Ganley arrived in September 2016 after a stint with a humane society in Lake County, Ohio, with the intention of helping an organization seeking a fresh direction and ideas, correcting past mistakes and clearing misconceptions.
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“I’m all about animal welfare,” Ganley said. “Our mission is to place an animal in the best environment that we can. When I came here, there were a lot of preconceived notions, some true, some not.
“First of all, we’re a low-kill shelter. We’re not killing dogs every day. We only do this with very aggressive dogs that can’t be placed. ”
According to Ganley, when a dog warden brings in a dog, they are considered county property for the first three days, then on day four it becomes humane society property. The animals are given time to get acclimated to their new surroundings to determine a dog’s aggression levels.
“You can’t judge an animal in just a few days,” said Ganley. “We look at each situation carefully. Sometimes when an animal comes in they may not be used to being around other animals and may be stressing out from this.”
He gave an example of a recent success. Two Rottweiler mixes who bonded after growing up together came to the shelter in October and nobody was interested in adopting them. But Ganley and the staff kept them cared for and when the right people came along it was that much more satisfying.
Kathy Weber of Springfield is a longtime supporter of the humane society, but had never adopted. She decided it was time after her cat of 16 years passed a while back.
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She visited the shelter three times to see if Zoey was the right cat for her, despite there being another that resembled her previous pet. There were too many memories and Zoey represented a fresh start.
“She is just a doll,” Weber said as Zoey nuzzled her and hardly left her side in the cat area of the shelter. “They do the right things here. If you pick up a pet off the road you don’t know what you’re getting.”
There are 2,000 adoptions a year, with the process taking roughly a half-hour to 45 minutes. Ganley recommends anyone with a dog already hoping to adopt another should bring that dog in first to make sure they’re compatible.
Ganley said several pets that come to the shelter are from people who pass away or enter hospice and can’t take care of them any longer and a family member can’t help. The humane society has also built relationships with other shelters so pets have an even better chance.
There are also sad instances such as a recent morning the staff arrived to find a litter of six kittens probably no older than 72 hours on their doorstep. The first days for a kitten are critical. Ganley’s guess is the mother was out hunting and someone thought they were abandoned and brought them there, believing they were doing the right thing.
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He and the staff tried their best to help the kittens, nursing them every two hours and taking them home with him. Unfortunately without those early days under the mother’s care, they didn’t survive.
“We know a lot of people want to do the right thing, but just leaving them on a doorstep is not the correct thing to do,” Ganley said.
Besides the dogs and cats, Ganley has seen hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, chickens, even pot-bellied pigs up for adoption. They try to take everything except reptiles, which the shelter doesn’t have a heating element to accommodate.
Ganley is having to do more with less as the humane society’s budget was slashed from $280,000 to $80,000 recently. He has three full-time and three part-time employees, and the top priority is to love animals.
“I’m not immune to picking up the poop and puke. We want a shelter people want to come to,” he said.
The newest employee, Cindy (who declined to give her last name) ran the former kennel at the Upper Valley Mall for 15 years and worked in a veterinarian’s office for 25 years. This was the next natural step.
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The shelter has a strong volunteer base with 150. Some are high school students or other organizations who help bathe the pets, do their nails or whatever needs done. A new dog walking program was introduced in the back area of the shelter with several enthusiastic participants.
Julianne Whitaker became a humane society volunteer when her daughters were in school and has stayed on for eight years. Even on a day the shelter was closed, she stopped by to check on a dog she hoped her hairdresser would adopt.
“It’s all about the animals,” Whitaker said. “I have three dogs and two cats I got from here. I’ve been a Clark County resident off and on for 52 years and I encourage everyone to get involved in the shelter. I think people should come see the work being done here and form their own opinion.”
Another addition is a cat tender loving care program. Ganley said cats are more timid and can be harder to place. The program teaches the proper ways to pet, brush and identify body language.
Ganley has enjoyed his experience so far and embraced the Springfield community. He’s using his marketing and business background to introduce new ways to benefit the shelter with the revenue shortfall.
The shelter hosted a successful benefit event with famed paranormal writer and investigator James A. Willis in April and preparing for its first Mutt Strut on May 27 in Clifton and always looking to share what the humane society offers.
Future plans at the shelter include landscaping and possibly putting in a garden. The facility is also interested in adding volunteers and board members, and financial contributions are always welcome.
A big goal is to revamp the kennels, which are the same since the shelter location opened in 1975.
“We’re bringing the shelter into 2017, and beyond,” Ganley said.
For more information, call 937-399-2917 or http://www.clarkhumane.org/.
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