No updates in forever. Bad Blogger! We've done a coast vacation, time at the fair, family visits.. Oh, and the little matter of me actually passing my State Board Exams and being now an officially licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Oregon.. yah. That happened.
HOWEVER. I am still in school aiming for that ever important Associates degree, and as such have to take classes that I'd really rather not. One of those classes is Writing 121. This is a basic entry level writing class but it's absolutely required for the degree so I grudgingly attend. Our latest assignment was to write a Community Engagement piece. Pick a local organization, paint a picture in your readers mind, make them want more information. Gotcha, check. I really love what I ended up with even if it did go over the max page allowance, and I figure I'll share it here. This may very well be the only place it ends up published so I might as well..
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Looking on the Bright Side
Black-Eyed Susans and fluffy green
bushes urge visitors to wander down the path to the front door. A small plastic
sign secured to a garden stake crackles in the breeze, directing people where
to bring their bottle and can donations. Once inside, the sun drenched vaulted ceilings,
brightly painted tree mosaic, and smiling faces of the volunteers welcome you
in. A black cat, belly swaying low giving proof to her time as a Mama, wanders
past in search of another buddy to cuddle with among the dozens of cats visible
from the front door. A general feeling of contentment wafts over visitors
rather than the expected stench of bleach, urine, and desperation. A visit to the Brightside Animal Center is
not at all what you would expect in an animal shelter.
Formerly the Humane Society of
Redmond, Brightside underwent a complete makeover and reintroduced itself to
the city of Redmond in early 2013. Why the change? “There were several reasons
we made the change,” says Chris Bauersfeld, executive director at BrightSide.
“One was that we were aware there was brand confusion with the Humane Society
of Central Oregon. People thought that we were one and the same, that we were a
satellite branch. There was also brand confusion the Humane Society of the
United States. None of us are a part of the Humane Society of the United States
[… ]They do not contribute to local animal shelters.” The end result of this brand confusion was
public misconception on how they were helping locally. The funds donated to the
Humane Society of the United States were assumed, by the local donors, to
trickle down to our local Humane Societies. This is not the case. This misconception and the resulting lack of
funding for local services combined with the negative reputation Humane
Societies in general have was severely limiting the good the shelter was able
to do in our community.
What was done to combat this
misconception? “We got selected by the Advertising Federation in Central Oregon.
[They] select one non-profit per year and they help them with branding.” It was after many surveys and research hours,
about a year, that suspicions were confirmed. The main issue holding the animal shelter back
from success was their name. After many options
were suggested and summarily rejected, the name Brightside Animal Center was
chosen. “Humane Societies will soon be a thing of the past. As communities
change what they need, we [independent non-profit organizations] will do more.
We are not just a place to house unwanted or stray animals. We’re also a
resource for people to teach them how to keep the animals in their home [and] how
to better select their animal.” The name change will help our community to see
BrightSide for the unique center of hope that it is.
An estimated 40% of the incoming
animals at the shelter are owner surrendered. The most common reason for bringing an animal
in? “They can’t afford it anymore,” says Chris, “or they are moving. Underlying
all of that is usually a behavior issue. If we can correct the issue and have
the people keep the animal, then we’re all about that. The animals need to stay
in their homes. But we’re here for the ones that can’t.”Brightside doesn’t stop
there. In 2009 they began their spay and neuter program. In 2010-2011, while
still under the old name, they rolled out a program offering low cost
veterinary care for income qualified people, and in 2012 they began offering training
to help teach families how to overcome the issues that lead them to consider
surrendering their pet in the first place. “We’re moving away from police and
animal welfare work, and more toward working to preserve the bond that people
have with their animals.” Promoting that
bond is what BrightSide Animal Center is all about.
Chris estimated around two hundred
animals pass through their doors every month, with an equal number of animals
brought in by owners for spay and neuter services. April through November the
Center is swamped with puppies and kittens. It is a very busy time of year for BrightSide.
“Right now we have over a hundred cats and kittens in the shelter, with another
30 kittens out in foster care. That’s low. We’re getting ready for the next
wave.” The lack of regulation on cat ownership
is a large part of this problem. How is
Brightside dealing with the issue? “We’re forming a coalition: The Humane
Society of Central Oregon, Bend Spay and Neuter, and us. We’ve gotten together
and we are going to be facilitating a trap neuter program.” Similar programs
exist in more metropolitan areas, but none yet in our neck of the woods. The Best Friends Animal Society reports of a
similar program started in Albuquerque that saw a reduction in the influx of
cats and kittens into shelters by 59% its first year. With an estimated
fourteen to twenty thousand homeless cats in Deschutes County alone, a program
like this is well overdue. Targeting community cats, those that don’t have a
specific home but rather a community that they live in, the trapped cats will
be spayed or neutered. They will also receive all the necessary vaccinations
and tests, and will be returned right back to where they were found to live out
their days. “Our first surgery day is the end of August,” reveals Chris. Her
excitement at the introduction of this program, and the good it will do our
community, is palpable.
With such a large number of animals
in Central Oregon flooding the shelters every year, it is a surprise to learn
of the extreme lengths BrightSide has gone in order to earn their no-kill
shelter reputation. According to the BrightSide Animal Center’s “Our Method” web
page, last year BrightSide was able to find homes for 98% of the dogs and 96%
of the cats that walked through their doors. Numerous others, the elderly and infirm,
live out their final days in foster hospice,( nicknamed fospice by the staff.) According
to the American Humane Association‘s “Animal Shelter Euthanasia” web page, an
estimated 64% of animals that enter a shelter are euthanized. It is believed
that in 2008 alone, nearly 3.7 million
animals were euthanized in our nations’ animal shelters. It’s a number
difficult to wrap your brain around. How
many creatures was BrightSide forced to put down? “Last year we euthanized nine
dogs and fourteen cats,” reveals Chris. That is for the entire year. Nearly all of
these euthanizations were for issues that could not otherwise be overcome such as
extreme injury or illness. It is a mind-bogglingly low number. Every animal
that enters the back doors of BrightSide is expected to walk out the front
doors and into the home of a forever family. Every one. And they are
succeeding.
The secret to their success is loving control.
At BrightSide, prospective families don’t walk through kennels. They don’t
wander past cages full of barking nervous dogs or yowling distressed cats. Prospective
dog owners are handed a binder of descriptions. Adoption Specialists will take
the potential family for an interview where the perfect animal is described.
The Specialists will then head back to the outdoor daytime kennels and choose
the best dog for that family based on personality and the familiarity they have
developed with the animals in their care. By doing things this way Brightside
solves several problems. “People tend to choose the animals based on looks,”
Chris tells me “Either the animal will be pretty, or it will be the one huddled
in the back of the kennel and they will feel sorry for it. Most of the time
they will choose an animal that is absolutely not right for their family.”
Black pets are the most difficult to place. The restriction on wandering visitors
also reduces the stress the animals go through with a parade of strangers
constantly gawking at them.
The new routine at BrightSide was met
with quite a negative response from a well-intended public that had become accustomed
to visiting the facility in their spare time to pet the dogs. “We can always use volunteers to come and
socialize with our dogs; take them on walks and play with them,” Chris offers,
“but it’s stressful for them to have new people constantly coming in and out.
They don’t know you. It isn’t good for them.” Volunteers are always in demand
to do the little things that make a big difference; filling Kong toys with
peanut butter, helping with the dozens of daily loads of laundry, feeding
animals and cleaning kennels, the list is endless. The dogs are involved in
several regular activities to keep things exciting. Along with spending their
daytime hours outside under the shade of two large newly donated pergolas, “we
play classical music for them at night when we’re cleaning up. It makes it less
boring,” says Steve, the Reception Coordinator at BrightSide. “We also do
things like doggy daycare at Zippity Doo Dog, and some take “nosework” classes,”
training designed to both teach the dogs a skill and wear them out to break up
the monotony of shelter life. The staff
at BrightSide is constantly looking for new ways to stimulate the pups in their
care. The public may be disappointed in
this looky-loo restriction, but the adoption success numbers speak for themselves.
Prospective cat families are able to interact
and play with the numerous cats all wandering freely through the facility in
order to make their choices. No one sits in a cage to be stared at. The morning
routine involves a 7am welcome that is a “cacophony of meows and barks” which
leads to the freeing of the felines. The cats are let out of their individual
sleeping enclosures to freely wander the facilities during the business hours. “At
four-o-clock it’s quite the Easter Egg Hunt to find all of the cats to get them
back into their cages for the night!”
The twinkle Chris develops in sharing this lets you know she’s
participated in this particular Easter Egg hunt more than a few times.
The end result of this adoption
method is better family matches and fewer returns. They are creating happy pets
in happy homes. . Any challenges a new home may have with their furry family
member are met head on by BrightSide with their multiple free training programs
and services designed to foster a long term and loving relationship between
owner and pet. “If that still isn’t working then we ask that they bring the
animal back to us. I don’t want to see the animal on Craigslist, we want them
back here. We know those animals and we have made a commitment to them. Once
they come through our doors, they are ours.” Chris and all of the staff at BrightSide are
vehement advocates for all of their animals and will never hesitate to do
whatever they can to make a happy ending come true. This is never more apparent
than now.
Dr. Byrd, the veterinarian at
BrightSide, walks in to the office with some updated treatment information for
Chris. She has some new recommendations and stats on her very delicate patient.
At her side hobbles a heavily bandaged
and subdued Chance. A young pitbull mix, Chance has been all over the local
news. Found nearly dead, it is believed that Chance was somehow dragged behind
a truck, resulting in extensive abrasions and wounds to most of his body. The
likelihood of Chance living through the care of such extreme wounds was slim,
but not at BrightSide. If there is a chance, even a slim one, that an animal can
leave their front doors healthy and happy to the warmth of a new home,
BrightSide will take it.
Chance has had several surgeries, and
it shows. His trembling frame is nearly skeletal; the effort to move his
extensively bandaged body apparent in his every motion. Three legs are heavily
wrapped like a macabre Christmas present up to the shoulder, as is the better
portion of his back. The skin that is visible is gouged and thickly scabbed. The
impulse to lay a loving hand on this brave soul plays tug-of-war with the need
to find an unwounded place to lay it. His face is one abrasion after another.
He’s not finished, either. Chance will have several surgeries over the next few
months to attempt to repair the destroyed skin and muscles on his limbs.
Mutely, Chance stands to have a soft cone collar slipped around his neck. His
injuries are massive and he is still in a delicate condition and can’t be
allowed to upset the healing. Despite the pain that is obvious, he is calm. He
is quiet. He slowly and cautiously makes his way over to snuffle at a bowl of
water, his floppy soft cone completely obscuring his entire head causing quite
the positioning conundrum trying to get to it. Soft warm chuckles come from his
Foster Mom from behind the director’s desk as Chris leans over to help the poor
guy find his drink. Thirst quenched, he heads over for a bit of a love-inspection
before settling in a place of obviously familiar content in the corner of her
office. His soul is in his eyes, and a long look from him results in a gut
wrenching need to do something to help.
When Chance walks in to the room,
Chris is transformed. Her caring
countenance had been hiding behind a veil of seriousness up until this moment. It
isn’t until she has the Chance in her office, settled into his blanket rich bed,
that you truly see the passion Chris has for “her” animals. Chance will cost BrightSide thousands upon
thousands of dollars to treat. Immeasurable hours will be devoted to the
constant care this valiant little warrior will need to fully heal. But at
BrightSide, none of that matters. This ill-treated soldier will want for
nothing; medical attention, time, energy, effort, and most of all love. Chance
has been given a chance to live when, in any other circumstance, he wouldn’t
have. And he is not alone. Each staff member questioned had a certain special furry
someone that walked through their lives, their own personal “Chance”. James, a
dog brought in with a large group rescued from a hoarder, was so inbred and
neglected that his back end was completely distorted. “He looked like a frog,”
Chris shares with a sigh. His medical care was donated, months were spend
rehabilitating him, and he is now happily placed in a loving home living a very
normal life. This is the gift that
BrightSide offers to each and every animal entrusted to their care.
Chris and all of the staff and volunteers
have made BrightSide an awe inspiring and humbling success. Severely
underfunded, they bridge the gap between what they have and what they need with
love for the critters that share this big ball of dirt with us. According to
the BrightSide Animal Center 2012 Annual
Report, last year more than 1800 homeless animals passed through their
doors, loved and cared for until their forever families found them. An
additional 300+ were reunited with their owners while waiting in the safety of
the Center (“Always microchip your pets,” advises Steve.) Last year 1971
animals were spayed or neutered, and an additional 3982 received necessary
vaccinations while 312 received emergency medical care. Donations and memberships along with grants
and sales from the BrightSide Thrift Store provide the lifeblood that allows the
heart of BrightSide to thrive. It is a testament to the blossoming awareness of
need in our community that they continue to do so.
The animals in our homes and neighborhoods
have an advocate, they have a voice. The homeless critters in Central Oregon
have a sanctuary from which to rest, to recover, and to hope. BrightSide Animal
Center is not what you’d expect in an animal shelter. However, this may be the
one time when failing to meet an expectation brings about the Chance to really
see things on the Bright Side.
Volunteer applications are at the
front door.
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