Richmond SPCA Blog

Frivolous Friday Felines #3

This is the third installment of our weekly caption contest. We provide the feline photo and ask you, our readers, to submit your wittiest caption suggestions in the comments before next Friday. 

Photo courtesy of Rich Terrell

All the great caption submissions last week made it a tough choice, but we've settled on this comment from Mary Archer as the best of the bunch: 

Honorable mentions to these submissions as well: 

Hey! No cat napping at work...that's my job!
Skye Mullarkey

Okay, time to play ! No more computing, more interaction with my fur please!
Cathy Lindner 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Frivolous Friday Felines #2

This is the second installment of our weekly caption contest. We provide the feline photo and ask you, our readers, to submit your wittiest caption suggestions in the comments before next Friday. 

The best of last week's comments comes from Laura Clement. Thanks, Laura! 

  

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Introducing Frivolous Friday Felines

This Friday we're introducing a new regular feature to our blog, "Frivolous Friday Felines." Each week we'll post a new feline photo seeking your wittiest caption suggestions. Post your caption submission as a comment, and next week we will post a new photo along with this week's winner. Show us what you've got! 

 

To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

13 years later, a cat named Snap still inspires our CEO

This is my 13th anniversary as the chief executive of this organization. I suppose that 13 is seen as an unlucky number by some people but I consider it a very lucky and promising juncture for me in my tenure here. I look forward with great anticipation and optimism to the future and all we have in store to do for the animals of our community.

I was asked to write about how I became involved in animal welfare for this series we are doing. I remembered that I wrote a CEO Column in August of 2006 with that exact title and I looked back at it for this current series. I frankly cannot improve on it and it still brings tears to my eyes. So, it is reproduced below. Just know that where it reads “nine years ago,” it would now be 13 years ago.

Nine years ago, I left the law firm in which I was a partner and went to work at the Richmond SPCA for the well being of our magnificent companion animals because of the influence of one cat, our beloved Snap. It actually goes back to a beastly hot July day in 1991 when my husband and I took a walk on my birthday. We passed a construction site and heard noise coming from a cardboard box that was on the ground and taped shut. Inside, we found three kittens near death from the intense heat and dehydration. We took them home, cooled them down, fed and watered them and named them Snap, Crackle and Pop. The next day, I took them to the Richmond SPCA, an organization I had had no relationship with. I was told that they had zillions of kittens and these three would likely be “euthanized.” I was dismayed and took the three of them back home. I found good homes for Crackle and Pop. Snap became the queen of the Starrs’ home.

Snap grew to be both elegant and adorable – the Audrey Hepburn of the feline world. While she was just a brown tabby with no particularly distinguishing appearance, she had such grace and gentility that she seemed exquisitely beautiful. She was always loving but reserved and very refined. I came to realize that, because of humans and their shocking irresponsibility and brutality, Snap nearly died. I began to read more and understand the factors causing the enormous loss of life of dogs and cats. I was horrified to recognize that I myself had grown up in a family that bought puppies from breeders while magnificent animals like Snap began life with little or no chance. We loved animals but we had no comprehension of their plight.

With a raised consciousness, I sought election to the Board of Directors of the Richmond SPCA. After joining that Board, I became more deeply committed to animal welfare and more concerned about the sluggishness and inadequacy of the field’s response to what I saw to be a true crisis. Millions of animals, just like my precious Snap, were dying every year for no better reason than they lacked a home. When my predecessor announced her retirement, I decided that I wanted to devote the remaining years of my professional life full time to this cause and I became the CEO of the Richmond SPCA.

A few days ago, on another hot July day, our beautiful and precious Snap died of cancer at home at 15 with our family around her. I cannot even type those words without tears welling up in my eyes. She transformed my life. Because of her, I came to understand the suffering that we humans have selfishly inflicted on our wonderful companion animals. Because of her, I will continue to struggle against the people who disparage our mission because they only care about people and do not believe that animals deserve our support and defense. Because of her, I will continue to pressure the people in the field of animal welfare who are content with the status quo and make no effort to change old behaviors that have produced nothing but more and more carnage. I will also find the strength to deal with the jealous, the insincere and the dysfunctional.

Snap had a good, long and full life with a family who adored her and, in that, she was very lucky. But, the truly lucky one on that hot July day was me. Snap was a birthday present that set my life on a different course. She transformed both my life and the prospects for life of thousands of other wonderful but homeless animals. She will always be alive, young and beautiful in my heart and my memory, and I will never stop hearing her message.

2010 addendum: To this day, I still hear her message. Because of her, I will continue to do all of those things that I cited above for so long as I possibly can.

Robin Robertson Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography, or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

From volunteer to new career

Having grown up in the company of dogs and horses, I found my home and heart very empty after the passing of my beloved “Kiddo Diddo Dog,” shortly after the birth of my daughter. As a new mom, I knew this was not the time to be taking on a new dog. However, when I saw an advertisement for a dog in the local shelter that reminded me so much of my “kid,” I just had to go.

What I left with, instead of a dog, was a volunteer position with the local humane society. This provided me the opportunity to get my “doggy fix” and unbeknown to me, start my new career in animal welfare.

After volunteering, I worked my way up through the ranks and eventually left the comfort of a quiet, no-kill shelter to jump into the frying pan called NYC Animal Control as their Director of Adoptions and Volunteer programs. Over the years I have gained valuable experience working in many roles and have come to realize, like many of the animals whose paths we cross, I too have found my permanent home – it is in animal welfare, my home away from home.

Today's guest blogger is Jody Jones, operations manager for Richmond Animal Care & Control. To read the biographies of our regular bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is part of a series leading up to Robin Robertson Starr’s 13th anniversary as CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Through June 19 our regular bloggers and special guests will be taking a look at how they each became involved in animal welfare.

How our COO found her dream job: It started with an internship

Roughly 8 years ago – during the summer before I graduated from college – I learned of a community relations internship at the Richmond SPCA from a former professor. He thought it was a great opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, and I agreed completely. After familiarizing myself with the organization, which was in the midst of a transformational period in its remarkable history, I relished the chance to receive hands-on experience at a nonprofit organization with visionary leadership and a progressive operating model designed to revolutionize animal welfare as we knew it. (It didn’t hurt that I also love animals, having grown up in a family devoted to its four-legged companions.)

While experience is what I sought at the time, an emotional and professional calling was what I fortunately found. As I learned more about the history of pet homelessness in our community and the Richmond SPCA’s commitment to overcoming it through the provision of sustainable lifesaving programs and services, I grew more and more inspired. This was an organization unlike any other animal welfare agency I’d ever visited before. It was (and still is) forward thinking and consumed by creativity and innovation – essential components to creating a community that does not resort to killing to control its orphaned animal population. I was immediately drawn to the organization, its leader, and its transformative vision, and I was eager to work with the staff on projects that raised attention and awareness for the humane center.

As luck would have it, near the conclusion of my internship, a position became available within the organization that I was hired to fill. I could hardly believe my good fortune. The chance to complete an internship at one of the best organizations in this field was a terrific opportunity, but the ability to dedicate myself full time to its mission has been a rare gift that I have cherished.

I am sure it’s a small percentage of recent college grads that finds their dream job (or at least their dream employer) right out of school, but I am glad I can count myself among them.

Tamsen Kingry is the chief operating officer for the Richmond SPCA. To read her complete biography, or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is part of a series leading up to Robin Robertson Starr’s 13th anniversary as CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Through June 19 our regular bloggers and special guests will be taking a look at how they each became involved in animal welfare.

How one dog changed everything for me

Looking back on the five years I’ve worked at the Richmond SPCA, I realize how naïve I was about animal welfare before it became my life’s work. Like many, I’ve always had a love of animals. My family always had pets, both dogs and cats at different times, but many of our attitudes toward them were less than progressive though common for the time and the environment. I grew up in Mississippi, and we always supported Jackson’s animal shelter. In fact, when my father passed away in 2003, donations in his memory were directed to that organization because the welfare of animals was a cause he cared about deeply. You could say that was the beginning of my own awakening.  

My dad’s death was unexpected, and in the midst of grieving, I had the question of what to do about his dog, Gus, a 7-year-old Rottweiler. Initially, I considered finding him a new home. There should be plenty of people looking for a well-behaved purebred dog with papers, right? Most of our readers know the answer, and may even chuckle at how unaware I was of the plight of homeless pets. Of course there was no line of homes eager to take him in; instead I discovered how many similarly well behaved dogs and cats lose their lives each year for the lack of a home. 

Needless to say, Gus became my new companion. He moved from Mississippi with me to Tennessee, where I was known on the university campus where I worked as the tiny girl with the enormous dog, and eventually we both moved to Virginia. Soon after we settled in Richmond, my vet discovered Gus was in kidney failure. As he was losing the battle, I began doing research and came across the Richmond SPCA’s website. Although my background was in communications and PR, I had been considering a career change, and the posting for an admissions counselor sounded like the type of inspiring work I’d been in search of. In learning about the no-kill model that had transformed this organization and the Richmond community, I knew it was a cause I wanted to join in earnest. As an admissions counselor, I saw an opportunity to help people confronted with challenges similar to those I’d faced myself – death of a loved one, moving with a pet (especially a large one discriminated against by most rental companies) – to find alternatives to relinquishing their beloved pets to a shelter. The pet retention services we provide remain one of my passions. 

Sadly, Gus passed away the same day that I accepted the position at the Richmond SPCA. Recalling his passing still saddens me, but I also feel that he helped shepherd me to the place I was meant to be. Though he couldn’t have known it, that may be exactly why my dad left him with me. 

Tabitha Hanes is the community relations manager at the Richmond SPCA. To read her complete biography, or that of our other bloggers, please click here. Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is part of a series leading up to Robin Robertson Starr’s 13th anniversary as CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Through June 19 our regular bloggers and special guests will be taking a look at how they each became involved in animal welfare.

Where Did The Time Go?

I was fortunate this past April to find just the right 49-hour long gap in my schedule to attend my 25^th reunion from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine.  I spent my travel time wondering what everyone had been up to and nervously pondering whether I had lived up to the expectations we put on ourselves.  What an amazing and awesome group of classmates I was able to reconnect with over those two days!  We listened to stories that were just as hysterical now as they had been when we were just students making the mistakes that are part of learning to be veterinarians.  Along the way we’ve all created a legacy of unbelievable accomplishments and growth.

We now are a class of wonderful doctors, but more than that we are a group made up of professors who teach future veterinarians and researchers who allow us all to be better veterinarians.  We count among our classmates those serving our country as active military, Homeland Security, the CDC and even the CIA.  Our classmates serve as missionaries and are active within their communities and churches.  We had one classmate who took time off from his practice to serve as the Mayor of his hometown and another that gives vacation time to practice in an underserved community in Alaska.

There were many like me who champion the cause of animal welfare by serving on humane society boards, working with rescue groups, volunteering their services and donating their time.  One of my classmates cares for the Chincoteague ponies (how cool is that?).

Most amazing to me is the generation that we have started behind us.  There are already two graduate veterinarians and four currently in veterinary school.  There are sons and daughters enrolled in pre-veterinary programs and at so many different universities that I could not keep track.  We are producing engineers, medical doctors, accomplished athletes and future Olympians as well.  The most humbling accounts were of our children defending our country on foreign soil and of the parenting we do to teach our children to overcome the adversity in their lives.  I count these as our greatest accomplishments.   My children are still young but these people were an inspiration as a parent.

I am proud to count myself as a part of this Class of 1985.  When you look at us as a whole we had some common bond or thread that sent us out to do good things.  Not just to succeed but to give back and create a better world.  I think I felt like I had accomplished my goals, but they have only challenged me to do more. I have always believed that at any given point in our life we are right where we are meant to be even if we cannot see it. Who would have thought that six years ago when I responded to a fax written in Sharpie that said “The Richmond SPCA is looking for full or part-time veterinary help in spay/neuter” that I would now blog as the Director of Veterinary Services. I loved private practice but have never been as satisfied in my career as I am now working in shelter medicine. I answered that want ad thinking it would give me more time at home as I neared retirement. What I ultimately received was the fulfillment of a calling that I really did not even know I had until I realized I was right where I was meant to be.

Dr. Angela Ivey is the director of veterinary services at the Richmond SPCA. To read her complete biography, or that of our other bloggers, please click here Before submitting a comment, please review our guidelines.

Editor’s note: Today’s post is the first in a series leading up to Robin Robertson Starr’s 13^th anniversary as CEO of the Richmond SPCA. Through June 19 our regular bloggers and special guests will be taking a look at how they each became involved in animal welfare.

A different kind of snow day at the Richmond SPCA

Richmond is preparing for the third significant snowfall of the season. On Twitter, it’s being tagged with #snOMG and #snopocalypse, and last week Richmond.com’s Karri Peifer wrote an astute assessment of how snow is handled (or not) in Richmond. Sure, there’s plenty of expectant peering out of windows here at the Richmond SPCA as well, but with about 250 animals in our care, our approach to snowfall has their interests first.

 While our adoption center may close tomorrow (we will make every effort to open if it is safe to do so), these dogs and cats still need us to walk them, clean their cages and litter boxes, and make sure they are warm and fed before we contemplate improvising our own sleds and possibly picking up more bread and milk from Ukrop’s. I think the way our staff pulls together during a snowfall – or really any situation out of the ordinary – truly goes to the heart of the mission of the Richmond SPCA. On these days you’ll find staff in all positions working side by side to give the very best care to each precious life we are entrusted. Those of our dedicated volunteers who can safely make it to our center with 4-wheel-drive help make light work of giving each dog some time outdoors to do his business and perhaps romp in the newly fallen snow.

If the center closes for inclement weather (in which case we’ll post an update on our homepage), our devoted staff and volunteers will ensure each pet is fed and cared for. The spirit of team work is just another reason I feel blessed to work with this wonderful group of people.

By the way, we’re not above flinging our own pets out into the snow for a photo op either (note the shameless placement of my own dog, Frieda, above). If your pets are marveling at the winter wonderland tomorrow, feel free to share the joy of your photos on our Facebook page.

Tabitha Hanes is the community relations manager for the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please  click here.

What is happening between the frames?

I regularly read Seth Godin’s blog (thanks to Tamsen Kingry, our COO, for introducing me to it) and find that it often provides valuable insights. A recent blog entry he posted seemed especially valuable to me. He likened marketing to comic strips in the sense that a great deal, perhaps the most important stuff, happens in between the frames. In other words, marketing is not so much what the design of the package looks like or what the ad says or how consistent it is with your brand image but rather marketing (whether good or bad) to your community is most importantly about what happens in between the overt acts of the marketer (like the frames of the comic strip).

Godin says one thing in his blog entry that I somewhat disagree with – he says that “Marketing is what happens when you're not trying, when you're being transparent and when there's no script in place.” I agree about the transparency part but not with the “not trying” part. In fact, I believe that the most crucial marketing happens when the people who make up your organization try, and try hard, to do a great job and to act consistently with your mission in between the frames. In other words, it is (or should be) a given that we will perform our roles in the moments that are well scripted when everything is working like normal and there is no problem. We really make our mark with our community and stay in their memory if they see that we try hard when things go wrong, when the situation is atypical, when things go off the rails. In fact, that is when true dedication comes through. In those moments, nothing is false and they see who we really are. They see if we live up to the “marketing.”

This is what I most treasure about the Richmond SPCA and what we work every day and in every way to instill in our organization’s culture: that when things are out of the norm and when problems or challenges arise, that it is when we will rise to the occasion and give this community and its animals our absolute all. Time and time again, I have seen our staff and volunteers pull together and demonstrate remarkable grace under pressure. Why do we do that? For one reason and one reason only, because only by doing that will we save every precious life of every animal that we possibly can.

Robin Starr is the chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA. To read her biography or that of our other bloggers, please click here.