A day in the life of a shelter animal health technician.

My name is Amélie, I have been working at Proanima for almost two years, and I am pleased to show you a day in my life as an animal health technician in a shelter environment.

Today, I am starting a new day of work at Proanima. It is Wednesday, it is currently 11:00 a.m., and I am, this week, the evening technician. I am therefore in charge of the entry of abandoned and/or lost animals, the medical management of all the animals present at the shelter and also euthanasia if necessary. Unfortunately, euthanasia is sometimes unavoidable when animals have serious health or behavioral problems.

I get a call from reception to tell me that animals have arrived at the shelter.

Heading towards reception, I pass the sorting section where animals are examined upon arrival. A shih tzu has just arrived and I can already confirm that we have new feline arrivals by the meows coming from reception.

As I enter the sorting room, I see four cats and a rabbit. Before I begin their entrance examination, I will “scan” the animals to see if they have a microchip and/or another means of identification such as a tag. Bingo! The little shih tzu has a microchip! This is when I collect the necessary information so that the receptionist is able to find the owner.

During this time, I will begin with a cursory examination of each cat as well as the rabbit to see if there are any apparent health problems that would require immediate veterinary attention. Everything is beautiful! The animals appear to be in perfect health and that is when I will give them their first vaccination.

When the sorting of the animals is done, I will start some treatments for some animals in the shelter. An ear infection treatment for Bella the Yorkshire, an ear mite treatment for Hook the big tomcat, an addition of fluid for a cat found stray yesterday, who needs a little pick-me-up and so on. During my treatments, I learn that the owner of the shih tzu has been contacted and will come get him right away. Yay! A story with a happy ending, I like that!

It’s now 2:30 p.m., I’m going to go do my rounds of the entire shelter. Then, my evening will consist of sorting the animals that will be coming in until 8 p.m. and doing the surgical entries of the animals of clients of our targeted sterilization clinic who will go under the knife tomorrow morning.

And if I can end with a piece of advice from a shelter animal health technician, adopt for life, it’s not stupid!

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