When you enter the Milwaukee campus of the Wisconsin Humane Society,

whether you are a family toting a toddler along to find your first dog or a young

professional who just moved to Milwaukee, trying to beat the loneliness of being new to

a city, you are greeted by a dog or cat accompanied by a Human Society staff member. In

the long, rectangular adoption lobby that off-shoots to the different collections of

animals; two for cats, one for small animals, and, in the back corner, one for dogs sit

waiting to be adopted.

The greater this particular day was an energetic lab-mix named Jack, who sniffs

everything around him, including the few kids around who giggled every time Jacks

cold, wet nose pressed against their cheeks, a womans brown-leather purse as she

scratched behind his ear, and, for reasons unknown, very intently in a small corner of

the ground next to the welcome desk.

The Wisconsin Humane Society, Milwaukee is a bustling shelter with animals

ranging from dogs to cats to hamsters to wildlife and everything in between. Though the

Wisconsin Humane Society is an independent shelter system from the nationally known

Humane Society of the United States, it duals as the states busiest wildlife hospital with

over 5,000 treated wild animals, and 10,405 domestic animal adoptions in 2015 alone.

Thus, The Wisconsin Humane society is serving a multitude of roles in the Milwaukee

community.

Once making it through the mingling of adopters, staff and an animal or two to

the welcome desk, you will sign into the shelter to be placed in line for a personalized

consultation with a Humane Society staff member who will help you find the best

possible match for you and the animal. The staff places a great emphasis on finding
good fits for all parties in order to make sure that both families and animals are

comfortable.

The staff of the Humane Society is dressed in veterinary gear with dark, stiff

scrubs with a radiating lime green tee shirt, distinguishing them as staff by sheer

brightness. Most of the staff in the lobby and mingling in back rooms with customers are

women, with their hair pulled back casually in a loose ponytail or with a soft, cloth

headband, though there are a couple of male staffers who complete their uniforms with

a Packers or Brewers baseball cap. All of the staff seems to be stuck in a state of

perpetual motion; there are some who are working through and filing adoption

applications behind the front counter, some talking with customers about what kind of

pet they are looking for, while others are in an animals cubical like room either

introducing them to a potential adopter or filling up their food bowl.

No matter what a particular staffer is doing, their preparation to work at the

Humane Society has been extensive. Angela Speed, the Wisconsin Humane Societys

Vice President of Public Relations indicates that all staff members receive a basic

training course that involves the organizations history, values, structure, leadership,

departments and goals as well as being required to attend behavior seminars and receive

thorough animal handling training. After a general introduction to the Humane Society,

staff members go on to have even more training that is specific to the role they will fulfill

within the agency. For example, a staff member who will become an adoption counselor

for those who wish to bring home a pet, will learn about the behavior scale (G through

PG-13), how an animals background impacts the kinds of homes they will feel

comfortable being brought into, and how a pets and humans behaviors and attitudes
can be best matched to ensure the most successful adoptions possible. Ms. Speed says

the Wisconsin Humane Society emphasizes processes and protocols to maintain

consistent care and procedures across all four of our locations, which is why training is

so important and makes the system so successful.

Until you hear your name in the bright, clear voice of a staff member over the

intercom system, you are free to walk through the three main animal rooms, each of

which is adorned with a cartoon-style sign of the rooms name. The Royal Cat Hotel,

on the left side of the lobby, is a squat pentagon of a room with Plexiglas walls

separating pens from the lobby, of which kids and adults alike bring their faces close to,

trying to get a better glance at their potential new pet.

Inside the Hotel are sixteen small rooms that look like cubicles with doors, they

stand tall against each other as they wrap around the walls of the room, short only a foot

or so from meeting the ceiling, and are closed at the top with loose bars to its residents

in their rooms. Each room is occupied by a cat with everything it could need: a tall, fuzzy

climbing tower capped with a basket to lounge in, a tan scratching post to mark their

territory, various brightly colored toys scattered about along with a litterbox and dishes

for food and water.

Though its a busy weekend afternoon, the cats are not paying much attention to

you. Some are pushing their toys around with a concentration that seems to be reserved

for felines, a few are looking back at the humans who are walking around the outside of

their rooms but most are sleeping. Whether it is on top of their climbing tower, in a

crook between the wall and their litterbox or sprawling along the thick window
separating their room from the rest of the room, well over half of the cats of the Hotel

are snoozing the day away.

At the Wisconsin Humane Society, animals come from all over the state. The

majority of dogs and cats have been voluntarily surrendered by previous owners, usually

due to their inability to provide veterinary care or enough food and water, moving, not

being home enough to watch the animal and even just a lack of connection with the pet

have been reasons for voluntary surrender. Domestic animals have also been brought in

as strays from the street, regardless of if they were injured or ill, or have been placed at

the shelter as a result from a police seizure or court-ordered surrender.

One of these animals is Princess, who is staying in the Hotels suite 110,

donated by Christine Baranouky. Princess is a gorgeous feline with long white fur that is

splattered with spots of dark grey around her ears and tail and has pale green eyes that

seem to take up half of her small face. She was brought to the shelter when her previous

owner, who had found her initially as a stray, was not able to care for her due to the

owners increasing age. Because of being shuffled around, Princess is slow to warm up to

new people and cutely, describes herself as just good company. I like attention, but it

may take me a while to be social, so I also like my solitude. I dont go looking for

trouble, but if it comes my way, Im no scaredy-cat, either. If you are looking for a

steady companion for the long haul, look no further.

When you walk past her suite, you will hear one of the adoption counselors

explaining this to the young couple who squats in the small room, peaking at Princess

who in sitting in a back corner, staring at the humans in her suite.

 So, if youre interested in her, the counselor says, just make sure you introduce

her to the house one room at a time, so she can get used to so much space, you know?

That way she wont just hide, like she is now a little, and you never see her.

Luckily for Princess, the young couple visiting her did adopt her just a few days

later. But the time an animal spends at the shelter can vary a great deal. The average

length an animal will stay is around 8 days, which breaks down to 6 days back of

house, as Angela says, receiving care, and 2 days front of house, or in the adoption

kennels. Many of the dogs and cats who come in as strays have some sort of medical

issue, like deep cuts, digestion issues or upper respiratory infections, so their pre-

adoption time is lengthened accordingly.

When animals first arrive at the Humane Society, they are given vaccinations, a

collar, a name that usually has some sort of theme (this weekend, the Milwaukee

branchs name theme was Blues musicians) and an identification number. If an animal

does not need any immediate medical attention, they are checked into their kennel until

they can meet the behavior and veterinary teams. All of the dogs and cats brought to the

Humane Society are given a behavior assessment and provided with medical care prior

to becoming available for adoption to be sure that they are mentally and physically

prepared to be brought into a new home. With this process, some animals are in and out

of the shelter in only a couple of days, while others take more time.

Angels Speed gives an example, say a healthy puppy arriving on a Tuesday could

settle in for the night, have surgery on Wednesday, and be available for adoption and go

home on Thursday. But because stray animals are kept for a holding period of 5 days
even before we can spay/neuter and prepare them for adoption, stray animals are with

us longer.

But some pets are not as lucky, and spend a while up for adoption. Brownie, a

small 13-year-old dog who is no taller than a foot or so, has been marked a

benchwarmer, which means because he has been at the shelter for a while, his

adoption fee has dropped from $139 to $25. When you walk around the dog section of

the shelter, with each row of dog kennels named Lassie Lane, Corgi Court, and Toto

Trail, you can hear Brownie cry out and pawing at his door to the hallway. Brownie was

visited by a family about ten minutes ago and has been crying since they left because he

is a pet that loves to be around people. He says, I am all you need. Let me sit at your

feet, walk by your side and Ill be your devoted companion forever. Since Brownie has

been waiting so long to be taken to his forever home, he gets really excited when people

come to visit him, and is equally sad when they leave.

A huge part of what helps a pet and their potential owner connect is that they

have the same expectations for each other. The family that was visiting Brownie had two

children who were gone most of the day at school and activities and parents that did not

work from home, so they could not give Brownie the attention that would truly make

him happy. Adoption counselors talk with potential owners about their lifestyles and

expectations of behavior and cost and try to find a dog or cat who would fit. The most

important thing to do before going to meet with animals at the shelter is to figure out

what you are looking for in a pet, and to be sure to do your research.

Ms. Speeds says, we want adopters to be prepared and know what they are

getting into when they bring a new animal into their lives, and suggests to, read
articles, books and blogs about pet-proofing your home, look for training and veterinary

resources in your area.

If youre interested in adopting Brownie, you can find his and other pets

information on Wisconsin Humane Societys website (www.wihumane.org) under the

adopt tab.

If you would like to contribute to the Wisconsin Humane Society but are not able to

adopt at this time, the Society welcomes monetary donations to support their cause as

well as any items on their wish list on their website, under the donate tab.