Director's View

This is a new blog written by Leslie Kent, the acting volunteer director of the Humane Society of Clark County (HSCC) in Arkadelphia, AR. The words, opinions, and emotions you encounter here are the author's and may or may not represent those of the individuals on the Board of Directors or staff of the organization. However, they often will.

From Les,

As you follow this blog, you will learn about the operation of the shelter over time, but this first post will be about Right Now. We opened today with 83 cats and kittens and 62 dogs. Just today, we added 10 kittens and two adult cats to the 83 we already had.

I have had to turn down 7 dogs and puppies brought to the shelter this week.

I have taken phone calls from at least a dozen citizens who have picked up stray puppies that we cannot take. At a minimum, we would have added at least 12 dogs to our inventory just this week if we took them all. Most of the time I am the one who has to look in their eyes and say no. I am very sick of that part of this job.

This blog will not be about me but my readers should know that I am a 73 year old retiree who was serving on the HSCC Board of Directors as Chairman in March of 2025. That is when the shelter manager quit without notice. Before becoming our shelter manager, she was also directly responsible for testing, vaccinations (where permitted), and medical care of all the animals, with the advice and assistance of our veterinarians and long-time veterinary assistant Janie Allen.

Facing an immediate emergency, it was clear that a Board Member would have to step in temporarily the next day. That was me, and here I remain 16 months later. My career was in business management, so part of the job was a good fit for me (15 years earlier), but much of the job, relating to animal care, was completely new to me.

Having never written a blog, I don't know how long this should be so I will go back to the SICK OF IT part and end there. The spring and summer of my first year are really just a blur now. The reality of this work was blurred by a flood, a parvo outbreak, staff changes, and the near-total rebuild of shelter business records, animal care records, and proper operating procedures.

This spring and summer I am getting a very different view. You might call it "the nitty-gritty". The view when I look into the eyes of a precious puppy or a starving mamma dog that we do not have room for. Sick, scared, hurt, abused, and abandoned- none of it their fault- mostly the fault of individual faulty humans.

My next post will continue to address FAULT.

Not the fault of an individual!

The Fault of a Community!

DISCLAIMER: THIS BLOG WILL NOT BE WRITTEN BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE! IT WILL BE CHECKED FOR SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION BY GRAMMARLY. ELOQUENCE, ERRORS, ANGER, BLUNTNESS, ACCURACY OR IGNORANCE OBSERVED HERE ARE ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE AUTHOR.