more annoyances

• when calling to see if we have a particular animal(s), PLEASE DO NOT use the same terminology you would use when checking on an order in a store. Did we just receive a large shipment of cats? Funny you should ask, just got some in waiting to be unloaded from the docks. How is our supply of tabbies? Well, we are running a little low...rumour has it those are on backorder for 6 weeks. Can i interest you in a torti instead?
• please do not enter our humble facility, immediately clutch your nose, make gagging sounds and complain of the smell. A) Have you been to other shelters? I suggest making a trek there and then tell us how much it "smells" when you walk in our doors. B) It's an ANIMAL shelter, NOT a frickin bakery. We have 200+ bowels in our care that do not go off at the same time. Something, somewhere, is going to poo at a given time. We are very diligent about cleaning, but sorry, you are going to smell something. C) That's just rude. I can't wait to come over to your house and immediately request a gas mask and wonder outloud how the department of sanitation doesn't condemn your cesspool of a home.
• Pay attention to our hours. We are not a 24/7 operation. Just because you make eye contact with a passing staff member at 10:23 doesn't mean we are going to let you in to look at the animals. See the buckets out in the middle of the floor? See the wet puddles? The big long hoses stretched from one end of the kennels to the other? How about the garbage bags and piles of diry laundry studding the floor every 20 feet or so? Those are all pretty good indicators that we are not open, and that at the present moment, your safety can not be ensured if you walk through. Go back and sit in your car for another hour and a half...the dogs and cats aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Besides, would you yank on the door of Target at 1:30am, bang on the glass, yank some more on the door (because surely the second time will be the charm), and demand to "just see what you have."? oy.
• yes we have dogs. In case it's not apparent from the audible sounds behind me while i converse to you in the phone, they are here. Yes we have labs. Yes we have male labs. No I can not tell you if we have anything that is good with kids, lived with cats, will catch a frisbee while performing a tuck somersault, knows commands, will serve you breakfast in bed, etc. I'm fielding your call, not going through a laundry list of what we have. Come down and take a look at what we have.
• Don't attempt to haggle over adoption fees. If you price out what is included, you'll see they are a significant savings opportunity in and of itself. Do you want a lifelong companion or a blue light special?

Ahh, the joys of serving the public.....

Pet peeves

I promise, i'm not normally this much of a post 'ho.

in no particular order, a list of things that i run into often that make me cringe and recoil.....

• when someone calls for information...they are expecting to receive some type of answer, yet when i proceed to give them what they need- a name, a number,etc, I invariably get the following..."hold on, i need to get a pen and paper...." Um, weren't you expecting to get an answer of sorts? Have that crap ready!
• mispronouncing the word "spayed". It's not "spaded". DEFINITELY NOT EVER "spadering". "Spraying"? What do you presume we spray the animal with? Granted, some of the dogs might think a shot from the water hose might be fun, but I guarantee you that no cat will ever volunteer for that. Oh, and a male can not be spayed, just as a female can not ever be neutered.
• When people with very *severe* limitations on their auditory capabilities insist on calling for information. That might be something where having another party make that call and gather said info...or making a trek to our happy little home would be a more appropriate method for conversing.
• again, from the telephone (can you tell it is the bane of my existence? thank you alexander graham bell)...when Jane or John Doe calls and begins with "I'm calling...." and leave a ridiculously long pause. Really? You are calling? What a shock, you could have fooled me. Here i thought you were sending smoke signals....
• People who come in with veryveryveryvery noticable BO. It's sad when taking a step back into our isolation area (where we occassionally house a litter of puppies who live for nothing more than fingerpainting in their own poo) is a relief from the odor that some folks come in with.
• Hoochie mama outfits. You're surrendering an animal, not potentially finding a companion for the wee small hours of the night. The bars are further down the road, keep on moving....
• folks who bring in the whole famdamily into the tiny hallway known as admitting. Say your goodbyes at home. Sit tight in the jalopy while the designated paper signer does the dirty work. Please do not ever turn 2 year old Trixie, 4 year old Freddie, and snot nosed 6 year old Sadie loose, allowing them to run through the hallway, peer through the glass at the other animals, grab pens off the desk, and look to me for socialization. I don't get paid to babysit.
• Bringing animals to us either at noon or at 5:30. We open at noon...your arrival with Fido at that time tells us "good god, i can't take one more minute with this animal, i refuse to spend one single minute longer than i absolutely have to with it." Coming in at 5:20, when we have 10 more minutes to go, with Fluffy and her offspring is just rude. We are close to beginning our end of day tasks...coming in when you had all afternoon...yeah, that's just not a good way to score points.
• people who leave a voicemail that is a) inaudible or b) lacking contact info such as a phone number
• people who refuse to get to the point. It's a buisness, it's not freakin' story time. What's next, a rousing game of duck, duck, goose? Oy. i think i just jinxed myself.

there are other bug-worthy traits but at 10:30ish at night and running on one hand's worth of sleep hours, and being drained from the week...well, that's all i can list right now.