Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
All in Adams -- Riverdale Animal Shelter
28 Plays1 day ago
This week, we sit down with Tabatha Gormley, Community Engagement Manager at Riverdale Animal Shelter. She shares how the new facility has been transforming the lives of shelter pets, a big upgrade coming soon, what adopting really looks like today, and much more. Animal lovers and future pet parents, this episode is for you!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'All In Adams' Podcast
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to All In Adams, the official podcast of Adams County Government, where we're all in for our residents, our employees, and our community. So whether you live here, work here, or you just want to know more about what makes Adams County a great place to be, thanks for tuning in. We're all in, Adams.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another episode of All in Adams.
Guest Introduction: Tabitha Gormley
00:00:26
Speaker
My name is Danielle Urich and I'm the senior social media specialist on the Adams County communications team. I'm so excited to have Tabitha Gormley with me here today from Riverdale Animal Shelter. She's the community engagement manager and we're going to talk all things Riverdale Animal
Tabitha's Background and Passion
00:00:40
Speaker
Shelter. Hey Tabby, how's it going? Hi Danielle, thank you for having me. course, we're so excited. I have the honor of running the shelter social media accounts and I'm just super excited to talk all about the amazing things you're doing. so Absolutely. I know we get to work ah together a lot, which is so fun. And to do it in like a new format today, you said it was your first time hosting. So that's exciting. Your first podcast, although not new in front of the camera for you. Right. This year, a lot of camera interviews. You've become the animal shelter spokesperson, I will say. Yeah, 100%. I that. Well, hey, before we kick things off, let's
Career Shift to Animal Shelter Work
00:01:12
Speaker
learn more about you. How did you get into animal welfare? Why are you passionate about it? And how did you end up here at Riverdale? Yeah, absolutely. um
00:01:20
Speaker
I don't think it'll surprise anyone that I was an animal lover as like a little girl and um growing up. And I think that's Probably true for most of the people that work at the shelter. And um I adopted my first shelter pet in middle school um with all my own money. And um we've just always had like rescue pets and shelter pets growing up. And so I knew from a young age that I definitely wanted to work with animals and and help animals as part of my career.
00:01:45
Speaker
Um, so I moved out to Colorado and kind of started chipping away at schooling and thinking like, okay, if I want to help animals, I have to become a vet. Like that's the, you know, kind of the obvious choice there. and but I got the opportunity to work at a doggy daycare and then,
Joining Riverdale Animal Shelter
00:02:01
Speaker
um, at a shelter in Jefferson County. And during my time at Foothills Animal Shelter,
00:02:06
Speaker
I really got um insight into the fact that there are other career paths if you want to help animals. And there's people behind all of these pets. And i really developed a passion for working with people as as well as animals. um And so, yeah, kind of continuing my educational journey and I've transferred to CU Denver where I was going to continue in kind of that science track. And they were like, you know what? We have a public administration program. That would be perfect. um And so during that same kind of time, I saw the opening at the Adams County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center.
00:02:44
Speaker
And I was doing some research and i saw they were working on this beautiful new facility and just really had some exciting things coming up. And um one thing that really drew me to ah the job opening was how community centric Adams County is. And they really focus on the people and pets within Colorado and Adams County, which meant a lot to
Impact of New Shelter Facility
00:03:03
Speaker
me.
00:03:03
Speaker
And so, yeah about eight years ago, I started there as the customer care lead and I got to be part of the transition of Riverdale Animal Shelter, which was amazing. And then since then, I've got to be in a couple of different roles. um I helped as a volunteer coordinator and now in community engagement. And it's just been a a great experience to be able to wear many hats in animal welfare and work.
00:03:27
Speaker
Yeah. Kind of share my story. I love working with the students in the community too. Cause I love, um, just giving that perspective of like, you can help pets and people and you don't have to become a vet, although yeah we need more vets. So please do become a vet. Yeah. Yeah. So kind of the gist of it. Well, we're lucky to have you and all the pets at the shelter are lucky to have you in their corner. so we're so grateful for that. You mentioned the old Adams County Animal Shelter. It's been five years since Riverdale Animal Shelter has moved over to Park Boulevard over in Riverdale Regional Park.
00:03:58
Speaker
Talk a little bit about how that new facility has kind of benefited the services you provide and even the pets that you're taking care of. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I will say five years goes by so fast. and It really does. It still feels like a new facility. It's still like we're, I think we're all just so grateful to be, um, coming to work there every day and we get so much positive feedback from the community that they just even just love visiting and, and walking through, um the facility because it is so welcoming and accessible. Um, and so, yeah, I mean, it's really helped us elevate the level of care that we have for the animals and the community. um
00:04:35
Speaker
You might be surprised to know it's actually not much bigger than the old facility. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, it's a bigger land size, and but the building itself is not much bigger, but we were really able to tailor it to our needs. so and we have more spacious kennels and we really thought about natural lighting for the animals um being in there.
00:04:54
Speaker
We have separate air exchanges for each area so we can really um focus on, you know, not like mitigating disease and not having germ spread and and things like that.
00:05:05
Speaker
um And then if you ever saw the old shelter, I'm sure you did. Actually, I haven't. oh I had never been. No, I started right around the time that the new shelter opened. So I never experienced the old shelter. Well, I think it's um interesting to know it was in a very industrial area. that's what I've heard. Yeah. There was like one patch of grass and the company that owned the grass was like, can you not bring all the dogs on the one? And like, I get it, but I'm like, we need grass. yeah The dogs need the grass. Yeah. Yes, exactly. so we're very grateful to be in just the beautiful regional park that we're in now. I mean, got a view of the lake and our walking trails right there. um our volunteers do the hikes for hopefuls next door at the trails by the parks um area. And so they
Barn Project and Animal Housing
00:05:47
Speaker
just love it. Um, and yeah, I mean, other than just the facility itself really being, um, lending it, uh, to us being able to serve the animals better, even
00:05:58
Speaker
The health clinic, we were outsourcing so many services for animals before that, like x-ray and dental and just basic diagnostic stuff. And we have that on house now. um And so, yeah, in addition to that, i mentioned it's community centric and I just love that the building was built with people in mind too. yeah and We have a retail area where people can get, you know, their basic supplies when they're adopting.
00:06:21
Speaker
And we also have the community room, which has um helped us expand our vaccine clinics and It's just really bolstered the perception people have of animal welfare in Adams County. And we receive that feedback on a daily basis. Like, like that's so clean and it's so welcoming and bright. And um i think it heartens people to know that the animals in our community that that need the support are getting such high quality level of care. Oh, absolutely. and you mentioned the regional park. I always love seeing the volunteers walk the dogs on the trail and you can just tell they're so happy just to be outside and yeah have a nice walking path.
Adoption Process and Services
00:06:59
Speaker
And it's just such a great area for it. So I'm so glad that they've made the move over.
00:07:04
Speaker
um But there's another exciting enhancement coming that you've been talking about. Tell us a little bit about the barn project. Yes. Thrilled about the barn. it officially is open, ready for use, past expense inspections, excuse me.
00:07:18
Speaker
um And so i think there really is um a natural assumption, which makes sense, that shelters house cats and dogs, which we obviously do have a lot of cats and dogs. and But we've taken hundreds of farm-type animals every year. So Riverdale Animal Shelter accepts all types of domestic pets. And obviously Adams County is unique because...
00:07:40
Speaker
It has like suburban and urban and rural. And so we see those animals from those rural parts and and they still need support and care kind of in that transitional ah part of their journey.
00:07:51
Speaker
And so in the past, we've really had to get creative with housing because we really lead with a fear-free mentality. We want the um experience for every pet to be as like least stressful as possible. Yeah.
00:08:03
Speaker
And so you can imagine if you're like a little goat coming in during the, during a shelter stay and you're like next to this big barky dog, that's going to be so stressful. So we would tend to like clear out an entire row of whatever animal we're housing just so we could have that, you know, chicken or goat or sheep um in that area and be fear free.
00:08:22
Speaker
And so now having the barn and um not only is it going to open up kennel space for the other animals that need it, but it's just really going to help us meet the unique needs of the pets that need to be in there.
00:08:34
Speaker
um And I know a lot of people have asked, like, what type of animals is the barn going to house? And yeah, it has eight stalls in it, kind of all varying sizes. and We have some of the smaller ones are more built for chickens because we get a ton of chickens in. You do, yeah. um And then, you know, horses and things like that, anything larger than that would be, we'd be getting support from the fairgrounds. But um goats and sheep, I mean, we've gotten those in all throughout the year. You've had a pig before oh times actually. Oh yeah, definitely That's good point too. Yeah, we'll be having some pigs in there. Oh, that's going to be so great and such a cool enhancement to keep adding to the amazing work everything going on there. Yeah. And it's great. We can use it ah year round. It's like temperature controlled and like truly, um truly state of the art. So so even in the wintertime, it'll be set. Yeah. Yeah. And we just appreciate the support from like county leadership and the community and just seeing that that was a need and um that we're just going be giving these little farm animals their best life possible. Absolutely. Well, to switch gears just a little, I'm sure people are curious about the adoption process behind the scenes, right? So right when you intake that animal and then what steps happens behind the scenes when they come into your doors to when they're finally available on the adoption floor to find that loving family.
00:09:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's a it's a great question. And, you know, every animal has a unique journey, and but there's definitely steps along the way that they're, um you know, all going to experience with just care and and processes and things like that.
00:10:02
Speaker
So I think starting with how we get animals in, um a lot of our animals come in astray, but we also help with protective custody type cases. So if someone has an arrest or a fire or a hospitalization, and we would be temporarily helping there and trying to reunite them with their family. and We also get pets in as owner surrender and we shelter with other local rescues and um organizations to sometimes swap animals or take them in or send them out. And so that's a few different ways that we get them in. And then just immediately when the animal arrives, we're going to have our intake team just get an overall view of like, where, where is this animal at with their medical and their behavioral needs? Kind of a big picture glance.
00:10:44
Speaker
um get them some vaccines so they're they're safe while they're in our care and then get them into the appropriate housing area. um If they do have that stray or protective custody hold, we're definitely doing like some detective work to reunite them with their family because that's always the main goal.
00:10:59
Speaker
and But if they don't have to go through any type of hold, we really jump into the assessment process of getting a behavior evaluation and having our healthcare team see like maybe what surgeries or like health, uh,
00:11:13
Speaker
just healthcare that they need, whether it's, um, a special procedure or a dental or checking if they're already spayed and neutered, um, seeing what their age is and things like that. And so, um, during their entire shelter process, um, we're really just trying to not only care for their basic needs of like cleaning and feeding, um but also we do daily enrichment and really just want to make sure it's the best possible experience for um being in a shelter because it's not a home. It's a great shelter to be in, but it's not an ideal place for a pet.
00:11:48
Speaker
Um, and so, yeah, after we've gotten to know them,
Community Support and Involvement
00:11:50
Speaker
um, and really are, have a good view of like, what is the best home for this pet? What's the best outcome for this pet? Um, kind of comes a fun part of like giving them a name and taking some cute photos and really trying to shine their personality through to the community. and then we get them up on the the website and hopefully it's not too long before they find a loving home. And you mentioned, you're like the shelter environment can be so stressful for our pets.
00:12:14
Speaker
And part of why I love my job, you like you said, we show the personality of the animal, right? That right you might not see if you're just kind of walking through the kennels. So yeah, yeah I love when like their success stories come out and the loving guys find their home.
00:12:28
Speaker
It's just so heartwarming. Yes. The happy endings are are definitely, yes, the the best ah when we get those updates and the pictures of them in the home. And even when we get them out for photos, because we do photo shoots a lot together. i mean, they're just like, yeah, so happy to be out of their kennel. And I feel like a lot of new volunteers that will come help with photo shoots are surprised by like how well-mannered they are where they're like sit and they pose. And I'm like, yeah, they're just like eating it up. They're little models. They are. They're so photogenic. Yes, our behavior team helps a lot with that, too. i have to shout them out because they do some great photos that really just like shine through. Oh, they do. They get some great ones. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And kind of talk a little bit about that amazing team you have kind of on board. You have volunteers, you have behavior team, you have customer care. Yeah. How are they positively impacting the pets each and every day? I mean, yeah, it truly is every day, even on holidays when we're close to the public.
00:13:21
Speaker
um Staff are coming in on their time off and volunteers are coming in on their time off to make sure that they're still getting the care they need. And i mentioned kind of the basic cleaning and feeding, but I mean, every day the team just goes above and beyond to make sure that every individual pet is having like the best experience possible while they're in our care.
00:13:39
Speaker
whether it is the daily enrichment or just the communication between all the departments of, of what is needed and what can we do to, you know, figure this out. And, um, and it really goes beyond that too. I mean, our partnerships with law enforcement and animal control and our shelter network, I mean, it is just constantly evolving and creative problem solving. um I definitely would say everyone wears multiple hats. Like no one's afraid to jump in and do another job duty or fill gaps. And, um with our volunteers too, i mean, we have one volunteer coordinator for like hundreds of volunteers. And so the rest of the team really steps up to help train and, and just make them feel welcome. Um, and that extends to, I don't want to forget our foster parents. I mean, they're taking animals into their home and, um, giving them just some valuable time out of the shelter and, um, some TLC. And so,
00:14:32
Speaker
Just from every corner, like the the people, and just the compassion that they have and the way that we all um work together. it's It's amazing. It's super rewarding. I love that. It's such a great group of people over there. And you know, you talked about fostering and volunteering. What kind of other services does the shelter provide outside of just basic animal adoption? Yeah, that's a great question. um You know, we talked a little bit during ah earlier about how we get animals in. And so lost and found is a big piece of what we do. We take in found animals from the community and then we're also reclaiming lost pets to their families, which is always another great like outcome and yeah success to share.
00:15:10
Speaker
ah with the team. And then we also offer um surrender services for people who might need to rehome a pet. um Our humane end of life services are are really sought out after because they're
Supporting the Shelter: How to Help
00:15:21
Speaker
much more affordable than some of the other options that are out there.
00:15:24
Speaker
And then, um you know, just in addition to those types of things, we also have our vaccination clinics at the shelter. So we don't have full vet services or spay neuter services yet, hopefully in the coming years. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Yeah. But yeah, our low cost vaccine and microchip clinics, I mean, they fill up every every time. So we're offering those a few times a month.
00:15:45
Speaker
and We've partnered with the health department in Adams County to offer free clinics a couple times a year, which has been really great. And then, um yeah, outside of that, we have a ah lot of community engagement where we're, you know, partnering with educational programs and Just um getting out into resource events and giving the community information and and supplies. And um i there's a a lot, a big reach for Riverdale in the community. We have to mention the star of those community outreach programs, Howler, your very own rescue dog. He's the best. Always makes an appearance. and love him. Yes, definitely. He is. He's awesome. He's very good at his job. He is. He's like, adopt. Then you end up like me. Yes. um
00:16:30
Speaker
A lot of questions we get on social and online have to do with how can the community support you? yeah What are kind of some ways that they can do that to kind of keep you guys going and just help out where needed? Yeah. You know, I've answered this question many times this year, which is just so heartening that it's being asked so much and people are constantly coming out and,
00:16:50
Speaker
<unk> I feel like my eyes and our staff too have really been open to how many animal lovers we have in the community and what Riverdale Animal Shelter means to them. um And so, you know, getting involved, volunteering or fostering, I mean, it's an awesome community be to be a part of and it's pretty flexible and i accessible to get started. um Obviously, adopting has a huge impact. It's clearing that kennel for another kiddo to come up and find their loving home and Also, it's just enriches your life and it's a, you know, amazing thing to do. It's very mutually beneficial.
00:17:23
Speaker
And if you're not in a place to adopt, um even just spreading the word about our specials or encouraging people in your life who might not um have experience with animal shelters, like let them know what we do and let them know why it's important to have animal shelters in the community.
00:17:37
Speaker
um Obviously donations are another big way people can support us. And we've had a lot of our shelves stocked this past year um just from all the attention with the amount of animals and cases we've had.
00:17:47
Speaker
And so um it's always nice when people call ahead of time to see like what's most needed and what's going to have the most impact. um And I guess having said that too, I have to plug the monetary donation just because, and you know, not everyone's in the place to be able to give money um as a donation, which, you know, obviously a lot of other ways you can help, but that does really allow us to like put the funds directly where we need to. And um on our website, you can also choose like which fund the donation would go to, which I think is just really empowering for the donor to be like, this is the area i want this to help.
00:18:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I know. i I would like that as a donor. Yeah, for sure. Making a difference. Totally. Well, as we wrap things up here, it is the holiday
Adoption Specials and Conclusion
00:18:30
Speaker
season. Anything exciting happening over at the shelter?
00:18:33
Speaker
Yes. Very exciting. We have our annual home for the holidays adoption special. And so we just love to get as many kiddos into homes as we can, um you know, maybe clear up some of that kennel space for our staff to have some breathing room and take some time with their their friends and family too. But mostly just to get these these pets into homes. um The holidays can be a great time because people might have time off or more flexibility with their schedule to get a new pet into their life.
00:19:00
Speaker
And so all of um our cats and dogs one year and older will have $25 adoption fees up until Christmas Eve. So yeah, did you spend the rest of that money you would have spent on adoption to just spoil them and get them some Christmas gifts. Right. Spend time with them. Yeah, some holiday gifts. That's awesome. And you have that every year. So that's great. Yeah, absolutely. Well, anything else do you want to touch on or talk about? Yeah.
00:19:22
Speaker
I mean, no, I think we we covered a lot. I just, I guess, again, I would just want to shout out um the community, like even just within Adams County, all the departments and the staff and the volunteers at the shelter that have just stepped up to get us through kind of a challenging year. i yeah mean, it yeah, know it is. it That's what it's been. And um I think it's also just like very telling and rewarding that we've been able to serve the community in this way because it's the pets in Adams County obviously need that. And so people have shown up and we just really appreciate it. And
00:19:52
Speaker
appreciate you taking the time to highlight us today. Well, like I said, we appreciate you guys and there's no, the community does too. So thank you yes for joining in and thank you all for tuning in on this episode of all in Adams. If you want to learn more about Riverdale animal shelter, feel free to visit their website at riverdale animal shelter.org. Check out those adoptable pets and all the other services they provide or give them a follow on Facebook and Instagram.
00:20:15
Speaker
We'll see you next time. That's a wrap for this episode of All in Adams. Thank you for joining us as we explore the people, programs, and the policies that make Adams County a great place to live, work, and thrive.
00:20:27
Speaker
If you enjoyed the show, be sure to subscribe and share with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know. We're all in for bringing you the stories that matter most.
00:20:38
Speaker
Until next time, take care of each other and stay connected with us on Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and X. We're all in, Adams, and we're all in for you.