Meeting with Denise: Post 16

Hi all,

Yesterday I met with Denise at a local Starbucks at 3:30. We didn't have much time to talk, but I got some good info. She pointed out that it was a lot of hard work to start a shelter, a lot more than you would think. That was one of my original ideas (opening a shelter), and she said that it was unrealistic, which I can understand why.

We talked about why she opened her own shelter. She was volunteering at another shelter, they were treating her very poorly. She decided to start a rescue out of her home, and when she applied for a grant. Now she is at Brother Wolf, running her own shelter and boarding shelter.

She told me about how she had to put down the first dog in 4 years. It was Cooper, a pit bull mix. He had been at Brother Wolf for too long and was literally going mad. He was barking and jumping at the door of the cage. The employees had to use blankets to cover their cage door, roof, and sides so he couldn't see the other dogs. I never noticed, but every time I went to volunteer, he kept barking louder and he kept jumping more. They put him down the day after I was there.

Madi