MCAS Volunteer Manual June 2024
“…it is also important to note that the shelter environment can also be difficult for some. Volunteers are expected to be able to mentally and emotionally process the reality of serving in the shelter environment and we ask that you make an informed decision about your ability to volunteer with us.”
Nathan Winograd on volunteer rights
MCAS managers show that they assume that all shelters are run as authoritarian organizations and that killing animals is an inevitable part of shelter reality when they claim they are just like any other shelter. That view means that volunteers must adapt, leave voluntarily, or be fired… if they care about animals. Freedom of speech is forbidden.
It is false that all shelters are authoritarian and must be run on discarded “control” models. That was not the choice of the community. It is one imposed by sitting managers. When MCAS had a higher save rate, anyone—volunteers, rescues, staff, and ordinary citizens—could offer and also help seek resources for dogs at risk. They were not told to ‘know their place.’ That is why there was a higher rate of participation and saved lives. Animals with special needs received training addressing their needs, not death sentences.
It is MCAS’ management that is at fault. And it is their decision to run an agency as an authoritarian organization against county standards.
MCAS has 46 volunteers listed for October who routinely walk dogs. It is not enough. That number is consistently very low. Volunteers are critical to MCAS. They primarily address the welfare needs of dogs at the agency. Because volunteer numbers are so low, MCAS is currently failing all minimum mental health standards for dogs.
Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health 2022
The effect is not ‘change and correction’ but to kill more animals and tell the community to accept that is inevitable. Most animals become distressed at MCAS and MCAS only treatment plan is to kill dogs who are the victims of the agency’s toxic environment, not correct the environment, not welcome volunteer active participation, and not help animals thrive. It is about smothering compassion. Volunteers are advised to get used to it or they can leave.
The entire volunteer manual is about authoritarian control. It reflects a failed agency culture under current management. Unless that is changed the agency will not thrive and more importantly, the workers, volunteers, animals and community will bear the consequences of that failure.
Gail O’Connell-Babcock
The Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters, Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health 2022
MCAS Volunteer Handbook, June 2024
MCAS Volunteer Hours for October 2024