Hello Everyone,
For this week, we will be taking a look at my Photo Story, also known as the Final round of photos for my Journalism 134 Class. For this set of photos, I will be visiting my local Animal Shelter, Greenhill Humane Society. When I first had this idea to visit the shelter for a photo story, I had no idea just what it was that Greenhill did for the day to day job. The more that I talked to the volunteers and staff workers I learned about the plethora of different programs that they offer at this incredible facility. While walking around the facility with the communications manager, Samantha Schwartz, she enlightened me by relaying the information on all of the programs the shelter has that are aimed at keeping all the animals within the shelter: safe, comfortable, and as little stress for the animal as possible.
Here are my photos from Greenhill Humane Society:
On a good day, this is what you would be greeted to when you enter into the shelter, a fun sight of a woman and her dog enjoying the bright afternoon sun. Seen within the picture is the Dog Adoption Center’s Staff Worker Clara Andrews and photographed with her is her favorite dog currently at the shelter, Pickles. While starting in the Kennel Position of the shelter back in October of 2021, almost a year later she can still say that she's an animal lover at heart. Andrews mentioned in our conversation that she thinks the most rewarding part of the job is when a dog from the shelter is adopted. While she may be sad to see the dog go away from the shelter, she told me in our interview that she gets a sense of gratitude and happiness to see the dogs go to a good home after staying with Greenhill for months.
The person seen above is named Barbara Hazen. Barbara has been a member of the Greenhill Humane Society for the last 7 years. Being a volunteer for Greenhill to Barbara means primarily cleaning, organizing, and folding all of the towels, blankets, or any surgical bedding needing to be cleaned. From my time spent talking to Barbara, she had already been working on seven large trash cans full of fabric. After hours of work and nearly 2 more hours till the 5PM closing time of Greenhill, she still had more to do on her plate with 2 trash cans worth of work. At Greenhill Humane Society, it is all too common for animals to enter into the shelter in not the greatest conditions due prior circumstances, so in acclimation to their new environment they may go through a large amount of bedding and blankets. But due to the hard work by dedicated volunteers like Barbara, the animals within the shelter live a happy and comfortable daily life.
Clara Andrews was initially pictured in the beginning of this collection, but her main station and responsibility is in the Dog Adoption Center, or the Kennel portion of the vast Greenhill Facility. Clara is seen in the photograph performing the very common task of sanitizing a run. By using a combination of Nil-odor and Water, she will perform this task more than twenty times a day to certify a dog's run is clean and ready for a new animal to arrive at the shelter. According to Clara, cleaning runs are most commonly performed at the beginning of the day, close to 8 in the morning because older dogs have a harder time making it through the night. Along with cleaning runs, Clara is also responsible for feeding the dogs, taking them out to go potty, and she particularly enjoys getting them more acclimated to new people through a Program called “Humane Education & Tours”. If you choose to take this tour, you’ll learn more about Greenhill’s Humane Mission Statement and meet more of the kind volunteers that Greenhill has to offer.
This picture was taken on Nov 29 and shows Sarah Fenneran with the adorable Guinea Pig Coconut, and for the last 2 years, they’ve spent meticulous care of the Guinea Pigs currently at the Greenhill facility. Sarah is not the only one working with these little fuzz balls, but she was able to give me the time for a short conversation about the humane society. Greenhill offers a multitude of different services and programs that help not only the animals within the shelter, but also the animals within the community. With such programs as The Lost And Found Program for local law enforcement, or the spay and neuter programs and with the FVRCP and Rabies Vaccinations, Greenhill’s main goal is to care for the animals in the shelter to the best of their ability.
Within this picture is Samantha Schwartze, and the Great Dane named Maggie. This picture was originally taken on November 17, and when I went back for my second visit of photo taking two weeks later, Maggie had finally been adopted after being at the shelter for a few months. She was originally rescued from a Great Dane Breeding Ring where they were being kept in dismal conditions and she was one of four Great Danes rescued from the incident. After being part of the Greenhill Shelter for so long, Clara and Samantha relayed to me that they were overcome with happiness when they saw her go off to a good home. From all the people that I spoke with at Greenhill Humane Society, when they were asked how they felt about the job, they mainly conveyed it was a positive and supportive work environment. Overall, everyone said that they have always been known as Animal lovers and have expressed a joy for seeing the amount of care and support that Greenhill allows for these animals to get.
For my final visit to Greenhill, I wanted to interview the person that was my host, Samantha Schwartze, throughout my walk of the facility. From this interview, Samantha told me about all the various programs that she puts on for Greenhill as the communications manager. One such event is the “Bark in the Park”, which is a 10K, 5K, and 2K run or walking excursion to raise money for the shelter. This event is the only marathon in Eugene that allows Dogs to run alongside you during the event.
Within this photo is Samantha at the end of the table containing shopping bags full of orders for animals waiting to be distributed out. This photo was taken in the food pantry at the back of the facility, and this is where I also conducted my interview with the staff. Overall, my experience was very positive and informative for what Animal Shelters do. It also gave me a better understanding of how animal shelters operate on a daily basis.
Thank you to the staff for your time and for the opportunities that you gave me by photographing your work.
If this Blog Post caught your eye and you are looking to adopt a pet, Greenhill Humane Society has an diverse selection of species and more than enough room for any animal that you may need assistance with. For a better look at their extensive programs that they offer, you can go to their website at: (https://www.green-hill.org). Or you can contact them by phone and make an appointment at: (541) 689-5261.
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