Fellow animal welfare colleagues and large-scale change leaders, we are conducting a search for a Deputy Director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP), our small but mighty program dedicated to serving as change agents in our field. If you or someone you know is inspired by building and sharing the tools needed to implement humane, community-centered approaches to shelter management – click on the link below or email sheltermedicine@ucdavis.edu.

As the months move on and we settle into our new rhythm, some of our redesigned-by-Covid programs are starting to feel old hat now. While there is not a one-size-fits-all solution for every shelter, we know many of you have attempted to safeguard your shelter staff and community by reducing touch points. You moved to appointment-based services and extended your care options to include online/phone consultations, and you implemented curbside drop-off/pickup to manage contact and avoid crowded lobbies. You added parking spots with “text for service” messaging and moved your foster training online. Some of you launched home-to-home programs that bypass the shelter altogether, while others changed the direction of field officers’ vehicles by offering “foster delivery” services and suspending healthy “stray” (were they really lost?) cat pickup. 

Despite most of these changes taking place rapidly under crisis conditions, we seem to be getting it right. The overwhelming response from shelter professionals has been clear: We’re not going back! 

“Our animals are less stressed, dog bites are down, our staff loves the new appointment-based model…it started out scary, but it’s been great for our animals!”

California Animal Shelter Covid Action Response member

As a sheltering community, we’ve accepted chaos as inevitable. Stress and overwhelm are inherent; our cross to bear for doing this work. Covid brought business as usual to a grinding halt, a momentary pause that had the unintended but remarkable consequence of propelling the animal welfare industry forward a decade or more. 

From where we stand (6 ft apart) today, we know overwhelm doesn’t have to be the norm. We know that our community will step up when we make room for them. We’ve seen the other side, a place where we operate within capacity and proactive policy making replaces reactive decision-making. We have felt the difference of a day that was predicted, scheduled, and managed versus another day that was survived. 

Most importantly, we’ve been allowed space and time to give excellent service to both pets and their people and we’ve witnessed firsthand the difference time and attention makes to our outcomes.

It’s no surprise the question on the proverbial streets has turned proactive, too: How do we institutionalize these changes before we slide back to the way it used to be?  Change experts would tell us the most critical step is to invite our stakeholders to hold the line with us by telling our story of transformation through transparent, value-first communication and asking them to be ambassadors of change. 

Sounds easy enough, right? So why is there still a knot in our stomach. 

Well, because this is animal welfare. A world in which people care an awful lot. Emotions and unchecked fears often bubble up and over, wreaking havoc on our best intentions. We all know a story of a shelter/rescue being dragged through the mud after instituting a new policy. Many of us have been a story. Despite our very best intentions, it’s not pretty when we lose control of the narrative. 

So how do we get in front of it? How DO we tell our own story and drive positive change forward when emotions run high? The answer is by understanding the change process and what we should expect around every bend. Knowing what to expect allows us to be prepared to lead the positive messaging and not scrambling to react to mud being thrown our way. To stay ahead of the change (and its reputation), we have to know and address the concerns of our stakeholders. Unattended stakeholder fears are the enemy to progress!

Last week we shared a link to a free resource, Change Management: The Role of Strategic Communication.  (Heads Up: You have to scroll down a list of free resources offered by Brighter Strategies to find the Strategic Communication workbook. You’ll need to enter your email to receive the downloadable workbook, but it’s worth it and they aren’t too spammy.) Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the Kubler-Ross curve and the stages of change. Ask yourself: 

• Is the change we are experiencing proactive or reactive? 
• What stage(s) of the Kubler-Ross curve are our staff, volunteers and/or board at? 
• Based on our stage and the nature of our change (i.e. proactive or reactive), what are the emotions our stakeholders are likely experiencing? 

Until then, have a peek at the Kurt Lewin Change model and take a moment to decide if you would classify your organization as being in the “unfreeze” stage, the “change” stage, or the “freeze” stage.  

+If you are feeling good: What makes you feel like you’ve moved on to stage two and are ready to do or are already doing the work associated with big change? Was there a moment you knew you had support and buy-in? 

+If you are feeling unsure, fearful or uneasy: What makes you feel like you are stuck in stage one? Do you feel community pushback is keeping you from making progress? How is that pushback showing up?

We’d love to hear from you! Please email us at sheltermedicine@ucdavis.edu and share what it’s like to be experiencing BIG change at your shelter right now. We want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.