The Hidden Cost of Playing It Safe and the Defensiveness That Gets Us There

During my first shelter job, I was stationed in what was known as the admitting office. Every day I would talk to dozens of people looking to surrender their pets or to turn in strays they found roaming the streets.  

The euthanasia room was just 50 feet away from my desk, but hidden from view of the public. The red light above the door of the euthanasia room was almost always on, indicating that pets were inside, losing their lives.

Most people had no idea what was happening at the shelter on a daily basis, and it wasn’t the shelter’s policy that we tell them. Many found out later, when it was too late.  

Countless people returned to the shelter after several days, having had a change of circumstances or a change of heart. I will never forget those hopeful people walking into the office with a leash in their hand — or their sadness, and anger, when they learned the truth.  

Pets lost their families, and their lives. We lost the public's trust. And all of us lost a piece of ourselves. I decided that I would start telling the truth, even when it was hard and even when doing so might lead to anger, or criticism.  

There were still times when the hard truth did not change the outcome. But what I most remember are the many instances when it did. I learned a lesson that is now a core belief and value: Trust runs both ways and must be earned.  

A shelter's relationship with its community will improve dramatically when we act with transparency, respect, and urgency. For the sake of the animals we love, and the communities we serve, let us lead by example. 
 

As a shelter leader, there are many things you cannot control. You cannot snap your fingers and expand kennel space, increase staffing, slow intake, or magically find a veterinarian whose services you can afford.  

What you can do is be open about where you and your team are, where you’d like to be, and how your community can help you get there.  

Track and share your data to help mark your lifesaving progress. Celebrate wins and show gratitude for all the support your shelter receives along the way.

If your shelter is not transparent about its challenges, your community will not partner with you to meet and overcome those challenges. But if you are transparent, then you give people the opportunity to help. 

Being an effective leader means having respect for your role, for the work, for your team, for your community, and for the cats and dogs whose lives depend on you.  

Treat every interaction with the community as an opportunity to build trust. When a cat hisses or a dog shows their teeth at you fresh off of the animal control truck, you react with patience and compassion. You know that the pets in your care are fearful, stressed, in pain, or suffering from traumas you cannot even imagine.  

Now apply that level of compassion and humanity to the people in your community.  

Respect the people in your life the way you respect the animals in your shelter. Your community will rally behind you and your team because of the respect you have earned and maintained.  

The most precious and scarce resource is not food, funding, or access to veterinary care, it’s time.  

It’s your duty to put as much time and space between pets and the euthanasia table as possible. If some of your kennels are empty or you are in a slower season, be proactive and audit your programs for inefficiencies.

Don’t waste the time you think you have. There is no such thing as surplus time at an animal shelter. 
 

As hard as it is for us to be truthful and transparent with members of our community, it is just as hard for people to be truthful and transparent with us.  

I think about the person who lost their job three months ago, and is now standing on the other side of the intake desk, leash in hand, saying goodbye to their best friend, all while telling us that they just found this dog running loose on the road.  

Most people who surrender a pet have already tried everything they know how to do. They’ve absorbed vet bills they couldn’t pay, called shelters and rescues that were already full, and weighed decisions no one should have to weigh alone.  

They may now tell us a story because they want to avoid the judgment they think is coming. Because judgment doesn’t make people more responsible. It just teaches them to hide.  

But when people hide, everyone loses. The shelter loses the chance to connect them with a pet pantry, a low-cost vet clinic, or another resource that might have kept that dog in their home in the first place. The rescue loses the chance to step in early, before a situation becomes a crisis. The dog loses a family who loves them, and, all too often, loses precious time in an already full shelter.

We lie because we are afraid, but nothing is more frightening than the fact that our lies and half-truths incur a debt that is inevitably paid by the animals we care for, and the people in our community, and the staff we seek to protect.  

But when we tell the truth, it opens the door for others to be truthful as well. It opens the door for solutions.

It’s not always easy. In moments of doubt, take a breath and try to remember that you are doing good work for good reasons. Most people are kind and would choose to practice kindness if given the opportunity.  

That is why a majority of shelters throughout the country are now no-kill. Shelter workers do heroic things, and they couldn’t hope to succeed without help from their communities.  

Every shelter leader operating from a defensive mindset should ask themselves, “Have I worked to cultivate an environment of honesty and transparency?” If the answer is no, we have identified the precise reason trust between themselves and their community does not exist.  

The reality is that no matter how much defensive space a shelter attempts to maintain between itself and its critics, the walls will get breached eventually, be it by activists, ex-employees, volunteers, public information requests, or even well-meaning animal lovers in your community who want more cats and dogs to be saved.  

Some may even be willing to help you do it, if you let them.