June 20, 2024 • 18 mins
In this episode, Sara interviews Dr. Joni Fowler (PharmD), Board Member of the Scott County Humane Society.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Hello,
I'm Callie and I'm Sara,
and this is Community Spotlight.
We are students in
the College and Career
Studies program at UK.
This radio segment
will spotlight
different things in the local community
each week.
Thanks for listening.
(00:31):
Hello.
My name is Sara, and today
I'll be interviewing
Joni, a volunteer
at the Scott County Humane Society.
We will be talking a little bit
about the Humane Society
and what it means to be
a volunteer there,
and also how people can get involved.
Hi, Joni.
How are you doing today?
Hi. I'm doing great.
How are you, Sara?
(00:53):
I'm doing good.
Thank you for asking.
What is your job
at the Scott County Humane Society?
Well, as you mentioned,
I'm actually a volunteer
at the Scott County Humane Society,
and I have started as a foster, and,
I adopted some animals.
Then I started fostering cats.
And I've been involved
(01:14):
doing community events
and doing fundraising
and lots of different things.
And then several years ago,
I became a member of the board
of directors for the Scott
County Humane Society.
So I'll also help to do the governing
for the organization.
What made you decide
to work with animals?
Well,
I have always had some sorts of pets.
(01:35):
Growing up I had dogs.
When I was in college I had birds,
and birds are kind of a challenging pet
to keep.
They're kind of demanding,
but they're fun.
And at some point, about ten or
so years ago,
I had a stray cat
that showed up at my house
and I live a back up to a horse farm,
and I thought I was allergic to cats,
so I really didn't
want to touch it or handle it.
(01:55):
But I took it to the vet
and she was a beautiful big Maine Coon
and so she actually, the vet said,
you know, if you give her a bath
or we can give her a bath,
you won't be allergic
and you'll be able to keep her
and keep her at your house,
because we really liked her.
And so we learned
I had to start from the very beginning,
because I didn't know
all the details about feeding cats
and cat behavior
(02:16):
and the toys that they like
and the medical care that they need.
And so I actually her name is Ms.
Kitty and she is still with us.
She's 14 years old now,
and I don't know why she was out,
but she had been apparently,
repeatedly
had gotten out and gotten about
and nobody had ever claimed her.
So we kept her.
And then since then,
I've learned a whole lot more about cats.
(02:38):
I'm actually a pharmacist
by train, by training,
and so I've tried to use
that sort of skill set to learn about
the medical needs of the small animals
and the medications they need,
because a lot of what humane society's do
is working to take animals
that are out in the community
that are either surrendered
by someone
that can no longer care for them,
(02:59):
or they're picked up by animal control
because they find them
and they're homeless.
And so they need usually,
almost always will need
some level of veterinary care
and some behavioral care.
And then we're able to get them adopted
and get them into new homes.
So I really enjoy
not only the animals themselves,
but I enjoy the process of healing
(03:21):
and helping the animals.
And it's a big continuum
that different people
can jump in on kind of all along the way.
So I love seeing animals come in,
you know, matted
up, covered with fleas, goopy eyes
and whatever kind of
issues they have,
and we get them cleaned up and cared for.
(03:42):
I had an animal recently
that had a trauma
where they had a large wound
and, have had animals
that have had amputations.
They've lost a tail
or they've lost a leg.
And so I really enjoy the process
of caring for them,
helping them get to be their best selves
and then helping them
find a forever home.
And we get to work with
lots of great people along the way.
(04:05):
Right.
How long have you been
in this business for?
Well, I've been, you know,
I've been involved with animals,
for several years.
My daughters, actually,
when they were in college at UK,
they both enjoyed being foster parents
and they would foster
for the Lexington Humane Society.
And they kind of
got me pulled into that and said, mom,
(04:26):
you would really be good at this.
You should also foster
because they always need,
especially in the spring.
They always need people that can help.
And so actually when, about two years
ago, 2
or 3 years ago,
I decided to foster
one of my daughters
actually loaned me her
the kitten playpen,
and she loaned me the scales
and all the things
you have to have to have kittens.
(04:47):
So I guess about three years ago,
I've been involved
and I've been on the board
for a little over a year. Right.
What is your favorite thing
about working with animals?
I think the best thing is seeing so many.
It's just like when I used to work
with human beings as patients.
It's a very enjoyable, rewarding feeling
to see people progress and get better
(05:10):
and get into a place in life,
whether it's their best job
or their best relationship
or just happiness.
And it's the same way with animals.
We have a lot of opportunity
as volunteers
to help them in their worst times.
And when I see a cat go to a new home,
which I get to see that
almost every week or two lately,
because I have a lot of fosters,
(05:30):
I feel a great sense of pride
that, you know,
I helped to get them to that place,
and now they're going to be loved
by someone
and they're going to be the center
of that person's universe.
You know how you know, especially
how cats are., but dogs too.
People really love their dogs
once they get them.
So it's cool
to be part of the circle
of life with the animals.
(05:51):
Are there any specific
animals that the Scott
County Humane Society works with?
Yes, most of the Humane Society's
in Central Kentucky
are heavily focused on cats
because we have a lot of cats
and we haven't done
a very good job of spay neuter.
And we also have a lot of cat colonies
around central Kentucky.
(06:11):
So cats that get dumped out or put out,
or the mom has kittens
and they never get pulled
into the system.
You know,
there are places all around Lexington
and for sure in Scott County
where they just reproduce
and form
little families of the feral cats,
as we call them, or community cats.
And so that's one of the things
where we have a lot of different
kinds of cats.
(06:31):
Some are feral,
some, come in because of injury,
and they're picked up by kind citizens.
I know I had one cat that actually saw
an a truck driver saw an animal
get hit by a car,
and he pulled over
and picked the kitten up,
took it to the shelter.
We were able to get emergency care.
The kitten lost its leg, but he survived.
And so usually the kind
(06:53):
people bring these cats in.
We also, in Scott County,
have a lot of dogs,
and with dogs, they're often animals
where people thought
they were going to breed them.
But then that didn't really work out.
But the animals are still reproducing,
so we end up with puppies,
and sometimes the puppies
get dropped off in boxes full of puppies.
Especially in the winter.
(07:13):
People have puppies in the winter, it's
a lot harder
to find things to do with them,
so they may show up at our doorstep
or at the shelter doorstep,
and obviously
they can't live outside by themselves.
So we get a lot of the puppies.
We also get dogs
where maybe someone goes
into a nursing home
and the grandchildren
bring their grandfather's
pets and say, well,
(07:34):
these were his dogs or cats,
and he can no longer care from them.
Can you take them?
Sometimes people are challenged
by the cost of of food
for the animals
or the cost of the veterinary care.
And so they bring the animals back in.
And the good news is, in Scott County,
we have a really good network of people
(07:56):
that all love animals
and want to see them
get into a good forever home.
So whatever their starting point is,
we usually can take them
and find them another home.
and sometimes people
adopt a healthy animal
and it just doesn't work out.
That just happens sometimes too.
It doesn't get along with their other pet
or they it barks
(08:16):
and they're in an apartment complex
or something like that.
We take the animals back
and then we work with them
to find them another home.
So last year
we had over 800 cats and over 200 dogs
that were put into Forever Homes
through the Scott County Humane Society,
so over 1000.
And we had a small number
of small animals
like we call them pocket pets.
(08:37):
So it could be guinea pigs, hamsters,
gerbils, rabbits, mice, rats,
anything that people might have
that we would call a pocket pet.
We also almost always
have a couple of those
at our adoption center.
How did you get started
working with animals
and what would you recommend to others
who want to get involved
with organizations
(08:58):
that work with animals.
Well, I think
you'd have to jump in somewhere.
I think we all have a place that we think
we're good at something.
And I started with the fostering
because I was a caregiver by my nature,
with with my profession.
And I thought, I can figure this out.
I'm going to have to learn a lot.
I've got to read a lot,
especially with kittens.
increasingly,
(09:19):
I've been taking mother cats.
That was my goal last year.
I said, okay,
I've got the kittens down
now I'm going to work with the moms
because I've heard
that's another need is to get a mom
that gets picked up with the litter.
So I learned how to do moms.
And then over Christmas,
I started working with pregnant cats.
And we're getting a lot of those
in right now.
Somebody picks up a pregnant cat.
(09:39):
So then you're going to have to get
the babies,
help them be born,
and then take care of
the newborn kittens.
So I think it's just
it's an educational process that I enjoy.
There's always something new to learn.
even what - even
just the different types
of breeds of cats
and dogs that we work with,
there's always something new
you can educate yourself about.
(10:00):
The other thing that I like to do
is we do a lot of events.
One of the things that I have learned
and I have learned by reading
and by researching this,
is that
people are much more likely
to adopt an animal.
They can hold
and they can see
and they can pet
then one that they see on a website.
Now, it's nice to have a website,
kind of like when you buy a house,
you can look on the website,
(10:21):
you can shop online, you can say, “I
like an orange cat. I like a black cat.
I want one that's younger.
I want one that's older.”
But it really takes that connection
that you're going to form
when you meet that animal.
And so one of the things
we've really tried to do in Scott
County over the last year or two
is get out in the community,
and we do things,
we've been working with the UK athletes,
(10:42):
and I have football players
and volleyball players
and softball players and soccer players,
and we bring them and get them.
We go
to shopping centers and stores and parks
and we take the animals out.
We get them to use their social media
because they have lots of followers
and people that want to meet with them,
and they'll come
and they'll come
look at all the dogs
and often
(11:03):
the dogs
and the cats will get
applications for adoption
if we take them out in the community,
so we can move them a little bit better
and find better matches for them
by taking them out.
And it's a little bit of work
to set those up, but,
you know, it's it's
a very rewarding thing.
We've even had other kinds of students
that have come to work with us.
(11:23):
We have some engineering students
that are at Toyota
that also will come and help
work our adoption event.
So we love, young people with
lots of energy that can handle a leash.
And we put them out there
and have them work in the community.
I know that we've,
you know, we've talked about like,
what are all the fun things to do,
but there's a lot of important jobs
(11:43):
to working with animals.
So like, you're like, “Oh,
this sounds great, Joni.
I love to see the cats get adopted.
I love looking at the pictures
when they get adopted,
but I don't really like
working with people.”
We get a lot of people like that
that come to us and say, “You know,
I don't really want
to be out in the public
or I don't want to
have to answer telephones.”
There's a lot of really important jobs
that don't involve working with people.
(12:05):
We have animals in our adoption center.
They need care seven days a week,
seven days a week.
Someone has to feed them and help
clean their cages and clean the litter
and take them out
and pet them and play with them
and give them cuddle time.
And we have cats in our cat room
and we have dogs in foster homes.
And so there are lots of jobs
that you can do as a volunteer,
(12:27):
which you may be able
to do completely by yourself.
Some people,
we have one volunteer
that comes in on Sundays by herself
and takes care of all of the animals,
and she's done it every week for years,
so that we don't have
to pay a staff person to be there.
We have one volunteer
who comes in every week,
and she takes all of our paperwork
from our adoptions
and puts them all on the computer system
(12:49):
because we have to have a really good,
good record. Right?
And we have,
microchip numbers for every animal.
And so we have one volunteer
that every week,
make sure the animals
are put into the computer system.
We have a microchip number
because if they get picked up later,
if they get
if they escape or get surrendered,
we want to be able to have those records.
(13:09):
So we have jobs for people
that are very outgoing and jobs
for people that are very introverted
and would like to just
do things by themselves.
All right.
Is there anything we have not gotten
a chance to talk about that
you would like to share
with our listeners today?
Well, I guess
a couple of things I would say.
(13:30):
One thing is
when Covid happened in some of your
your, listeners may know this.
When Covid happened,
the adoptions went crazy.
It was so amazing.
Everybody wanted a pet
because everybody was working from home
or most people were.
And so in 2020,
you saw this big boom in adoption
numbers across the country
(13:50):
where people got dogs, people got cats.
We lived,
you know, wonderfully
in our homes for a year or two.
And that went great.
Well, starting in 2021,
especially in 2022
and last year, as people have gone
back to the office,
it has created
a real stress on our system nationwide.
It's not just Scott County,
it's not just Lexington.
(14:11):
You see, if you look at social media,
all these are shelters full.
You know, we need help.
We need emergency help.
So it's really important for,
I think, us as a country to realize
that pets are not, a toy that you get
and you play with,
and then you get tired of them
and then you put them away
like they're
they're a living being that requires
care and nurturing and feeding
(14:33):
and bathroom trips,
depending on if it's a dog or whatever,
and veterinary care,
which is also gotten
to be pretty expensive.
So it's really important
for your listeners
to know that if you're thinking
about adopting a pet,
you know,
be sure that you're able
to do all those things.
But one of the other things
is, is be sure
the animals are getting
spayed and neutered,
because that's another
(14:53):
really important function
that humane society's do.
We love animals,
but we realize that we can't have
every animal
having babies, having puppies
and kittens or we’ll never, ever
get out of this hole we're in right now.
So right now
it's critically important
if you find animals in the wild,
you know, to take them to a vet
and try to get them spayed and neutered,
(15:14):
most veterinarians will work with you.
Most humane society's.
We have coupons for spay neuter.
If you pick up an animal and
or if you adopt one,
if you get it from us,
it's already going to be spayed
or neutered.
But if you are out in the community
working with animals,
be sure that you help educate others
of why that's so important.
We just don't have
we don't have the kind of money
(15:35):
and resources in Kentucky
to support every animal.
So we really have to spay and neuter
the best we can.
Another thing I would tell you about
is we actually have a food bank
in Scott County,
because we've realized
that one of the things
about getting an animal is not only
do you often need
to help with medical care,
but you may need help with food.
Some people go through difficult times
(15:56):
and, whether they're a student
or whether they're a person
that's lost their job
or whether things are just tight
for their family,
we actually have dog food and cat food,
and we go to special places
where people make large donations.
And we also welcome donations
from the community.
We often have pull up
and have
big bags of dog food
that come from the Amazon list
(16:17):
that we have.
So it's really important.
Either you can help volunteer
and help with those,
or you can help donate.
If you don't want to donate money,
you can, our website is sc4paws..org.
And Sara,
hopefully you can post that somewhere.
But all of the Humane
Society's need help
with food and litter
and things this time of year.
(16:38):
So not only are we fostering
and helping our cats get healthy
and our dogs get healthy
and learn
how to, you know, be crate trained
and all the things that animals do
so that when you go to get an adoption,
it's a perfect animal for you.
We're also trying to help animals
that are already adopted
stay in their forever homes.
And so whether you want to help us
(16:59):
with, cleaning
and working
and working with the community,
or maybe you just want to help
make donations of food and things,
you're also helping support
another family,
keep their animal in their home.
So it's really important.
The fundraising piece of this is,
you know, it's not the funnest part,
but I think most people realize
it takes a village
(17:19):
to keep these animals happy and safe.
And so there's lots of opportunities
to either help raise money
or help donate items.
And we all
we have an Amazon list,
almost all the shelters and stuff do,
and we are so grateful
for people that support us
in that way as well.
Joni, thank you so much
for talking with me today.
If anyone
(17:39):
listening is interested in learning more
about the Scott
County Humane Society,
what would be the best way
for them to do that?
The best way is probably
the easiest way is to go to our website.
It's sc4paws.org,
and on the website we have everything.
(18:00):
We have all of our events,
and we have our animals
that are available
at the top of the page
it says ways to help.
Go to the ways to help.
And you can click volunteer.
And on that page,
there are lots of different opportunities
for things
that you can do
that suit your personality
and your time demands
to help to be a volunteer
(18:21):
for the Scott County Humane Society.
And if you can't volunteer,
we always appreciate your donations.
Thank you.
This has been Community Spotlight.
Today's guest
was Joni
Fowler, a volunteer at the Scott
County Humane Society.
Thank you for listening.
Thanks for having me.
Sara.
This has been Community Spotlight.
(18:43):
Thanks for listening.
Hello,
I'm Callie and I'm Sara,
and this is Community Spotlight.
We are students in
the College and Career
Studies program at UK.
This radio segment
will spotlight
different things in the local community
each week.
Thanks for listening.
(00:31):
Hello.
My name is Sara, and today
I'll be interviewing
Joni, a volunteer
at the Scott County Humane Society.
We will be talking a little bit
about the Humane Society
and what it means to be
a volunteer there,
and also how people can get involved.
Hi, Joni.
How are you doing today?
Hi. I'm doing great.
How are you, Sara?
(00:53):
I'm doing good.
Thank you for asking.
What is your job
at the Scott County Humane Society?
Well, as you mentioned,
I'm actually a volunteer
at the Scott County Humane Society,
and I have started as a foster, and,
I adopted some animals.
Then I started fostering cats.
And I've been involved
(01:14):
doing community events
and doing fundraising
and lots of different things.
And then several years ago,
I became a member of the board
of directors for the Scott
County Humane Society.
So I'll also help to do the governing
for the organization.
What made you decide
to work with animals?
Well,
I have always had some sorts of pets.
(01:35):
Growing up I had dogs.
When I was in college I had birds,
and birds are kind of a challenging pet
to keep.
They're kind of demanding,
but they're fun.
And at some point, about ten or
so years ago,
I had a stray cat
that showed up at my house
and I live a back up to a horse farm,
and I thought I was allergic to cats,
so I really didn't
want to touch it or handle it.
(01:55):
But I took it to the vet
and she was a beautiful big Maine Coon
and so she actually, the vet said,
you know, if you give her a bath
or we can give her a bath,
you won't be allergic
and you'll be able to keep her
and keep her at your house,
because we really liked her.
And so we learned
I had to start from the very beginning,
because I didn't know
all the details about feeding cats
and cat behavior
(02:16):
and the toys that they like
and the medical care that they need.
And so I actually her name is Ms.
Kitty and she is still with us.
She's 14 years old now,
and I don't know why she was out,
but she had been apparently,
repeatedly
had gotten out and gotten about
and nobody had ever claimed her.
So we kept her.
And then since then,
I've learned a whole lot more about cats.
(02:38):
I'm actually a pharmacist
by train, by training,
and so I've tried to use
that sort of skill set to learn about
the medical needs of the small animals
and the medications they need,
because a lot of what humane society's do
is working to take animals
that are out in the community
that are either surrendered
by someone
that can no longer care for them,
(02:59):
or they're picked up by animal control
because they find them
and they're homeless.
And so they need usually,
almost always will need
some level of veterinary care
and some behavioral care.
And then we're able to get them adopted
and get them into new homes.
So I really enjoy
not only the animals themselves,
but I enjoy the process of healing
(03:21):
and helping the animals.
And it's a big continuum
that different people
can jump in on kind of all along the way.
So I love seeing animals come in,
you know, matted
up, covered with fleas, goopy eyes
and whatever kind of
issues they have,
and we get them cleaned up and cared for.
(03:42):
I had an animal recently
that had a trauma
where they had a large wound
and, have had animals
that have had amputations.
They've lost a tail
or they've lost a leg.
And so I really enjoy the process
of caring for them,
helping them get to be their best selves
and then helping them
find a forever home.
And we get to work with
lots of great people along the way.
(04:05):
Right.
How long have you been
in this business for?
Well, I've been, you know,
I've been involved with animals,
for several years.
My daughters, actually,
when they were in college at UK,
they both enjoyed being foster parents
and they would foster
for the Lexington Humane Society.
And they kind of
got me pulled into that and said, mom,
(04:26):
you would really be good at this.
You should also foster
because they always need,
especially in the spring.
They always need people that can help.
And so actually when, about two years
ago, 2
or 3 years ago,
I decided to foster
one of my daughters
actually loaned me her
the kitten playpen,
and she loaned me the scales
and all the things
you have to have to have kittens.
(04:47):
So I guess about three years ago,
I've been involved
and I've been on the board
for a little over a year. Right.
What is your favorite thing
about working with animals?
I think the best thing is seeing so many.
It's just like when I used to work
with human beings as patients.
It's a very enjoyable, rewarding feeling
to see people progress and get better
(05:10):
and get into a place in life,
whether it's their best job
or their best relationship
or just happiness.
And it's the same way with animals.
We have a lot of opportunity
as volunteers
to help them in their worst times.
And when I see a cat go to a new home,
which I get to see that
almost every week or two lately,
because I have a lot of fosters,
(05:30):
I feel a great sense of pride
that, you know,
I helped to get them to that place,
and now they're going to be loved
by someone
and they're going to be the center
of that person's universe.
You know how you know, especially
how cats are., but dogs too.
People really love their dogs
once they get them.
So it's cool
to be part of the circle
of life with the animals.
(05:51):
Are there any specific
animals that the Scott
County Humane Society works with?
Yes, most of the Humane Society's
in Central Kentucky
are heavily focused on cats
because we have a lot of cats
and we haven't done
a very good job of spay neuter.
And we also have a lot of cat colonies
around central Kentucky.
(06:11):
So cats that get dumped out or put out,
or the mom has kittens
and they never get pulled
into the system.
You know,
there are places all around Lexington
and for sure in Scott County
where they just reproduce
and form
little families of the feral cats,
as we call them, or community cats.
And so that's one of the things
where we have a lot of different
kinds of cats.
(06:31):
Some are feral,
some, come in because of injury,
and they're picked up by kind citizens.
I know I had one cat that actually saw
an a truck driver saw an animal
get hit by a car,
and he pulled over
and picked the kitten up,
took it to the shelter.
We were able to get emergency care.
The kitten lost its leg, but he survived.
And so usually the kind
(06:53):
people bring these cats in.
We also, in Scott County,
have a lot of dogs,
and with dogs, they're often animals
where people thought
they were going to breed them.
But then that didn't really work out.
But the animals are still reproducing,
so we end up with puppies,
and sometimes the puppies
get dropped off in boxes full of puppies.
Especially in the winter.
(07:13):
People have puppies in the winter, it's
a lot harder
to find things to do with them,
so they may show up at our doorstep
or at the shelter doorstep,
and obviously
they can't live outside by themselves.
So we get a lot of the puppies.
We also get dogs
where maybe someone goes
into a nursing home
and the grandchildren
bring their grandfather's
pets and say, well,
(07:34):
these were his dogs or cats,
and he can no longer care from them.
Can you take them?
Sometimes people are challenged
by the cost of of food
for the animals
or the cost of the veterinary care.
And so they bring the animals back in.
And the good news is, in Scott County,
we have a really good network of people
(07:56):
that all love animals
and want to see them
get into a good forever home.
So whatever their starting point is,
we usually can take them
and find them another home.
and sometimes people
adopt a healthy animal
and it just doesn't work out.
That just happens sometimes too.
It doesn't get along with their other pet
or they it barks
(08:16):
and they're in an apartment complex
or something like that.
We take the animals back
and then we work with them
to find them another home.
So last year
we had over 800 cats and over 200 dogs
that were put into Forever Homes
through the Scott County Humane Society,
so over 1000.
And we had a small number
of small animals
like we call them pocket pets.
(08:37):
So it could be guinea pigs, hamsters,
gerbils, rabbits, mice, rats,
anything that people might have
that we would call a pocket pet.
We also almost always
have a couple of those
at our adoption center.
How did you get started
working with animals
and what would you recommend to others
who want to get involved
with organizations
(08:58):
that work with animals.
Well, I think
you'd have to jump in somewhere.
I think we all have a place that we think
we're good at something.
And I started with the fostering
because I was a caregiver by my nature,
with with my profession.
And I thought, I can figure this out.
I'm going to have to learn a lot.
I've got to read a lot,
especially with kittens.
increasingly,
(09:19):
I've been taking mother cats.
That was my goal last year.
I said, okay,
I've got the kittens down
now I'm going to work with the moms
because I've heard
that's another need is to get a mom
that gets picked up with the litter.
So I learned how to do moms.
And then over Christmas,
I started working with pregnant cats.
And we're getting a lot of those
in right now.
Somebody picks up a pregnant cat.
(09:39):
So then you're going to have to get
the babies,
help them be born,
and then take care of
the newborn kittens.
So I think it's just
it's an educational process that I enjoy.
There's always something new to learn.
even what - even
just the different types
of breeds of cats
and dogs that we work with,
there's always something new
you can educate yourself about.
(10:00):
The other thing that I like to do
is we do a lot of events.
One of the things that I have learned
and I have learned by reading
and by researching this,
is that
people are much more likely
to adopt an animal.
They can hold
and they can see
and they can pet
then one that they see on a website.
Now, it's nice to have a website,
kind of like when you buy a house,
you can look on the website,
(10:21):
you can shop online, you can say, “I
like an orange cat. I like a black cat.
I want one that's younger.
I want one that's older.”
But it really takes that connection
that you're going to form
when you meet that animal.
And so one of the things
we've really tried to do in Scott
County over the last year or two
is get out in the community,
and we do things,
we've been working with the UK athletes,
(10:42):
and I have football players
and volleyball players
and softball players and soccer players,
and we bring them and get them.
We go
to shopping centers and stores and parks
and we take the animals out.
We get them to use their social media
because they have lots of followers
and people that want to meet with them,
and they'll come
and they'll come
look at all the dogs
and often
(11:03):
the dogs
and the cats will get
applications for adoption
if we take them out in the community,
so we can move them a little bit better
and find better matches for them
by taking them out.
And it's a little bit of work
to set those up, but,
you know, it's it's
a very rewarding thing.
We've even had other kinds of students
that have come to work with us.
(11:23):
We have some engineering students
that are at Toyota
that also will come and help
work our adoption event.
So we love, young people with
lots of energy that can handle a leash.
And we put them out there
and have them work in the community.
I know that we've,
you know, we've talked about like,
what are all the fun things to do,
but there's a lot of important jobs
(11:43):
to working with animals.
So like, you're like, “Oh,
this sounds great, Joni.
I love to see the cats get adopted.
I love looking at the pictures
when they get adopted,
but I don't really like
working with people.”
We get a lot of people like that
that come to us and say, “You know,
I don't really want
to be out in the public
or I don't want to
have to answer telephones.”
There's a lot of really important jobs
that don't involve working with people.
(12:05):
We have animals in our adoption center.
They need care seven days a week,
seven days a week.
Someone has to feed them and help
clean their cages and clean the litter
and take them out
and pet them and play with them
and give them cuddle time.
And we have cats in our cat room
and we have dogs in foster homes.
And so there are lots of jobs
that you can do as a volunteer,
(12:27):
which you may be able
to do completely by yourself.
Some people,
we have one volunteer
that comes in on Sundays by herself
and takes care of all of the animals,
and she's done it every week for years,
so that we don't have
to pay a staff person to be there.
We have one volunteer
who comes in every week,
and she takes all of our paperwork
from our adoptions
and puts them all on the computer system
(12:49):
because we have to have a really good,
good record. Right?
And we have,
microchip numbers for every animal.
And so we have one volunteer
that every week,
make sure the animals
are put into the computer system.
We have a microchip number
because if they get picked up later,
if they get
if they escape or get surrendered,
we want to be able to have those records.
(13:09):
So we have jobs for people
that are very outgoing and jobs
for people that are very introverted
and would like to just
do things by themselves.
All right.
Is there anything we have not gotten
a chance to talk about that
you would like to share
with our listeners today?
Well, I guess
a couple of things I would say.
(13:30):
One thing is
when Covid happened in some of your
your, listeners may know this.
When Covid happened,
the adoptions went crazy.
It was so amazing.
Everybody wanted a pet
because everybody was working from home
or most people were.
And so in 2020,
you saw this big boom in adoption
numbers across the country
(13:50):
where people got dogs, people got cats.
We lived,
you know, wonderfully
in our homes for a year or two.
And that went great.
Well, starting in 2021,
especially in 2022
and last year, as people have gone
back to the office,
it has created
a real stress on our system nationwide.
It's not just Scott County,
it's not just Lexington.
(14:11):
You see, if you look at social media,
all these are shelters full.
You know, we need help.
We need emergency help.
So it's really important for,
I think, us as a country to realize
that pets are not, a toy that you get
and you play with,
and then you get tired of them
and then you put them away
like they're
they're a living being that requires
care and nurturing and feeding
(14:33):
and bathroom trips,
depending on if it's a dog or whatever,
and veterinary care,
which is also gotten
to be pretty expensive.
So it's really important
for your listeners
to know that if you're thinking
about adopting a pet,
you know,
be sure that you're able
to do all those things.
But one of the other things
is, is be sure
the animals are getting
spayed and neutered,
because that's another
(14:53):
really important function
that humane society's do.
We love animals,
but we realize that we can't have
every animal
having babies, having puppies
and kittens or we’ll never, ever
get out of this hole we're in right now.
So right now
it's critically important
if you find animals in the wild,
you know, to take them to a vet
and try to get them spayed and neutered,
(15:14):
most veterinarians will work with you.
Most humane society's.
We have coupons for spay neuter.
If you pick up an animal and
or if you adopt one,
if you get it from us,
it's already going to be spayed
or neutered.
But if you are out in the community
working with animals,
be sure that you help educate others
of why that's so important.
We just don't have
we don't have the kind of money
(15:35):
and resources in Kentucky
to support every animal.
So we really have to spay and neuter
the best we can.
Another thing I would tell you about
is we actually have a food bank
in Scott County,
because we've realized
that one of the things
about getting an animal is not only
do you often need
to help with medical care,
but you may need help with food.
Some people go through difficult times
(15:56):
and, whether they're a student
or whether they're a person
that's lost their job
or whether things are just tight
for their family,
we actually have dog food and cat food,
and we go to special places
where people make large donations.
And we also welcome donations
from the community.
We often have pull up
and have
big bags of dog food
that come from the Amazon list
(16:17):
that we have.
So it's really important.
Either you can help volunteer
and help with those,
or you can help donate.
If you don't want to donate money,
you can, our website is sc4paws..org.
And Sara,
hopefully you can post that somewhere.
But all of the Humane
Society's need help
with food and litter
and things this time of year.
(16:38):
So not only are we fostering
and helping our cats get healthy
and our dogs get healthy
and learn
how to, you know, be crate trained
and all the things that animals do
so that when you go to get an adoption,
it's a perfect animal for you.
We're also trying to help animals
that are already adopted
stay in their forever homes.
And so whether you want to help us
(16:59):
with, cleaning
and working
and working with the community,
or maybe you just want to help
make donations of food and things,
you're also helping support
another family,
keep their animal in their home.
So it's really important.
The fundraising piece of this is,
you know, it's not the funnest part,
but I think most people realize
it takes a village
(17:19):
to keep these animals happy and safe.
And so there's lots of opportunities
to either help raise money
or help donate items.
And we all
we have an Amazon list,
almost all the shelters and stuff do,
and we are so grateful
for people that support us
in that way as well.
Joni, thank you so much
for talking with me today.
If anyone
(17:39):
listening is interested in learning more
about the Scott
County Humane Society,
what would be the best way
for them to do that?
The best way is probably
the easiest way is to go to our website.
It's sc4paws.org,
and on the website we have everything.
(18:00):
We have all of our events,
and we have our animals
that are available
at the top of the page
it says ways to help.
Go to the ways to help.
And you can click volunteer.
And on that page,
there are lots of different opportunities
for things
that you can do
that suit your personality
and your time demands
to help to be a volunteer
(18:21):
for the Scott County Humane Society.
And if you can't volunteer,
we always appreciate your donations.
Thank you.
This has been Community Spotlight.
Today's guest
was Joni
Fowler, a volunteer at the Scott
County Humane Society.
Thank you for listening.
Thanks for having me.
Sara.
This has been Community Spotlight.
(18:43):
Thanks for listening.
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