Tracy Hamand is part nurse, part mother, part adoption agency to
the furry clientele she supervises at the Humane Society of North
Iowa in Mason City.

“I just love animals,” said Hamand, 41, shelter manager at the
facility that houses both the Humane Society kennel and city animal
shelter for stray dogs and cats.

Shelter manager for about seven years, Hamand has been with the
Humane Society for 15 years, working previously as assistant
manager and serving as a board member.

She is part of a full-time staff of five employees “and a lot of
volunteers,” she said.

Her day begins at 8 am or earlier when she does a walk-through
of the kennel and the adjoining shelter, where strays are kept to
be picked up by their owners or placed for adoption.

On a recent weekday, the kennel housed 41 cats, 26 dogs and one
guinea pig; the shelter had 42 cats and 28 dogs.

“I’m looking for behaviors that are not normal in the animals,”
Hamand said as she checked out the pets.

She looks to make sure the cats and kittens are using their
litter boxes, for example.

She also looks for signs of illness or distress. “I deal with
any sicknesses they have,” she said.

Two cats will be sent to the veterinarian today: one with itchy
ears, the other, a urinary tract infection. “Our vets direct us
where to go with what medications, depending on what they actually
find,” Hamand said.

Hamand also checks on one lone guinea pig named Darwin, who
sticks his nose out of a little blue house in his cage long enough
to eat a slice of orange Hamand holds out to him.

“He grabs his treat and runs,” she says, laughing.

Other staff members are busy cleaning the dog kennels, a big job
each morning, Hamand said.

Some of the dogs have been transferred outdoors as their indoor
cages are cleaned and she checks on them, too. 

In both the kennel and the shelter, dogs and cats are housed in
separate areas.

“Everyone in here looks good,” she says, as she looks over the
cat cages. “One of them is going home today.”

A separate quarantine room in the city shelter houses dogs that
have bitten people in cases when a rabies shot cannot be proven.
The dogs must be in quarantine for 10 days, Hamand said.

A separate room on the kennel side is used to isolate pets that
are sick.

It is Hamand who makes the decision to put some pets in foster
care rather than in the kennel.

A female dog with puppies too young to be in the kennel requires
foster care, for example. A senior cat for whom the kennel would be
too stressful is also in foster care.

Also in foster care are two puppies that are sick and a rat
terrier that needs more socializing. 

Hamand, a former medical assistant who also has a degree in
accounting, also spends part of the morning in the veterinary room,
testing for worms, giving distemper booster shots and deworming
dogs that are new to the kennel. 

She also can treat for fleas, ticks and termites.

Hamand is authorized to administer heartworm tests and feline
leukemia tests, both of which require drawing blood. 

“I can’t do rabies shots and I can’t do spaying or neutering or
other surgeries,” she says, as she prepares the lab for her first
patient.

Bear, a lab mix, is first. Kennel manager Rachel Hinrichs brings
him in and leads him to the scale so his weight can be recorded.
Then Hamand gives him an oral deworming medication.

Next up is Willy, a pit bull terrier. He receives a booster shot
and is ready to go.

Sheila, a mixed-breed dog, also gets a distemper booster.

Emett, a yellow lab, needs a heartworm test. Because he is a new
dog to the kennel and Hamand is unsure of his temperament, Emett is
muzzled for the test. Afterward, the muzzle is removed and a wide
green bandage applied to his wound.

Millie, a mixed-breed dog, also needs a heartworm test and a
distemper booster.

Next week, Milly will be spayed by the vet and then she will go
home to a family that is adopting her, Hamand said.

The rest of Hamand’s day is spent reading through a pile of
applications by people wanting to adopt a pet, reading emails and
returning phone calls.

There are surgeries to schedule and questions to field from the
staff.

Hamand supervises the cleaning of the shelter, which includes
doing windows, floors, cages and laundry.

She also orders cleaning and veterinary supplies.

“A lot of time I’ll go with people to see the pets,” Hamand
said.

Hamand and assistant shelter manager Pam Langhoff handle the
adoptions at the kennel, spending time with the prospective
adoptive families and pets prior to adoption to see how they get
along. 

If the family has other children or other pets, Hamand asks the
family to bring them in so she can observe how well they interact
with the new pet.

“A lot of time I have to be the bearer of bad news,” she
said.

Her favorite times are seeing pets go home to a family, Hamand
said.

The hardest thing?

“Seeing an animal come back from an adoption that didn’t
work.”

 

Tags : Pets
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