Humane Society shelter director's job rewarding, exhausting, heartbreaking

by David Webb

David Webb is a veteran journalist who has written for the mainstream and alternative media for three decades. He is now a freelancer who lives in the Cedar Creek Lake area. He is a regular contributor to cedarcreeklake.com. E-mail story ideas to davidwaynewebb@yahoo.com.

Krista McAnally is the shelter director for the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake, which was founded three decades ago. She has managed the shelter for five years, and she was a member of the organization's board of directors for six years before her appointment. She supervises five full-time employees, 10 shelter volunteers and 40 fundraising and administrative volunteers. She also oversees the care of pets in 35 foster homes. The shelter's animal population averages a total of 120 dogs and cats.

CCL.com: What's a typical day at the shelter like?

McAnally: Chaos. We come in at 8 a.m. and start cleaning and feeding. We open to the public at 11 a.m., and people start arriving to adopt and drop off pets. About 11:30 a.m. animal control arrives. They can drop off up to 35 dogs in a day.

CCL.com: How do you reach out to the public to help find new homes for pets you take into the shelter?

McAnally: We regularly travel to other cities with pets for adoption events. We go to Pet Smart stores in Garland and Rockwall, and we go to T-Bar-T feed store in Kaufman. We are always in desperate need of volunteers to go on adoption outings. It's a long day, but it's well worth it. We also work with 75 rescue groups.

CCL.com: What is the greatest challenge facing the shelter?

McAnally: It's money right now. We have 10 times as many surrenders as we did before the economic downturn. We have 15 percent more strays being dumped. And we have 30 percent fewer donations. The other day someone left a litter of six puppies on the road. It happens all of the time.

CCL.com: What has been the most rewarding part of your job?

McAnally: Watching the euthanasia rate go down. It's down 30 percent. There are three ways a pet leaves here after it arrives: adoption, transfer to a rescue group or euthanasia. You just have to make the commitment to get the pets out. I've flown dogs from here to California. I get in the vehicle and drive pets to other cities in Texas. It's also been wonderful to get the new facility built. It's so nice to have something new to work with.

CCL.com: What has been the most troubling part of the job?

McAnally: Again, it's about euthanasia. There are only two of us who do that. It's heartbreaking. We're the ones who have to look the pets in the eyes and make the decision. It doesn't ever get easier. It only gets harder the longer you do it. We wish that we could find homes for every pet that comes in, but that's not going to happen. The only alternative is euthanasia.

Tell us what you think!