Day one!

Hi everybody!

Today (well, actually yesterday) was the first day of my Senior Project at the Geauga Humane Society! Having my project here will give me a great insight into the world of Animal Rights and Protection, and give me the confidence to be a leader regarding a topic of which I am passionate.

My day started early, as I have to be at the center at 8:00 AM and I wanted to arrive early to make a good first impression. I was immediately handed off from the front desk to the first woman I was to shadow for the morning, Lisa Ishee. She gave me a general tour around the center's 'staff only' areas. The kitchen is the headquarters, where they do the dishes, sort the items, wash the laundry, sort the donations, and keep the food and other miscellaneous items for the animals. I was given a scrub to wear, which I have to change every time I change my station (such as working in the kitten room, and then the cages in the back would require a change), a personalized name tag, and plastic gloves.

Lisa had us start in the kitten room by the front desk. She gave me instructions on how to properly clean the cages, and set me to work. Luckily, I only had to fully clean one cage, but unfortunately, it was the largest. First, I had to sweep the cage of any remaining food, litter, fur, etc. Second, I wiped the entire cage with a soapy rag to remove any contaminating bacteria and stains. I wiped the bottom, each side, and ceiling before Lisa told me I had done satisfactory work. She then handed me a surgical mask and taught me how to use a chemical disinfectant, Trifectant, which they use after every cleaning to prevent any bacteria that the soap would have missed. The cages have to be completely soaked in the liquid, and then left to sit for at least ten minutes.

After that, Lisa had me prepare the nine remaining kitten cages in the room. We covered the bottoms of the cages with newspaper and then I put down a litter box in the back of each cage. I found towels in the clean laundry and placed them to the side for the bedding, and then a rag near the litterbox. It took me a while to find decent food and water bowls (since most of the clean dishes were dog bowls or glass/ceramic that kittens can't use) and the placed them in the cages on the rag.

When all of this was done I still hadn't seen any kittens (which really made me sad), but Lisa handed me to the second person I was to shadow, Wendy, who worked as a sort of cat specialist. She took me into the "Cat Room", where all the cats wait for adoption, and told me about the folders where each cats' information is kept. I then helped her transfer cats from the back room to the Cat Room to await adoption. While she did this, I took the documents for the cats and made a paper copy of them, one for the folder and one for the main book.

My first day was tiring, but informative, and I have plenty more to look forward to doing in the weeks coming up!