Our New Shelter Manager, Debbie Allard
– Helen Morrison
Kingdom Animal Shelter is so absolutely blessed and gifted with the volunteers that we have.
They are loving, dedicated, skilled, always there when needed. Last July, a new volunteer signed up. Her name was Debbie Allard. She had seen us on FaceBook, and thought, I have time and I love cats. She lives in Waterford, right nearby. Little did she know how much the Shelter would take hold of her heart.
From the get go, Debbie was in love with the Shelter and we with her. She thought she might help out with morning duty or tuck in, maybe once a week. That turned into several times a week. It turned into being available whenever she was needed to cover. It turned into coming every day, either alone or with husband Gary…to visit the cats and spend some time and love with them. As Debbie said, it was addictive and relaxing…being at the Shelter.
Debbie has a very special way with those cats who are more in need. Maybe they are very shy. Maybe the cats were having a hard time with trust. Maybe they had been badly abused.
Here was a place where abused cats could learn to trust, and go home to a place of love.
Debbie knew just how to be with them, to help them feel more confident, more sure of humans.
And Debbie also wanted to learn everything she could about tending to the cats, their medical needs, their emotional needs. She was always there, off and on, always tending.
About a year ago, we on the Board began to realize that we needed to start thinking about actually officially hiring a Shelter Manager. Our own very precious and wonderful Fran Hickey had been unofficially being a Shelter Manager and she was (and is) absolutely the best. And we are forever grateful to her for all she did in this role…and for all that she continues to do (intakes, duties, decorating, tidying up, etc.). But she needed to reduce what she was doing, as did the Board. And so, we advertised the position of Shelter Manager. We had 13 applicants, and narrowed it down to 4 excellent candidates. In the end, we chose Debbie as our new official Shelter Manager. She will be just fabulous. She is so excited. She is already learning the ropes so fast….meds, foods, ordering, new techniques of tending to the cats, helping in the medical suite. Just recently she was present at the intake of 8 eight week old kittens. Dr. Sally and Vet Tech Pati let her experience a lot of the intake procedure. Debbie was able to listen to one of the wee ones who has a fairly significant heart murmur…and add that to her experience/knowledge repertoire. She learned how to determine the gender of the kittens (not always easy at that age).
We are so excited to have Debbie as our new Shelter Manager. She will be stellar. And her positive energy is so infectious. As Debbie said, she feels so lucky to be ending her working career with a job that she is passionate about, that “gives me back more than I give”.
Well said, Debbie.
Stop by and meet our new Shelter Manager!!!
Our New Shelter Manager, Debbie Allard
– Helen Morrison
Kingdom Animal Shelter is so absolutely blessed and gifted with the volunteers that we have.
They are loving, dedicated, skilled, always there when needed. Last July, a new volunteer signed up. Her name was Debbie Allard. She had seen us on FaceBook, and thought, I have time and I love cats. She lives in Waterford, right nearby. Little did she know how much the Shelter would take hold of her heart.
From the get go, Debbie was in love with the Shelter and we with her. She thought she might help out with morning duty or tuck in, maybe once a week. That turned into several times a week. It turned into being available whenever she was needed to cover. It turned into coming every day, either alone or with husband Gary…to visit the cats and spend some time and love with them. As Debbie said, it was addictive and relaxing…being at the Shelter.
Debbie has a very special way with those cats who are more in need. Maybe they are very shy. Maybe the cats were having a hard time with trust. Maybe they had been badly abused.
Here was a place where abused cats could learn to trust, and go home to a place of love.
Debbie knew just how to be with them, to help them feel more confident, more sure of humans.
And Debbie also wanted to learn everything she could about tending to the cats, their medical needs, their emotional needs. She was always there, off and on, always tending.
About a year ago, we on the Board began to realize that we needed to start thinking about actually officially hiring a Shelter Manager. Our own very precious and wonderful Fran Hickey had been unofficially being a Shelter Manager and she was (and is) absolutely the best. And we are forever grateful to her for all she did in this role…and for all that she continues to do (intakes, duties, decorating, tidying up, etc.). But she needed to reduce what she was doing, as did the Board. And so, we advertised the position of Shelter Manager. We had 13 applicants, and narrowed it down to 4 excellent candidates. In the end, we chose Debbie as our new official Shelter Manager. She will be just fabulous. She is so excited. She is already learning the ropes so fast….meds, foods, ordering, new techniques of tending to the cats, helping in the medical suite. Just recently she was present at the intake of 8 eight week old kittens. Dr. Sally and Vet Tech Pati let her experience a lot of the intake procedure. Debbie was able to listen to one of the wee ones who has a fairly significant heart murmur…and add that to her experience/knowledge repertoire. She learned how to determine the gender of the kittens (not always easy at that age).
We are so excited to have Debbie as our new Shelter Manager. She will be stellar. And her positive energy is so infectious. As Debbie said, she feels so lucky to be ending her working career with a job that she is passionate about, that “gives me back more than I give”.
Well said, Debbie.
Stop by and meet our new Shelter Manager!!!