Let's look back and reflect

     It's hard to believe it's been about three months, maybe less, that I've been pursuing this field working project. After reading the letter I wrote to my professor, Dr. Cook, on the 10th of September, I've realized that I'm an anxious person. Three months ago I was anxious, nervous and indecisive about my field site. Today I'm anxious and nervous about how to organize my field working paper, so not much has changed. But at the same time, a lot has changed; specifically the amount of work I've done.
     This project is definitely something I've never encountered before. The types of writing my professor had us do was extremely versatile  We went from writing poetry, to verbal snapshots, to literature reviews, to reflections, to blog posts, to research proposals, the list goes on and on. The types of writing I've done this semester trumps the diversity of writing I did in my four years of high school.
    I came into this semester thinking that I was a pretty good writer, even a little above average, but on my first day my confidence sunk. The short paragraph we wrote in our first class showed me that I had a lot of work today; especially compared to my fellow classmates' paragraphs, which seemed to come straight out of a reward winning novel. Throughout the semester I began to get my stride back. I learned how description is extremely valuable and I was able to incorporate that into my writing so much more. Today, I'm much more confident about my writing, specifically my field working paper. I'm still not done, but sometimes when I proof-read and edit, I really reflect on how my writing has improved noticeably  Although this class is a required class for all freshman, I can honestly say I enjoyed it; whether this is because of my professor, the style of the class, or a combination of the two(this one!) I can honestly say I don't hate writing, I actually kind of like it.

Some main "spots" in my paper!

I'm thinking about developing some hypotheses, themes and questions in my overall paper. I still haven't decided on a title, but all of these ideas relate to things I want to focus on.

Themes

-Animal welfare workers are a special breed.
-Money isn't the attraction when working with animals, but that doesn't mean it's not important.
-We domesticate animals, but reserve the right to abandon them?
-Shelters V. Animal Control
-Animal's struggle to stay a priority (euthanasia, being disposable, abandoned, etc.)


Hypothesis
-In order to thrive as a worker in Animal Welfare you need to have drive, dedication and heart.
-Pets aren't attracted to money, but money is attracted to them.
-If we choose to domesticate animals and take them in as pets, why do we reserve the right to abandon them?(I want to include the connections between children and pets but I'm not sure how to word it.)
-The similarities between animal shelters and animal control stops at the name.


Persistent Questions
-Am I pro-euthanasia now? (not for space obviously...just health reasons)
-Even though there are institutions protecting and helping animals in need, does our culture still find animals(pets specifically) insignificant? Do these institutions actually make this possible because now there's an outlet? (This could also connect to money, by asking is our cultures focus on money more than pets?)
-How many shelters euthanize for space v. euthanize for health?

Pawing at Poetry

Get it? Because it's about animals, and I used the word Pawing?

School in day,
work at night.
16 hours a day,
and I loved it.
From Boston, to Vermont,
to New Orleans, to Vermont,
to Providence I went.
In animal welfare, that’s how it is.
Growing up, I learned an equation.
Animals + career = vet.
I prove that false.
Abandoned dogs happen.
Left in our yards,
a cardboard box, just dumped.
Animal shelters and animal control
worlds apart.
One word: money.
We never have money,
animal control does.
Another word: mission.
Theirs- people driven.
Ours- animal driven.

Interview Number Two!

My second interview went better than my first. I enjoyed it a lot more, probably because of the confidence I gained with the first experience. I wasn’t nearly as nervous for this one as my last one. I think it went well because there were a lot less awkward pauses while I tried to gain my thought. I wrote down my follow-up questions and kept everything on point. The only problem I had with this interview was my forgetting to bring a watch. It worked out though because I kept an eye on the time, by glancing at my phone periodically, and the interview ended in twenty-six minutes. Long enough for important ideas to flow, but short enough to avoid awkward silences.
Kate Tracey, a customer service representative at PARL, was who I interviewed today. She was twenty-six years old (ironically the same number as the minutes of our interview?!) and has been with PARL for three years. She grew up without a dog of her own (until her teenaged years) and was always drawn to them, similar to my own experiences.  Kate described it as “instinctive” which I found pretty powerful; I never thought to use that word before, but it makes sense. This identification and connection I made with her was probably one of the factors that led to my increased enjoyment of this interview over my last one.
An interesting point Kate made was one that actually refuted a point that Amy made. In my first interview Amy said that shelters usually don’t hire volunteers because they typically learn procedures wrong, and are allowed to continue without being corrected. This made sense to me, but it was a surprise because I figured experience is experience-apparently not. Kate seemed to think differently than Amy as well. She started out as a dog walker volunteer in college, and after that she worked at the Boston Animal Rescue League. She then came to PARL and started working here. Kate said that volunteering is good because it’s a way to “…try on the position before you really plunge into this world” (Kate). Personally, I agreed with Kate a little more because if you work in a shelter, and realize it’s not for you, quitting is going to be more of a hassle than volunteering a couple times and not coming back.
A last thought about this interview relates to the environment in which my interviews took place. Both of my interviews at PARL have had animals in the room. My first interview had three beings in Amy’s office; Amy, me, and a small dog (possibly a chiwawa mix). The second interview had four beings in the upstairs part of PARL; Kate, me, and two cats. The cats were a little more amusing only because they literally sat in front of my face, on the table, during my interview. They also kept rubbing their faces on my pen…as I was trying to write might I add. There is just something so free-spirited about PARL, and there is just something about animals that I love. I agree with Kate. It really is magnetic.

Interview number one!

My first interview was with the shelter manager. Her name was Amy Duskiewicz. She was very nice and polite throughout the interview. The air was pretty comfortable, similar to the overall vibe of Providence Animal Rescue League. She answered every question I asked with clarity and thoroughness. There were some awkward points, but she never seemed annoyed with me. I think it was successful overall.

One of the interesting points I took from the interview was when Amy talked about her history with “sheltering.” The actual term sheltering was interesting in itself, which made me realize that in the animal welfare world, it’s probably a known verb. In the interview Amy gave me her background with animals revealing that she has been involved with them throughout her entire life. This made me wonder if most of the people in the animal welfare world have this type of experience. Amy raised dogs for the blind when she was little, worked at an animal shelter in Boston throughout college, worked as a vet tech in Vermont, moved to New Orleans and taught theatre(with her degree)-while she worked with Project Humane, moved to Vermont and managed a shelter, then moved to North Smithfield for her job at Providence Animal Rescue League. Amy moved all over the country to pursue a career with animals, “and honestly that’s kind of, in the animal welfare world, that’s kind of how it is.” (Amy) I thought this was the most interesting point of the interview because it illustrates an extreme dedication to the welfare of animals, and I admire that.

The biggest problem I had with this interview was how I kept losing my train of thought and forgetting the follow-up questions I had. I had a list of questions that pretty much dominated the interview, but whenever I formulated follow-up questions I didn’t write them down, and then forgot them. I remembered Dr. Cook’s advice about writing down questions, but not until it was too late. My next interview will probably go smoother because now I gained that experience. 

I realized that keeping time is probably something else I need to work on as well. Tomorrow I plan on bringing a watch so I know how much time has passed, because with this interview I definitely did not. I dragged out the interview in fear that it was not long enough, to find out at the end that it was twenty minutes longer than necessary. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I didn’t have to type it, but I did, and it was dreadful. Also, because I wasn’t keeping track of time, I was forced to run through Providence to Kennedy Plaza in order to catch my bus. All of these things made me realize that a watch will be truly beneficial.

Second is the best!

                Providence Animal Rescue League is a wonderful place to volunteer. The atmosphere is laid back and relaxed, the workers don’t seem to judge you, and you’re surrounded by lovable animals; what more could you want? I love it now. I was nervous at first, but I personally love animals, so it makes it all worth it. I’m able to say all of this now because I’m comfortable at PARL. This second experience has made me feel at ease there.

                First of all, when I first got there and felt extremely lost, a worker boosted my confidence. When I was floating around awkwardly not knowing how to start my shift, she came in and saw me. After I told her I was there for the second time she said “Oh so you know what you’re doing! Just go right in!” This made me feel a lot better because she treated me as if I was a veteran. Second of all, I wasn’t the newest volunteer there anymore. A new volunteer, a young adult named Allejondro, volunteered for the first time that day. This made me feel relaxed because I technically had more seniority than him; I was there longer; I had more experience.

                I surprised myself with how confident I felt. Yes, it was my second time and I was no longer the new kid, but I still hadn’t been there long at all. I acted like I did though. I felt so much more calm the second time, especially dealing with the animals. I wasn’t afraid to go into the kittens’ cages at all, and I wasn’t afraid to go into the large cats’ cages either. The kittens obviously weren’t as intimidating as the cats I dealt with on my first day, but the large cats in the central room of PARL were! They were in the central room because they were big cats and they needed big cages, though I wasn’t afraid. The dramatic rise in my fearlessness was definitely a surprise to me.

                I’m intrigued by the fact that I still haven’t seen all of PARL though I’ve been there twice. The first time I volunteered they only showed me the rooms pertaining to the cats, where I would be working. In addition to that I saw the garage because I needed to get the litter boxes. My second time I was exposed to a couple more rooms. I saw the hallway leading up to the laundry room, the laundry room itself, “the dog room” briefly, and a storage room. The hallway leading to the laundry room was through a door off the garage. Off of this hallway were two or three rooms that I didn’t go in, but glanced at. One room looked like a cat room that might be for sick cats. There was another room with larger cages that probably was the dog equivalent. I barely saw “the dog room” because the storage room was right at the beginning. “The dog room” contained many different dog cubby-cell things. There were dogs inside it, I assumed, but didn’t see personally. Unfortunately I wasn’t lead through that area. And obviously the laundry room kept laundry and the storage room kept food and water bowls and other storage. Keeping this in mind, it’s intriguing that I haven’t seen the entire shelter yet. It’s as if they don’t find full tours necessary because volunteers only deal with certain parts of the shelter. It’s interesting to think there’s a lot more I have yet to see at PARL.

                I was pretty disgusted by the smell my second time. Sam and Kristin commented on how I didn’t mention the smells a lot in my verbal snapshot so, on my second trip to PARL I focused on the scents. I concluded the smell of cat litter is disgusting. I gagged a few times. I mean, I guess it’s sanitary that we change their litter every day, but it still smells horrid. The kittens smelled worse, at least in my opinion. But by the time I got to the large cats my nose might have already adjusted to the smell of cat. Other than that, it’s kind of hard to be disgusted in a place filled with innocent and adorable animals.

                Overall, I had a great time volunteering my second time. Although I didn’t sign in when I first came in (because the other girls didn’t and I wasn’t instructed to so I didn’t even think about it) I worked longer than I had my first time volunteering. It didn’t feel longer though. I had more fun. I had the opportunity to play with the cats more, and wasn’t afraid to interact with them as much. Maybe the key to PARL is comfortability; maybe that’s why they don’t have formalities, because being comfortable causes the work to go by quickly and efficiently. Now that I think about it, it kind of makes sense.

Some sources for thought

Nature Conservancy gets a grant of $2 million

This article is short, and only mentions Providence Animal Rescue League briefly, but it’s helpful. It is helpful because it explained the Champlin Foundations gave a grant to the Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island which distributed the money to different organizations in 1987. This Providence Journal article states that PARL received $5,575. Although this is minuscule in comparison to the full grant given by Champlin Foundations (about seven million) it is an example of the non-profit status of the Providence Animal Rescue League. It received this money from a private institution, not the state.

Animal Rescue League looks for adoptions

This article was basically an ad for a dog, though this was written by a reporter for the Providence Journal. It gives some good information about the dog, Kerry. The phrase “…overweight, 120-pound dog that had been treated like a child” seemed like a harsh phrase to include in this article though. This causes me to question why the reporter used such harsh terminology, or if she was using the excuse of Kerry’s owner’s family. Even so, I don’t think it’s fair because it’s a bad depiction of this innocent dog. The article overall gives information towards dogs as a whole at that time, depending on if many people had the same insensitivity as this writer seemed to have.

It also gave information on adopt-a-dog month, which I find useful because I might be able to see if adopt-a-pet month actually does increase pet adoptions. This information relates to this month as well, since adopt-a-dog month is in October, and I saw signs for it on my visits to PARL. The article gave good information about the sponsors of adopt-a-dog month, and explained it was sponsored by two pet food companies. I could research if more companies have taking part in adopt-a-dog month, and whether or not it increases the pet food’s sales. The year of this article was 1987 so that means at that time only two companies participated. I can also see if there is an adoption month for actual children, which might be insensitive, but could help if I decide to dissect the differences and similarities between dogs and children. (Again, that sounds insensitive but I swear it’s not.)

Rhode Island Foundation awards grants to agencies & Animal Rescue League begins in-shelter pet therapy facility

My third and fourth articles went hand in hand. They are both short, but relay information about the Rhode Island Foundation’s grants to non-profit agencies in Rhode Island. Providence Animal Rescue League received $18,578, which was the fifth largest grant given by the Rhode Island Foundation. It was given specifically to help the pet therapy program. The grant money was to be used to renovate an unused portion of the shelter, allowing it to transform into an in-shelter therapy area. The new area will allow for projects that brings workers and animals to PARL instead of sending away animals to other places. The grant money was to be used to grooming equipment and materials for the backyard. The backyard was to be transformed into a place to groom, bathe and exercise dogs.

This is good information for me because it’s additionally supporting the concept that PARL operates on outside donations, as non-profit organizations typically do. It’s interesting that PARL received the fifth largest grant as well, out of the nineteen total grants made by Rhode Island Foundation. I wonder why they chose to grant all of this money to PARL. This was reported in 1987 so it allows me to assume they’ve been in business for at least twenty-five years. The pet therapy program is also interesting because I wonder what that specifically entails. I might be able to further research that and check to see if PARL and/or other shelters still have this program.

"PETPALS Animal Advocates Say Job Isn't done Until Everyone Becomes a 'Friend'."

My last article was long and extremely informational. It was written in 1985 in the Providence Journal. It’s basically talking about all the different local organizations and people that are involved in the protection of animals. Mary Clark is a woman who reopened the charter for East Greenwich’s animal protection league. She lives on a farm allowing her to have space for housing homeless animals. She takes home animals whose boarding time is up at the veterinary hospital (which serves as the league’s shelter). Another person’s name was Dennis Tabella. He and his wife Patricia founded Defenders of Animals. It was based in Warwick and had 650 members. This organization fights for animal rights instead of just animal welfare. It’s placed nearly 1,900 pets, and pushed five bills into law. Another organization was Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island, which was founded in 1939. It took in 1,455 animals in just one year. It had a 60% adoption rate. Providence Animal Rescue League was also mentioned. In just six years PARL took in31,840 stray animals. A spokesperson said that one out of ten were “adoptable.” At this time they provided an euthanasia service too. Overall, the article was just relaying information about groups that help animals in the Rhode Island area.

This article opens up many avenues for me. I can research all the other organizations, and see if they’re in business still. If they are that might mean animals are becoming more important in our society now, or if they aren’t that might mean America is less sensitive to animal care. I also need to understand the differences between pounds and shelters because I’m not sure the difference. Lastly, I need to ask PARL if they still provide euthanasia services, why or why not. Then I can research the trends of euthanasia in the USA.