By: Isabella Kicklighter
Alec Rowe, adoptions manager, is starting his day at the adoptions front office at the Humane Society in Yulee, Florida. The Nassau County Humane Society or NHS is just one of thousands of humane societies nation wide, which advocate for animals who are mistreated and seek better homes for them.
One of the almost 30 cats at the shelter. Nassau County Humane Society rescues all kinds of animals from cats, dogs and even guinea pigs from horrendous environments like kill shelters, over crowded shelters and even meat markets.
Kaitlyn, a high school volunteer, hanging out with the adult cats in their play room. Volunteers and employees alike all strive to give the best life to all of these animals in the shelter but their efforts don't come without struggles they face daily.
Katie, an employee at the shelter, feeding one of the resident dogs a treat. Out of almost 70 dogs in the shelter there are only five employees who handle all the daily care which includes feeding, walks, play breaks, clean up and training for each dog everyday.
A resident dig enjoying her treat for performing her sit command. Since many of the dogs come into the shelter with little training or some form of aggression based on their previous mistreatment, the employees at the shelter make a point to patiently train each dog in order for them to have the best chance in becoming adoptable pets.
New puppies siblings who joined the shelter recently. With only five employees that's means each one has to take out the time to train around 14 dogs each a day in order for each dog's needs for training to be met, which equates to training one dog every 30 minutes on top of preforming daily shelter duties.
Katie and a volunteer removing peanut butter frisbees from the kennel doors.The shelter also meets struggles like monetary needs in order to buy supplies for all the animal's food, medical and cleanliness needs.
Easton, 1.5 years old, waiting in his kennel. The NHS relies heavily on sponsorships, donations, as well as social media to find homes for their animals and provide money in order to care for them.
Killian posing in his kennel. The NHS and its employees gladly advocate for these animals even hen they face struggles of their own because all their hard work alleviates the pain and suffering of each animal that finds themselves at the shelter.
Nala enjoying some playtime outside her kennel. Adopting a pet or donating is the best way to support the NHS but it is important to understand that a pet is a huge responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly and each pet has their own personality, so patience is key.
Buddy playing tug-of-war with Katie. These animals have no voice of their own and don't understand why some people would treat them in an inhumane way but that is what NHS is for, to show these animals and people in the community that all living creatures should be treated with respect and the human-animal bind can be a beautiful thing.
Justice, employee at the shelter, hanging out with Buddy. To make life more exciting for the animals and to prepare them for their future homes the animals have special activities to fill their day with more than just a view of four walls.
Katie petting Anna in the training room.While the adult cats get to hang out in their play room the dogs get time taken out in each day to train in the training room in order to learn basic commands like "sit" and "stay" as well as house training, all of the dogs are trained using positive reinforcement training which means they receive a treat when they perform a command and each training session is altered to the dogs personality.
One of the longest shelter residents hanging out in her cone. Each animal has a individualized chart that is updated daily with things like basic information on the animals age as well as breed, personality traits, accomplished training and medical history.
Milo on a para walk with Katie. The dogs are also taken on para walks accompanied by another dog to teach them to not get too excited when other dogs are near and to properly socialize them so they are able to be adopted to homes with existing pets.
Jazmine on the para walk. The NHS even has a program called "Underdogs" where once a day each employee can choose a dog they notice has behavioral issues or needs extra training for any reason and that dogs will receive extra one on one training the day they are chosen to help them on their road to becoming adoptable.
One of the shelter employees sanitizing a kennel. Since each dog is giving some form of attention daily, sickness is usually caught early on for the shelter dogs and treated immediately, in this case on of the employees is sanitizing a kennel whose inhabitant had parvovirus.
Cleaning supplies for decontamination. Since Parvovirus is highly contagious, in order to avoid a wide spread throughout the shelter the employees must act quickly to decontaminate the kennel immediately with pet safe cleaning chemicals and the infected dog will be put into quarantine until the end of their treatment to ensure the safety of the other animals.
Justice feeling a dog a treat called a "churro." It takes a lot of patience and dedications to maintain structure in a shelter like the NHS and the staff here is nothing short of hard working and organized.
Betty, 6 years old, relaxing in her kennel. Nassau County Humane Society uses their non-profit organization to provide a voice for each animal they take in and are willing to work with each and ever one to ensure they have the proper care and training in order to be adopted into their forever homes to live better lives.
