- Apr 14, 2017
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I work at an animal rescue. Long story short I’ve lost all faith in both the organisation and the boss/founder. I’m at the point where I think either she needs to be ousted, or the rescue needs to be shut down because she cannot be in charge of people or pets anymore.
My boss has never been great at her job — she makes reckless and erratic decisions without any regard to animal/staff safety, comfort or health — but lately she’s been spiraling more than usual. She’s auctioning off puppies (which is basically the opposite of what rescue is about) and, when she’s met with public backlash, doubles down with defensive and tone-deaf responses that lose us a bunch of supporters.
She’s abusing staff with unprofessional, inappropriate tantrums. She recently said “f*** you” to a teenage employee over puppy food, and once punched her former assistant in the arm during a disagreement.
But most appallingly, she euthanised a rescue dog after it attacked her own personal dog, even though the attack only occurred because she left her dog out to wander in an area it should’ve have because there were AGGRESSIVE DOGS LIVING IN IT. My boss knew that it was more her fault for letting her own dog wander in an off-limits area rather than the other dog’s, but she euthanised the him anyway. This despite the fact that when similar incidents have occurred with other aggressive dogs, she let them off the hook because “they’re just being dogs and we should’ve prevented them from fighting in the first place.” But when it’s her dog that’s attacked because she let it wander in a place it shouldn’t have been, she conveniently forgets all that “no-kill” thing we’re supposed to be about.
It’s just not a good place for people or pets anymore, and this realisation has broken my heart. From where I’m standing, the only way this place survives is if she’s outed by the board of directors, which is unlikely. And if she’s not, I’m actually considering taking steps to get the whole rescue shut down because I really do feel it has become an unsafe, unhealthy place for both animals and people. The only reason I haven’t quit is because I don’t want to leave the animals in her care, and because I’m hoping the board will do the right thing and oust her so we can become productive again. But if they don’t, I’m probably going straight to OSHA and the BBB to get this place shut down, which would mean the animals can be moved to other, better shelters. It’s not comfortable with the insubordination since I’ve worked here for years, but I’m also not comfortable just leaving and doing nothing.
So anyway, I just needed to vent. As always, if anyone wants to advise I’m all ears.
My boss has never been great at her job — she makes reckless and erratic decisions without any regard to animal/staff safety, comfort or health — but lately she’s been spiraling more than usual. She’s auctioning off puppies (which is basically the opposite of what rescue is about) and, when she’s met with public backlash, doubles down with defensive and tone-deaf responses that lose us a bunch of supporters.
She’s abusing staff with unprofessional, inappropriate tantrums. She recently said “f*** you” to a teenage employee over puppy food, and once punched her former assistant in the arm during a disagreement.
But most appallingly, she euthanised a rescue dog after it attacked her own personal dog, even though the attack only occurred because she left her dog out to wander in an area it should’ve have because there were AGGRESSIVE DOGS LIVING IN IT. My boss knew that it was more her fault for letting her own dog wander in an off-limits area rather than the other dog’s, but she euthanised the him anyway. This despite the fact that when similar incidents have occurred with other aggressive dogs, she let them off the hook because “they’re just being dogs and we should’ve prevented them from fighting in the first place.” But when it’s her dog that’s attacked because she let it wander in a place it shouldn’t have been, she conveniently forgets all that “no-kill” thing we’re supposed to be about.
It’s just not a good place for people or pets anymore, and this realisation has broken my heart. From where I’m standing, the only way this place survives is if she’s outed by the board of directors, which is unlikely. And if she’s not, I’m actually considering taking steps to get the whole rescue shut down because I really do feel it has become an unsafe, unhealthy place for both animals and people. The only reason I haven’t quit is because I don’t want to leave the animals in her care, and because I’m hoping the board will do the right thing and oust her so we can become productive again. But if they don’t, I’m probably going straight to OSHA and the BBB to get this place shut down, which would mean the animals can be moved to other, better shelters. It’s not comfortable with the insubordination since I’ve worked here for years, but I’m also not comfortable just leaving and doing nothing.
So anyway, I just needed to vent. As always, if anyone wants to advise I’m all ears.
