be able to, receive that message.

798

:

Dixie: And what message would you

like to leave our listeners with?

799

:

Kelsey: If you want to be involved,

don't be afraid to get involved if

800

:

you can't get physically involved.

801

:

Share posts on Facebook.

802

:

When you see animals on the side

of the road, or you see someone

803

:

sharing something, mark down that

location, send that location to us

804

:

with a description of the animal.

805

:

If you don't have social media,

you can't physically get involved.

806

:

You're stuck at home all day.

807

:

Maybe think about fostering.

808

:

There's so many ways to assist,

and if your passion is animals, you

809

:

can help even in the smallest ways.

810

:

Dixie: I definitely agree with that.

811

:

I've enjoyed the conversation a lot.

812

:

It's very inspiring to know that

you started basically from nothing

813

:

and got to where you are now.

814

:

It really is amazing.

815

:

Kelsey: Thank you.

816

:

Phil: I've seen a bunch

of your dogs last year.

817

:

At Pet Fest at Lafreniere Park

and there were some, well.

818

:

Cared for

819

:

animals.

820

:

And

821

:

Kelsey: thank

822

:

you.

823

:

Phil: So I just wanna know, are y'all

gonna be at Pet Fest again this year?

824

:

Kelsey: We are not because of our short

staff, we had to decline this year.

825

:

We were really sad about it and

definitely sad because we declined

826

:

before we got in the Huskies.

827

:

So we're definitely like

regretting that decision.

828

:

But right now we just don't have,

we don't have the staff and we

829

:

don't have the volunteers to be able

to do such a big event like that.

830

:

Dixie: And the Huskies, do you have those

huskies online on your Facebook page?

831

:

Kelsey: They're not posted yet.

832

:

We're going through them.

833

:

Some of them are vaccinated and

spayed, neutered, some of them are not.

834

:

But they, we were supposed to get

pictures today, but we did not get

835

:

pictures of them because we were cleaning.

836

:

But yes, as soon as we post them, we're

gonna be able to say which ones are

837

:

ready to go immediately and which ones

have to wait to be spayed or neutered.

838

:

Nothing is ever adopted out of our

shelter, unspayed and un neutered.

839

:

That just does not happen with us.

840

:

Dixie: Yeah, that's a very important

thing too, 'cause we don't need a whole

841

:

bunch of extra huskies running around.

842

:

Kelsey: Yeah.

843

:

And I do wanna say, just in case any other

shelter directors listen to this that is

844

:

not a dis on any shelter that has to adopt

out because they cannot hold animals.

845

:

Some shelters have no choice but to adopt

out unaltered animals with a contract.

846

:

It is what it is.

847

:

And I'm not judging it, is

our availability to be able

848

:

to spay and neuter everything.

849

:

So we are going to spay

and neuter everything.

850

:

We can do it, so we are

gonna do it, but it is rare.

851

:

It's not all the time

that you can do that.

852

:

Dixie: Thank you so much for

speaking with us and I learned a lot.

853

:

It's a lot of things about the

shelter that I did not know.

854

:

It almost sounds like you're

a rescue instead of a shelter.

855

:

Kelsey: We run like one.

856

:

But at the end of the day, we are

still there for public safety.

857

:

Not being animal control has aided

a lot and us being able to do the

858

:

things that we do we are working on

getting animal control for the parish.

859

:

Our parish needs animal control.

860

:

It does not have it right now.

861

:

And that's something

we're working towards.

862

:

And obviously once we become

animal control, things may change.

863

:

But we're hoping that, we can

still do what we're doing and maybe

864

:

expand the shelter, get more runs,

get more employees, have a bigger

865

:

volunteer base that's willing to,

do physical stuff in the shelter.

866

:

And if they're willing to do that and come

out and, I don't see us changing too much.

867

:

I just see us expanding in the future.

868

:

Dixie: Yeah.

869

:

The more animals you can help, definitely.

870

:

The better.

871

:

Kelsey: Absolutely.

872

:

Dixie: All right, thank you so much.

873

:

Kelsey: Yeah, thank you

guys so much for having me.

874

:

Dixie: And that's all the time

we have for today's episode.

875

:

If you are in animal rescue, or if

you know someone that has a story that

876

:

should be told, please contact us.

877

:

We would love to have

you or them on the show

878

:

. Thanks for listening, and please

join us next week as we continue to

879

:

explore the world of animal rescue.

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