Tails in the News

 

 

 

PAWS gets a new shelter manager

The Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS)’s shelter is down an executive director, but up a shelter manager.
    In an effort to restructure management to match the operation’s small size, the shelter promoted Donna Golden to the new post from her previous position as kennel manager.
    “It’s not a whole lot different as a job,” said Golden. “It’s just more paperwork.”
    Golden’s honesty belies the task ahead of her: renovating and maintaining the 25-year-old, privately-run shelter that operates inside a 50-year-old building that is, as Golden said, “falling apart.”
    “The first thing we’re going to focus on is taking care of maintenance issues,” she said. “We’re going to replace kennel doors, take care of some drainage issues, and redo concrete.”
    Such kennel setbacks are keeping the no-kill shelter from operating at capacity, where it can hold more than 30 animals. The Franklin woman, a former shelter volunteer, believes repairing the shelter can help her accomplish that goal.
    “[We’ll] split up the duties, [making sure] there’s a shelter manager to take care of these things and someone else can take care of the fundraising,” she said. “This way, we can try to take care of these problems.”

Canines rock the vote

In a little more than a year, Barbara Haywood has gone from an apolitical communications consultant to a full-fledged activist and campaigner, and it all started with a bumper sticker.
    “I’m the least political person you would know,” says the Montclair, New Jersey resident. “I sort of fell into this.”
    What she’s referring to is My Dog Votes, her “Paul Newman-style” company that sells politically charged t-shirts to pet lovers and encourages them to vote, particularly in an important election year such as this one.
    “Politicians only care about votes and money,” she said. “I don’t have any money, but I get votes.”
    Starting with just some sticky stuff and a catchy slogan, Haywood has focused on making local politicians aware that dog guardians concentrate on their canines when casting their votes. She’s partnered with organizations like the American Dog Owners Association and the National Dog Club for voter registration pushes and to protest breed-specific legislation.
    “I’m more of a campaigner than I am a company at this point,” Haywood said. “I feel very strongly that dog lovers, who make up large chunks of the population, need to make clear that these are strong issues for them.”
    Haywood insists that her group is non-partisan, and thus she does not endorse specific candidates. But her own pooch, a rescued Pit Bull named Princess Zsa Zsa, tends to sway her into advocacy.
    “I wouldn’t want to live in Denver, where sheriffs could come to my door and take my dog—a member of my family—away because she’s the wrong breed,” she said. “The only way to effectively overcome this challenge is to rally average, dog-loving citizens to the cause.”


For more information, visit www.MyDogVotes.com.