ColaTown: Telling our Stories: Learn more about the Clear the Shelters Initiative

6 minutes after 9:00 on a Monday morning and that means it's time for Col Town, our city, our stories. [music] Love having this opportunity to learn and tell you about things going on around the Midlands area and specifically here in the capital city of Columbia. Welcome back in to another edition on this August the 10th. All right, let's get to our guest for this morning. I want to welcome actually it's a couple of folks that have been with us one other time here on Cola Town, but we always bring them back for different reasons and it's always a great cause because our guest in studio with us from over at the Columbia Animal Shelter, we welcome back Miss Victoria and Mr. Jason. Hi guys. >> Hey, good morning. >> How we doing? Great. >> Well, how about yourself? >> I'm doing great. Doing great. Hope you had a nice weekend. All's good. >> Absolutely. >> Good. Very, very good. Well, Victoria, Clary, Jason Jensen, thank you guys for coming on in. And before we get into talking about the shelter, before we get into talking about a program today that we're going to be getting into with Clear the Shelters, let's talk a little bit about you guys first. Tell me a little bit how long uh you've been our our superintendent and how long you've been with the shelter. >> Yeah, I've been with the shelter for nine years now. And in this role of superintendent of the past five um and during that time, we've just made a lot of changes. We have um really analyzed our practices to make sure we're in line with best practice. We're learning from other uh counties in in our state and national groups on how we can always do our best and improve in animal sheltering. >> How long have you been uh here in Colombia itself? >> I'm actually from South Carolina, but I've been back in Columbia since 2017. So, I >> You went up to Chicago, right? >> I did. Yeah. Yeah. I was in Chicago for a while. That's where I got started in animal welfare and then came back home to state of South Carolina and actually um had a interview lined up with the shelter during that transition. And then so I I took the job and I've been with him ever since and it's been a blast. >> What was it like, Victoria, when it comes to um because it was it was crazy during COVID because everybody wanted a pet and then we ran into this tough situation after CO where a lot of those people that wanted pets realized, well, I got to go back to work now. I don't want to be uh I I don't want the responsibility. And we ran into a problem because at one point there was no pets available and then then we had a cluster of a bunch of people that kind of just dropped off animals and and that was that. So, how was that going through all that? >> Sure. Yeah, I can't I speak for, you know, a national standpoint. Our shelter specifically actually did not see a lot of negative backlash postco. Um, COVID was a great time as unfortunate as an event as it was. Uh, for animal shelters, you did see foster parent activity increase. You did see adoptions increase. Uh, so it was a great time in in the shelter for animals. whenever uh things really started to normalize and get back to regular operations, we actually saw people coming in to adopt a secondary pet because now they're back at work and and their pets lonely, right? So, for us, CO did not have a ton of negative, >> but there was a negative backlash, wasn't there? >> Nationally, I think that there there was some talk of higher return rates and whatnot. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a problem for us here at the local level. Jason's here with us and and Jason, how long have you been involved with the shelter and uh and how long have what got you into doing this? Yeah, I've been in this role for going on two years now, but I've been in animal welfare professionally for about eight years. Uh, I started at the officer level, worked my way up, and now I'm in the leadership role here with the city of Columbia and loving every day of it. >> Do you have to be I mean, it obviously helps if you're an animal lover. I mean, that that's kind of part of the passion for doing what you guys do because it's a very thankless job. >> It absolutely takes a lot of passion to do the job. >> Yeah. >> Have to love people, too, though. >> What's that? >> You have to love the people, too, though. >> Yeah. Well, and I'm sure you gota be pretty patient with a lot of the people out there when it comes to it. Are you required to do you have to do you have to make a formal declaration when you first join Columbia Animal Shelter if you are a dog or a cat person? Is that a requirement or can you be both? Because we have one dog and one cat and I love both my dog and I love my cat and and so it seems like you almost have to take a side. I'm either a dog person or a cat person. How does that work? >> You don't necessarily have to take a stance on dog or cat as Jason touched on those. You do have to be a people person. Our mission at the animal shelter is serving people and saving pets. And all what that's about is it really starts with people and pet problems are really people problems. You so if we have animals coming into the system, something went went wrong in the community somewhere. Either a person lost their pet or is needed to relinquish their pet. So we really want to start with the people in our community and find out what can we do to help place a pet with you or help reunite a pet with you. And you got you got to love people to get that done. Well, and and kind of take me through what the mission of the the whole, you know, you know, what the shelter is because I mean, Columbia Animal Services uh has a lot of different services and you guys do a lot of different things. It's not just pairing people and pets up. I mean, obviously, uh there's there's challenging. It's it's not an easy job. >> Sure. Yeah. Again, so we're serving the city of Columbia. We do partner with our counties over in Richland as well. We are the receiving agency for animals in the city and from Richland County. And again, what that really uh looks like is we're taking pets in and then we're trying to to get them out, whether back to home with their owner or into a new home. And we have a lot of life-saving programs to support those efforts. It's going to be our adoption programs first and foremost. We have a fostering program for animals that need temporary care, a volunteer program for people who want to come and help promote and our animals and interact with them for enrichment. And then, of course, we have a TNR program for all of the community cats. Uh so we have um home to home programs so that people can work with us to place their pet before having to relinquish it to a shelter. Um almost any program out there we've got it. And then the mission in full is um what we're really trying to do is serve people and save pets through a contemporary approach to animal welfare. And what that means is having these programs and utilizing them to increase life outcomes. So obviously anyone that's listening to the program this morning here at Cola Town, this is a a great opportunity for families to realize I I always talk I mean our our dog and our cat are both rescues and and when I say rescue I mean I know there's different forms of rescuing but what I mean it's just we didn't go through a breeder. we went to a shelter and um for for the cat. And then for the dog, we actually found a family that that um our dog was abused. And so we went and found and and took the dog from a family that that wasn't handling pet ownership the proper way. And uh it took a lot of time to gain that dog's trust, but now she's been with us for 10 and a half years and she's ours. But but it's um I I have nothing against someone who wants to go get a purebred this or a purebred that and all that and use breeders and all that, but but you know, I just there's there's dogs and cats available. There's there's animals that are ready to just absolutely give you unconditional love if you you want to bring them home. And that to me is is the ticket. >> Sure. And that's really what our current event of Clear the Shelters is all about. This time of year, shelters uh nationally and here locally are were just overcrowded. July and August tend to be the highest months for intake throughout the entire year. So, this event is really an opportunity to find homes for those animals who desperately need them. >> Well, I and I want to focus on the clear the shelter event more in the second half of the program because I want talk more about mission uh and and who what is do people show up? Do they make appointments? Do they call? Do they go through online? How do people get in touch with you guys? and and take me through the whole process of what people do. >> So, we are appointment free. We try to be as barrier free as we possibly can, especially in regards to our adoption program. If anybody wants to foster, volunteer, we have applications posted on our website. Uh application is used loosely. U you submit your contact information and then join our groups, come in for orientations, complete any trainings that are required, and then you're welcome to start as soon as all of that paperwork's done, get you in. welcome to foster take animals for adoption ambassador program or foster neonate kittens and puppies that are in need. Volunteer at the shelter, volunteer at off-site events. Again, try to be as barrier free as we possibly can to any interactions with the public, whether that be foster volunteer adoptions or just coming in for some support. >> I mean, if somebody walks in and says, "I want to take a dog home with me." I mean, unless they have a shirt on and says, "I kick puppies." You guys are going to try to find a way to pair them with somebody. Yeah. >> Yeah. Absolutely. We do same day adoptions. So, um there is not an application process for adoptions. However, we do support the adoption process with heavily counseling and that's the best way to ensure that we are pairing the right animal with the right person. >> Love it. Love it. We're going to talk a little bit about Clear the Shelter when we come back with Victoria and Jason. You're listening to Col Town on the point. >> Welcome back in on Colon. really appreciate you being part of what we do here at the point and love talking about our city of Columbia, our city, our stories. And today we're talking with our friends from the Columbia Animal Shelter and Columbia Animal Services. Victoria Clary and Jason Jensen are here with us in studio and we're kind of talking about uh what the mission is, if you would, of Columbia Animal Services. And focusing now, I want to turn to this whole clear the shelter. You're telling me uh Victoria that July and August are the heaviest months for intake and that means we really need to get the word out that there's a there's a pet waiting for you right now to come in and get to take home and you can have a dog or a cat u by by tonight. You know, just you got to get over there. >> Absolutely. Clear the shelters actually, I think, was established in 2015 and it's a national adoption event uh because shelters all over the country are really feeling it this time of year. We're all very full. So, this is an opportunity to bring awareness to shelter capacity and the need to get some animals out into homes. We have a lot of really great adoptable cats and dogs and as Jason mentioned earlier, a very barrierfree adoption process. Anybody looking to adopt just needs to come in with a photo ID, obviously walk around, spend time with an animal uh and if they have made a decision to adopt and there's a counseling process to follow and support that. We do want to make sure that adopters are being uh paired with compatible animals. So even though we don't have an application process, we do have a counseling process that will help support the right match. >> That's really the question I would ask at this point. If somebody comes in to you, they hear, "Hey, I heard you guys on the radio. I decided to come over to see you guys this afternoon." Take me through exactly what you walked them through. How does that work? So, if somebody wants to sign in at the front, they are welcome to walk around our facility by themselves, spend a little bit of time at the gate with an animal, really get a feel for their initial behavior and interaction, whether that's an animal that they want to take out and spend some time with. They'll notify one of our staff members up front. They'll take the animal out for them. Let them spend some one-on-one time outside of the kennel environment in one of our meet and greet areas. 10, 20 minutes depending on how the weather's going. try to gauge whether this is a animal that's going to fit into your home very well. We have notes and documentation that our adoption counselors can review with the individual that's interested in adoption to go over behavioral assessments or what we may have from its previous owner or from foster and really use that to help guide that counseling experience. >> When I um got Dino, my cat, I will tell you it's like it was really a strange experience. I went there and I knew I was going to I was going to get a kitty cat. I knew that and I hear all these meows, meows, meows, bunch of animals saying, "Hey, you know, come come see me. Come talk to me." But it was almost like I only heard Dino, >> you know? It's like the instant that eyes met, the bond was built. It I can't It's hard to Well, you probably have seen this with other people or maybe you know it because you're animal lovers. I'm an animal lover. But I I met Dino and he was just a little baby at the time and um it was instant. I was just like, "This is it. I I know who it is. I know of all these beautiful animals, I know who I'm taking home. And it was so he he wasn't even eligible. He had to come home. He was such a little guy at first. So I literally kept calling every day saying, "You're not giving away to anybody else, right? Nobody else gets him, right?" And they're like, "No, Kevin. No, Kevin. No, Kevin." And and finally the day I was there before any other employee got there, the day he was ready, I was waiting for for opening. And this was down in Gainesville, Florida when I got him. Um, but my point is that um you almost like if you go into uh Columbia Animal Services, you're going to find someone you're going to fall in love with. You're going to fall in love with a dog or a cat if that's what you if your heart is telling you that. And now is a great time to to go and do this. So, bring the kids with you, whatever. The whole family can get to meet an animal, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah. I mean, that's what you want. bring your kids with you and let them fall in love with an animal and take them home and and and save a life and give an animal um you know it's they're they're so wonderful what they can do to enhance a family. It just changes the whole dynamic of a house. >> Absolutely, 100%. I'll take an opportunity to just give a shout out to our volunteers at this time as well. A lot of the animals in our care uh we get those personality notes from volunteers who come out and spend time with those animals. They'll either take them out for a doggy day out or slumber buddies or they'll foster them for a period of time and they are an excellent resource in the counseling process as well as they know a lot about our animals. Uh so this is the time if you are looking to adopt clear the shelters all adoption fees are waved. We've got we're they're all waved. Um yeah to support the effort. Um and we we're just full. So so come on down. >> What is full? I mean what is your census like like how many do you have? >> What 154 dog runs? Yeah, 154 adult large breed dogs is our capacity. Uh the last couple of weeks we've been sitting around 160 to 170. So definitely over capacity. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We got to get some homes for for these canines. >> This is the time. >> Um do you guys get a chance to play with the animals? I mean, I know you're busy. I know you got a lot of things you do. Do you get some time just go bond with the animals? >> I think we take a fair amount of of breaks whenever we can to to spend time with the animals. Fortunately, uh through a grant right now, we do have a K9 enrichment team that ensures our dogs get out for playgroup uh and assessments and again with the volunteer program. Um without us, the dogs are still getting plenty of out time and enrichment. >> And you have this foster. Tell me now how that works. When it comes to fostering an animal, that's something where are you doing so because you want to like a trial and error type thing or is it because hey, look, I know for the next couple of months I have some extra free time. How what are the circumstances there? We do have a foster program that comes with various components. Uh one is an adoption ambassador program and that's with an opportunity to get a dog out uh for you can keep them up to 60 days and to learn their personality, promote them, try and find them a home. Another option that we do have for somebody who's looking for more of a trial before they sign that adoption contract and commit is a foster to adopt program that does allow the foster parent a three-w weekek trial uh to just see if it's a good fit if they're just not quite sure. Yeah. So there are some u depending on what you're doing in the foster program, there are some u steps that you do have to complete. You we want to ensure safety and again compatibility. And so if you are doing our adoption ambassador program, it's really simple. You fill out the application. Again, as Jason said, application is a very loose term. It's more of a care profile so we can learn what you're looking for and what might be the best fit for you. uh you'll have to go through a fearfree certification and that's just a a short online training uh to make sure we're setting you up with the appropriate steps and knowledge to read that animal's body language and know when it's a good time to interact, maybe when it's a good time it's not, or how to just really give them ample time to decompress if needed. You know, it's really interesting when when we're trying to do this and what you're trying to accomplish in terms of pairing families or whomever it is with uh with with animals and and I mean it almost seems like um I'm not it almost seems like you guys almost have to be like part-time psychologists a little bit to an extent, you know, like if a person comes in um you don't want to stereotype that person when they come in, but at the same time you say, "Oh, I got I got the perfect dog for for this guy or the perfect, you know, dog for this family or cat for this family. Something like that. It almost is like you guys have to be able to read personalities, don't you? >> Absolutely. And being able to navigate some challenging conversations with members of the public, you know, really set them up for success. >> I mean, because I mean, obviously, everybody that comes in there once they've already set foot through the door, clearly, well, hopefully they're well-intentioned and they want to adopt an animal. I mean, so you have to assume already they've got a an animal's heart, you know, that they love they want a pet, but um for the most part, take me through the the when when somebody comes in personalitywise, like like can you actually tell from from some of the dogs and cats like this might be a good fit, do you get to know the dogs well enough to to be able to say, "Hey, this one would be great with that blah blah blah, that kind of dog." Or or do you have profiles or how do you do it? >> A lot of them we do. And again, like Victoria said, that's thanks to our volunteers, to our canine behavior enrichment team, some of our staff members that get to spend a little more of that individual time with animals and really get to build their profiles up. So eventually, by the time they make it onto our long-term resident list and are getting even more promotion, we have behavior notes that we can really use to try to pair animals up. But that's huge shout out and thanks to our volunteers to be able to do that. that they're doing a lot of our counseling and pairing for us on the back end uh on social media having conversations with individuals uh really pairing an animal that they have in their care or had in their care with individuals that they know are interested in adoption. >> How much um when it comes to to your 150 plus animals I mean are are a lot of them abandoned? Are they strays? Are they folks that that just specific circumstances just get dropped off or how does it work? >> Strays contribute the most to our intake. Uh that's why we push microchipping so heavily. You know, microchip your pets, make sure your registration is up to date. Number two would probably be owner surrenders. Uh not necessarily any fault of anybody's. You know, people's life circumstances change. So, if you feel the need to rehome your pet, that is not something that's anybody's going to judge you for or anything that needs to be taken personally. You know, we want to help navigate you through self rehoming and provide support and resources that we can to keep that from happening. But sometimes it does. We don't have control over everybody's circumstances. And then third would probably be confiscations, things along those lines, but minimal compared to the number of strayies. >> Sure. >> That come in. >> Yeah. You think about it though and and again um there's the old joke of of how much like a dog for example so unconditionally loves um its family or its owner or whomever. And I I I I've told this joke, not so much a joke, but I'm like, you want to see about how great a dog is? I'm like, lock your wife in in the trunk of a car for an hour and lock your dog in a trunk of a car. You open up the trunk, your wife's going to want to kill you. The dogs wouldn't want to kiss you. You know what I mean? That's how unconditional dog love is. >> Sure. Or you could just go out of town for a few days and come back. >> That too. Yeah, that too. >> Yeah. Don't do that either. >> Let's not lock anybody in the trunk. But you I'm I'm imagery wise I'm just given an example of how much unconditional love dogs have. Um but I I can tell you I've never tried to lock my wife in any will. So just just you know but but nonetheless it's um they're just if you've never had pets um the the the bond you feel at least for me you come home from a hard day at work >> and whether it's in our case we have the kitty cat now that we have Finny and we have Adrien our dog and you know Finny will just come up to me at the front door when I come in through the garage I should say and and he'll just plop he'll like fall on my foot and that's his way of just saying hey dad glad you're home. And Adrienne, of course, is crazy dog. She wants to immediately play and go out and this and that and she's getting a little bit older. But the point I'm making is that I don't care how bad a day you've had at work. I don't care what's happened to you. You come home and you get this pet's love and it's so psychologically soothing. It changes your your your mood if you're in a bad mood. And it's so healthy uh for you. Plus, again, you see your kids interact with with these animals and I feel like it makes your children into animal lovers at a young age. and it teaches them about uh responsibility and about empathy and compassion. There's just so many benefits to pet ownership. I I I can't stress how wonderful it is. >> Well, if anybody doesn't come to adopt after that, >> straight from the heart. I mean, again, that's how we got both of our dog and our cat is is from rescue and and from just trying to do the right thing. Um if people want the information, best website, where do they go? >> Yeah. So, the city of Columbia.gov, we we have a page on there under departments. just go to animal services. We also have social media platforms on Instagram and Facebook. If you look up Colia Animal Services, that's where you're going to get the most of what's happening every day at the shelter. >> You guys, thank you so much again for what you do and for coming in this morning. I really wish you the best with Clear the Shelter. >> Thanks, guys. All right, that's Victoria and Jason from Columbia Animal Shelter and the Animal Services. We'll come back for the second half of Cola Town as [music] we continue a Monday morning right here at the point.