Julie Bank proudly points to the Animal Care & Control’s “revamped” Volunteer Program as one of the core accomplishments of her 21 months as ACC Executive Director.
“Robust” and “wildly successful” are two ways she’s described the program.
According to the ACC, hundreds and hundreds of volunteers have successfully completed the program since it was launched in December 2010. But where exactly are all those hundreds of volunteers? Apparently heading for the nearest exit once they figure out how badly the program is structured and managed.
We thought it might be educational to follow a volunteer-applicant as he/she makes his/her way through the ramped up Volunteer Program.
Will he/she pass the interview process? Will he/she pass the written exams? Will he/she stick it out for the long haul? When will the ACC allow “new” volunteers (meaning anyone new to the ACC and who completed the ACC’s Volunteer Program since December 2010) to handle dogs and cats that are not in adoptions (meaning, 75% of the ACC animals)?
We don’t know how this particular applicant’s story will end. Neither does the Volunteer Applicant, for that matter.
Here’s the Applicant-Volunteer’s first installment, reporting on a Volunteer Orientation meeting.
The January 17, 2012 Volunteer Orientation
For the first 20 minutes, the Volunteer Coordinator talked about herself: where she came from, that she ran a doggie daycare, and why she wanted to work at the ACC. She went into great detail about what a great place the ACC is. She said it’s been her “dream job,” which she repeated almost ten times. I wasn’t about to disagree with her on that point.
The VC asked how many of us found out about volunteering at the ACC through the ASPCA, and almost everyone raised their hand.
Another question was: “How many people have been to one of our shelters?” In a room full of around 60 people, fewer than 5 raised their hands.
The VC said the ACC was “awesome” in adopting out animals, doing far better than most shelters in the country.
She discussed euthanasia, explaining which animals the ACC puts down: (1) those they deem unsafe to go into a home; and (2) those that are too sick. She also said that: “We sometimes have to for space.”
She was very theatrical, almost like a cheerleader. She seemed to be a hit with the audience.
After the presentation, Lorenzo Borghese (the celebrity from the TV show “The Bachelor”) complimented her. She was clearly delighted, almost gushing.
As explained to us, the process of becoming an ACC volunteer is not simple. We were warned that there was no guarantee that any of us would be approved.
The next step is to schedule an interview with the Volunteer Program management team. That’s when each applicant pays $25 and hands over the signed agreement indicating that we understand and agree to the ACC’s volunteer policies laid out in a handbook they gave us.
If we pass the interview, we take ”webinar” classes based on our particular area(s) of interest. If we pass the tests given on those webinars, we’ll have a training session with a volunteer leader (the word “leader” has replaced the previously used title “mentor”) who will evaluate our performance.
But I get ahead of myself. First things first. Let’s see if I pass the interview.
I too attended a Volunteer Orientation recently. But I don’t agree with this fellow potential volunteer that the Volunteer Coordinator was theatrical – I felt that she had the charisma of a snail. Did I really want to sit through stories about ducklings, possums and squirrels? My reaction to the touchy-feely approach was don’t waste my time. Cut to the chase. I want to be helping the animals, not listening to 20 minutes of “aren’t I wonderful” BS.
Don’t know if I’m going to go forward to the next step. Maybe I’ll just volunteer at the ASPCA or for an animal rescue group. Seems to me the animal rescues are doing more for the animals than the ACC shelter.
Shelter Reform encourages people to become ACC volunteers. Of course there’s a lot to put up with, but there are no other animals in NYC that need your help more than those at the ACC. So, please, volunteer. Go to the shelters. Try to help the animals and equally important, bear witness to the animals’ suffering and the ACC’s failed leadership.
Oh, yes, and keep your reports coming to our NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND.
To Another Potential Volunteer
The ASPCA has too many volunteers. That’s why they punt candidates to the ACC
There are other good rescue groups who could use your help like BARC in Brooklyn.
I became a volunteer under Matt Wildman. I showed up to training where we got a tour of the shelter and were shown how to take dogs out, how to socialize with cats, how to read the kennel cards etc. We paid $5 for our own slip leash and told how to sign in and we had to wear a blue smock and put in at least 20 hours I think and then we got our ID. I walked dogs in Brooklyn and sometimes Manhattan for a year. Then there was an outbreak of canine flu and maybe Parvo I dont remember and we hd to use only plastic leashes and throw them away in between, and then the volunteer program was suspended. A few days before that I took home one of the dogs who was too sick to stay on the adoption floor. She is my best friend! So you could say I got something out of it!! The shelters were both a crowded mess bak then in 2007/08 with some very apathetic staffers (and some good ones!) and some tension between the volunteers and the staff. I visited the Brooklyn shelter the other day to look at the dogs and was appalled at how much worse everything seemed! Ugg. How can I help change our shelters for the better?
I have been a volunteer for at least 10 years. 4 years ago I attend the Board of Directors meeting and said how things have improved so much since I had started volunteering and was proud to be a part of the shelter. I was in the shelter early in the morning last week and every single cage in the downstairs hallway was full of crap and the bedding was soaked and all of the dogs were laying in it. I’m not exaggerating when I say every single cage. That means that the dogs were not walked at all in how many hours? And when were the cages last cleaned? It was the first time I left crying. I wish I knew more of what to do to take action or that I could spend more time volunteering at the shelter. I’m at a loss.
Marie – The situation is overwhelming. (I’m a volunteer also) Yet, we can only try to work towards getting things better. I’ve started compiling a list of people willing to speak out. Anyone who reads this comment can send an email to acc_must_change@hotmail.com. I’ve posted to various Facebook pages, sent emails to various people, etc., and while everyone seems stating that things need to change, I can’t seem to find anyone DOING anything! I have no idea where this will go, but at least I feel like I’m doing SOMEthing.
Unfortunately, I think people will be scared to email you at that address. How do we know you’re not Elizabeth and won’t fire those who want a regime change?
I have been volunteering weekly since 2007 and am a mentor. Manwiller repeatedly forgets to send emails to me about mentor events, has checked in with me me exactly once and when I replied, never heard back. I think she cares about animals but is not particularly bright or strategic. Her job really has less to do with a love of animals and more to do with interpersonal skills and leadership. During my interview with her (which I left work early for and waited 25 mins for her), she literally did not stop talking about all the countries she’s been to and her friends she met backpacking. I just wanted to sign the forms (which she actually scrutinized like some kind of a lawyer in front of me), get my badge & tshirt and get out. She went on about the crazy hours she works. Perhaps it is spam filter, but I never receive the weekly volunteer email which used to come every Friday. I have never seen her at the shelter and on Sundays, I have heard from the rabbit and cat people that people are in and out of the rabbit and cat rooms as that seems to be the only place where volunteers are. The ones who do show up to walk dogs are swamped with doing the work of 3 or 4 staff members (I believe there is only 1 or 2 staff members on the adoption floor). Those who are surprised about all the animals laying in their own waste have never stayed until 9:30/10pm. Every time I leave, I Have to hold my nose from the stench!
Sorry for such last minute notice but ABC news is having a Town Hall meeting in Paramus, NJ Tonight Jan 25th between 7 and 8:30 at Bergen community college. The meeting will take place at the Technology Education Center at 400 Paramus Road. Maybe they would be interested to know what is happening at Animal Care and Control. There will be team of Eye Witness News Anchors there.
Hi, my name is Gina and I’m from the Netherlands, Europe. Been reading the comments here of the volunteers and I can understand their position or that it is overwhelming, but it is insane NOTHING is actually done to help those animals, and to prevent the ones getting killed/murdered/destroyed every day. Being sick, in whatever slight way just by indication, is NOT a reason to kill an animal! For weeks now I have seen those lists on Facebook, been reading various articles, blogs, reports, initiatives to send emails to the mayor and such… But in the meantime, those cats and dogs STILL get killed, and those places are dirty and not cleaned and making the dogs and cats ILL. So “they” can KILL them. Did I already mention insane?? I would gladly want to collect emails from volunteers or people who like to share their experiences, I’m a writer and journalist and currently involved in a few campaigns on behalf of animal rescue and animal welfare in cooperation with C.A.P.S. Companion Animal Protection Society/Deborah Howard who are specialized in investigating puppy mills. Anyway, click my name and it will direct you to a weblog about one of the projects. We handle any information with confidentiality and will only make it public if people agree to it. I can’t do anything physical being here in Europe. But if I were there in New York, I’d talk to those in staff who really mean well for the animals, get in touch with other real animal friends and spend some weekends or days to CLEAN UP THOSE PLACES. Just do it?! And don’t be afraid for any board or staff member or whatever, because they’re not the ones with real power. Power is in all of YOU, those who CARE. UNITE and make change!!!!!! Do something, please. It’s unbearable for so many who sit behind their computers, in different states of the US, in different countries, people who lose sleep because they worry about the animals on death row and urgent lists… will they make it, will they be pulled? And if this might offend anyone, my apologies, but hey, if you as a nation or city weep over the 9/11 tragedy and expect others to be empathetic, I am not, because a city that allows for those Killing Factories to murder so many companion animals who with some care and genuine attention would be ideal pets and friends… a city like that has no right whatsoever to ask sympathy or understanding if they don’t truly value LIFE. Involve the media, get a camera in there and document it. Volunteers, use your cellphone cameras! Don’t be afraid.