[SophieKatesMom]

I volunteer at a No Kill shelter and we face the challenges everyday that are mentioned above.

We have a number of slots that we can fill and a budget for how many animals we can house. We have to work very hard to keep the animals "moving" (getting them adopted). We have to make sure that 99% of the time we make the right choice with the animal because we have a return policy stating the animal must be returned to us.

We have to make sure we have enough volunteers to clean the shelter, feed the animals, exercise the animals, socialize the animals, work adoptions at the shelter and follow up calls to the adopters (plus every other little task in between like laundry and grooming).

I will be very honest, we are a No Kill shelter but there have been times when an animal has had to be PTS in our care because their overall health was not good and it is the only option for the pet (I will note this is a decision that is made by our Board and staff which includes to registered Vet Tech and a Board Certified Vet).

Is it a lot of work yes, but the rewards of seeing an animal with his/her forever home out weights any of my questions on the work. I am lucky, I am a volunteer I do not have make any of the hard decsions regarding the animals health.