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.