‘Working for the animals’

New leadership, programs and a makeover of Shelby Humane Society have revitalized the nonprofit.

The first major change happened last December, when Operations Manager Mike Jeffcoat assumed the role of executive director. Jeffcoat had retired from his job as a canine handler before joining the team at Shelby Humane last year.

“Once the pandemic hit Alabama, the shelter’s main goal was to maintain its accept-all-animals policy,” Jeffcoat said.

Approximately 5,000 animals come through the shelter every year. “It was daunting to say the least," he said.

But through appointment-only surrenders and adoptions, the shelter successfully placed over 200 animals in foster care within two weeks, Jeffcoat said. “It was amazing how the community stepped forward.”

The shelter decided to take advantage of having an empty building and had everything repainted and cleaned. Electric lime green and dark blue paint gave the walls a fun makeover. Scraping up the tile floors and staining the shelter’s logo on them cleaned up the look. New lobby furniture from an auxiliary group called Best Friends of Shelby Humane finished off the face lift.

“It is a night and day difference from what it looked like three to four months ago,” Jeffcoat said.

Kennel Supervisor Racquel Caviedes was also promoted to Adoptions and Foster Coordinator, and Tori Bailey was promoted to Senior Medical Technician for the shelter.

Caviedes joined the team after finishing graduate school at UAB. Because of her hard work, there are over 130 animals in foster care right now, Jeffcoat said. “She’s doing an amazing job.”

Bailey, who was already a medical technician at the shelter, was promoted to head of that department and has been running medical by herself for months, Jeffcoat said.

Shelby Humane also brought in a new volunteer coordinator, Ryan Ahrendt, who Jeffcoat said has introduced a lot of new programs to give volunteers new ways to engage with the animals and the staff.

Volunteers are always in demand for walking dogs, helping with adoptions, fostering pets and more. Volunteer Susie Shaffer photographs pets as part of the “Pawparazzi” team to show off their personalities online for those looking to adopt.

“Once you get them out the door and see what their love language is, then they just come out of their little shells, and you can start taking pictures,” Shaffer said. “The reason a lot of families come in is because they’re attracted to what they’ve seen on the website.”

Jeffcoat broke the staff into teams so that if one team got sick, the other teams would still be able to maintain the shelter. The shelter has even rehired former employees who were eager to help out during the pandemic.

“Our staff has been amazing,” Jeffcoat said. “No one calls in, no one complains. People that are in shelter work don’t work for the money or accolades. They work for the animals.”

The shelter has also started new programs such as Shelby Safe Pet, which provides anonymous foster care for pets in households with domestic violence. The program ensures that pets will have shelter and veterinary care until they can be reunited with their owner. It has been very successful, Jeffcoat said.

Other programs have been made possible with the help of grants. For example, a $10,000 grant from Grey Muzzle provides medical and dental care for dogs older than 7 years old, Jeffcoat said.

The staff and volunteers at Shelby Humane remain dedicated to finding homes and care for each animal that comes through its doors.

“We all have the same goal: saving lives,” Shaffer said. To foster or adopt a pet, apply or schedule an appointment on their website at shelbyhumane.org.