Realistic or Modern Safe Haven ( Animal focused roleplay )

[Catharsis]

Kyle took his time biking to the shelter, taking only the long roads and pedaling slowly to ensure he would get there only after several minutes to an hour. He was always late, and did it just to spite Nichole and Remus. Much to his dismay, he had mistakenly went a little faster than usual and now, he could see the shelter coming into view. When he got to the shelter he slammed his bike into the side of the building and walked in. Nichole had told him the previous day that they would have new workers and volunteers, but this was a lot. He groaned and sat down in a small chair in the reception room and waited for Nichole or Remus to finish up so they could tell him his assignment for the day. Kyle didn't actually work with any animals. In fact, he didn't even know how many animals were in the shelter currently. He was usually outside doing construction or repairs for the shelter. He had built the dog fences and the horse corral. As of right now, Nichole made him do store runs and put in orders. So he usually stayed busy.


Nichole led the small group behind her into the dog room. Each side of the room was lined with large cages made to be put outside, and each contained a maximum of three dogs. She began to walk down the center between the cages and spoke, "This is the doggy room. As you can see we have pretty big cages, but we only keep two dogs in each at a time to prevent them from feeling discomfort, which could lead to the dogs getting into a fight. Now, most of our dogs in this shelter are spayed and neutered as soon as they come in in less they have a collar or chip. Despite this, we keep males and females separated. When we are unable to have an animal fixed for whatever reason, we send that specific animal to one of the fosters we have lined up until we can take care of that. Now, i'm sure by now you've noticed that each cage has two name tags on it, those names are the animal's names that are within the cage. When you take the dogs out, please PLEASE remember to put them in the right cage. Some of these dogs don't get along very well and we don't want any fights. You'll pick up on their names soon enough, but if you can't remember it's not a problem. Just ask me, remus, or one of the coworkers." she paused and walked back to the entrance. "Any questions before I go?"

 

[Flutterby]

Kipty smiled to herself, heading to the small animal room with a longing glance at the puppies. Ah well, maybe later. She started with the animals quickly. There was a litter of young rabbits, found orphaned in someone's front yard, a pair of unwanted hamsters, a guinea pig with a tummy ache, and a ferret with a broken tail.


She fed all of them properly, murmuring softly to them each in turn. With the exception of the bunnies, they were all quite friendly. The ferret in particular wanted to be loved on. After checking vitals on the guinea pig, she made sure it had its medicine and shut the door with a small sigh. Next, she changed water bottles and dishes. The cages needed to be cleaned, so she began to do that as Chase was finishing feeding the snake.


"I think this guinea pig needs to be looked at again. She doesnt seem to be feeling any better." She commented absently, giving the little animal a scratch as she finished with her cage and withdrew her hands with a frown. Kipty moved on to the next cage, suddenly feeling as if the silence in the room was awkward. "So uh.. Hows life, Chase?" She asked, mentally grinding her teeth at the thought of small talk. But thats what people who worked together did, and the silence was making her more uncomfotable than talking.


@Emem

 

[Emem]

Avery tried very hard to listen to Nichole's instructions, but it was difficult to stay focused in a room full of dogs and puppies! Avery heard Nichole ask "Any questions before I go?" She looked around at the others in the group, who seemed a bit shy about speaking up, but after seven years at university she had no shame about asking questions.


"Nichole, is there any kind of a sign out process if you're taking one of the dogs out? At school and some other shelters I've volunteered with there are white boards or clip boards where you have to write your name, when you took the dog, and what you are doing, beside the name of the dog you were taking out of the kennel room, to prevent any missing critters and also as a record incase one of the dogs got hurt or sick." she explained.


Chase was mostly lost in his work and was slightly surprised to hear Kipty speak. He frowned a little when she mentioned the sick guinea pig. "We should make a note on its records and let Nichole know to look at it later." he agreed.


A few minutes later Chase was just snapping a clean and refilled water dish into a budgie cage when Kipty spoke up again.


"Uhh... life's alright. I'm alive, live in a free country, and of course work is good; so no complaints here." he shrugged with a sheepish grin. "It'll be nice with all the new people starting, hopefully I can cash in on some of the overtime I'm owed from chasing critters all over town at midnight. It would be nice to get some more fishing in while my brothers are home for the next few weeks, the weather has been perfect but, since we haven't perfected time travel, there are only so many hours in the day." he said, shrugging again.


"What about you, anything interesting in your life?" he asked only semi-awkwardly.

 

[Catharsis]

Nichole began walking out of the room when she heard Avery speak up, "Not really. Each person is supposed to let me know before they leave with any dogs. I have a pretty great memory so trust me I won't forget. As far as health problems go, just make sure to check the dogs when you go out and when you come back, if anything happens while you're on a walk that could be potentially dangerous just come back right away and I'll check it out. Other than that, we do check ups weekly to ensure the animals here aren't sick, and they get constant attention so that shouldn't be a problem as long as you guys let me in on any concerns." she replied leaning down to pet Skye, who had been following them the whole time.


"Hopefully that's it, cause' I have a horse to feed and some puppies to check on, so I'll be going. If you guys need me I'll be in the examination room, or by the stables. Oh, and Avery, follow me please." she said walking out and gesturing to Avery. She walked into the examination room and lowered the puppies's cage to the floor before spreading a towel over the table.


She turned to Avery, who had followed her, and scooped up one of the puppies. She sat it on the table and reached over, grabbing some latex gloves and pulling them on. "Okay, so I'm gonna show you how to do this one, and I want you to check the rest. Make sure to pull on some gloves, no telling where Chase pulled these guys from." she said and began to rub her fingers through the puppy's fur. She looked at it closely, checking for any signs of infections or cuts. The puppy didn't seem to have any obvious problems, just a bit of dry skin. She checked the ears, mouth , and eyes of it and found no problems. She moved over to the sink on the far side of the room and sat the puppy inside. She started the water and began to clean the puppy's matted fur slowly, using only a small amount of shampoo on it.


"This one is a sweetheart. Not much struggle at all. He'll get adopted easy." she said, looking to Avery. She tried the pup up a bit before reaching over and grabbing a blue ribbon out of one of the drawers and tied it around the dog's neck loosely. She sat the pup on a dry towel on the floor and allowed it to lay down as she turned to Avery again. "Okay, so as long as each puppy goes through check ups fine, we can move them to the dog room and begin potty training before putting them up for adoption. Hopefully by then moma dog will show up and we can reunite them. If not, these pups will do just fine, they seem old enough to me to be on their own. Now, I have a few things to do, so do you mind checking out the rest for me please?" she asked Avery.


@Emem

 

[Emem]

Avery nodded at Nichole's response to her question. She was getting the feeling that Safe Haven was a lot more relaxed than most of the clinics and shelters she had worked in, which was fine by her. Micro-managing and bureaucracy were never in the animals' best interests. Everyone else was released and Nichole asked Avery to follow her to the clinic. Avery watched as Nichole did a standard exam on the first male puppy and then gave him a quick bath to remove the dirt and mats from the puppies fur. He was very quiet and well behaved. "Do you mind checking out the rest for me please?" Nichole asked.


"Sure, no problem." she smiled, nodding enthusiastically pulling on a pair of exam gloves. "I agree, they all ate some puppy food mash fine when I fed them earlier, so they should be okay to feed without their mother." she said. Nichole left to work on some other things and Avery got to work.


Avery finished drying off the first pup thoroughly, to make sure he didn't get a chill. She then decided to reexamine him quickly so that she could write down vitals and weights for all the pups for comparison purposes. She took his heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, listened to his breathing and gut activity, checked for dehydration with a skin pull and took his temperature. She wrote each of these measures down on a piece of paper in a crude chart and then weighed him. Then she placed him in a second cage by himself, which he wasn't quite so fond of, but Avery didn't want any potential fleas or mites jumping back on the pup after he was cleaned. She pulled out the second pup and thoroughly examined him and recorded his vitals. There were no signs of infestations of illnesses so she bathed him and dried him thoroughly before putting a Green ribbon on him and placing him with his brother. She did the same with the third pup, which turned out to be a girl. She was quite a bit smaller than the other two, a little less active, and seemed to have a bit of congestion. Avery made a note to keep a close eye on her, deciding she wasn't yet ill enough to warrant antibiotics. She fastened a pink ribbon around her neck and placed her with the other two.


Examining and bathing the last little male was quite an adventure, he was the largest of the puppies and squirmed so much he seemed more ferret-like than puppy-like. "Stay still please." she murmured, trying unsuccessfully to get the pup's heart rate for the third time. "You're quite the little trouble maker!" she exclaimed. It was too bad there wasn't anyone else around to hold him, but Avery had to make due by herself for now. Several more tries later, she was finally successful at counting to 15 before he wiggled away. "Ha! Gotcha!" she grinned. The rest of the vitals were a little less of a struggle, the pup seemed to be tiring himself out. She bathed him, dried him well, and tied a red ribbon around his neck before placing him with the others.


"Okay guys, let's go take you to your new home." she said. lifting the cage and carrying them down the hall to the dog room. "Hey guys." she said to the volunteers and workers who were playing with the dogs and cleaning. Since there was still quite a risk of the pups spreading an illness or receiving one, since they were too young to vaccinate, Avery took the pups to the far end of the room, which was otherwise empty, to keep them in semi-quarantine. She left the pups in the small cage while she went to the supply room to find some bedding materials. Avery found an old comforter to use as a bed, lots of newspaper to line the pen, she also found a heat lamp and decided that would be a good addition until they were a bit older since it was relatively cool in the kennel room. After digging around a bit more to see what she could find, she came across a few toys that were small enough and safe enough for the puppies, and way back in a corner, she found a plastic children's pool, which would work as a whelping box for another week or two (when the pups were big enough to climb out!). She hauled her load of supplies back into the kennel room and went about setting up the cage.


First, she lined the entire floor with a few layers of newspaper, next, she placed the pool in the back corner and filled it with even more newspaper. Then, Avery folded the comforter up so that it took up only about a quarter of the pool, so that the puppies had lots of room to go to the bathroom without soiling the bedding. Next, Avery strung up the heat lamp and ran it to an outlet, making sure the cord and light were well out of reach of the puppies. She placed all four of the puppies in the pool and kept an eye on them. They wobbled around inspecting their new surroundings and playing with the new toys. Avery stepped outside to go find them a clean water dish, once she was satisfied that they were somewhat content, and returned a few minutes later. The puppies had all curled up contently under the heat lamp, but the pup with the red ribbon looked up when she walked inside. "Go back to sleep trouble!" she chuckled, setting the water dish on the newspaper in the pool. Avery double checked to make sure the heat lamp wasn't over-heating the puppies, and after that she was content that the cage was well setup.


Avery decided to go clean up the exam room and check back on the pups just before lunch. First, she clipped the page with the vitals for each pup to the front of the cage and then wrote a small note to the workers and clipped it to the cage.

Caution: Puppies are immunocompromised and prone to illness:


1. Please wash your hands thoroughly before entering the puppy pen.


2. Use only sanitized toys, food dishes, and other supplies.


3. Change your clothes if you have visited unvaccinated or ill animals.


4. Notify staff of any sign of illness!



​

After that, Avery was satisfied that the puppies were safe and she went back into the clinic to sanitize the exam table, medical equipment and sink. After that, Avery gathered the wet towels, from drying the puppies, and took them to the laundry room to wash.

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Maya Godard


Though the early morning beeping was expected, that didn’t make it any more wanted. And by not being wanted, she meant, banging snooze ten times in an attempt to get it to shut up before closing her eyes to sleep some more. Of course, the wretched clock had achieved its goal, and that just made her want to hit it more.


With a long suffering sigh, she flipped off her covers and slid to her feet, glad she had showered the night before. She didn’t check the clock as she walked over to her closet, throwing a plain, comfortable gray v-neck she scored from the male’s section of the store over a pair of worn jeans. After adding a pair of socks and hardy slip resistant sneakers.


After toasting a piece of bread and making sure it had a proper butter-jam ratio, she grabbed her set of keys off the kitchen key hook, as well as removing one of the hair ties attached to it, removing her phone from her charger and shoving it into her bag as she left her apartment. She shoved the toast into her mouth, freeing her other hand after she quickly wiped it on her pants.


Time to go to work, she guessed. Keys in the ignition, engine started soon after, phone silenced- she was prepared. One last quick breath as she remembered that this was the only way she could help the animals, and she was as excited as she could be. Traffic was surprisingly awful for the day, and a peek at her watch at a red light revealed she was going to be late.


Maya groaned. This was not what she wanted this morning. The Renkos seemed reasonable enough, however, and though today she lacked punctuality, she would make sure to work twice as hard as usual and skip lunch if necessary. She really needed this job and hoped this mishap wouldn’t affect that.


Finally, she saw Safe Haven in sight and sighed in relief. She hopped out of her car, locking it and giving it a weak kick- after all, if she hit it too hard it might actually break and that would be a disaster. Purse in hand, she hurried inside, not bothering to greet Kyle before putting her bag in the back and going to search out a place she was needed.





Cornelius Rochester


Louis nodded along to what Remus said, focused as he started looking around at the different cats. He couldn’t help but notice that the options listed were for workers and volunteers. He could wait until everyone had asked their questions before asking about what he should be doing, however, since that seemed more like a question that only he needed answered and not a question the entire group required an answer to.


He waited for the group to disperse before sheepishly lifting his hand and asking Remus, “Um, what should vets be doing?”


Roxanne Rochester


Roxanne would be lying if she said she thought that working with dogs seemed anything less than awesome. The rules seemed pretty straight forward for the doggy room, and the one question asked before they were left on their own clarified things further. That did not leaving her quite knowing what at that moment she should do. So she decided that the most reasonable course of action would be to follow somebody else. Yeah, that made sense.

 

[Flutterby]

Kipty made a note in the records as she listened to Chase's voice, nodding a little. "You definitely should take advantage if you can and get in a fishing trip. Can't be all work and no play." The phrase tumbled out of her mouth easily, from hearing it so much, but she cringed, hand pausing in its writing. She hesitated even longer when the question was returned. Crap.. didn't think about that. "Um.. well, I mean, I'm really just working. And I got a fish. One of the black bubble-eyed ones." She paused, as she opened the ferret's door to clean it as well. "I thought, since Tim isn't around anymore to complain about it being ugly, I could finally get one." Her voice went up a little in pitch, as she voiced her biggest life change. Throw it in casually, maybe it wouldn't even be noticed. Chase probably didn't know Tim had been her boyfriend, the one she moved out here to be with, so he seemed like a safe person to mention his absence to. Then she could at least say she had told people, even if it didn't really count. With the animals fed, the cages clean, water changed, and notes made, she had no choice but turn and face Chase. "So now I have a Sirius Black, to keep Sadie and I company." The girl gave a shrug, her gray eyes watched him passively, while her mind whirled to what else she had to do that day.


@Emem

 

[Emem]

Now finished his half of the animals, Chase leaned against the counter and listened quietly to Kipty's explanation about what was going on in her life. He smiled at her comment about the fish. Kipty mentioned someone named Tim, who Chase had never heard mentioned before. Although they didn't necessarily talk about their personal lives very often, Chase got the impression that Tim had meant quite a lot to her and that his absence hurt. Not being one to talk much about emotions, and worried he would offend her, Chase didn't press the subject. Rather, he gave what he hoped was a sympathetic smile and decided to change the subject. "I take it you're a Harry Potter fan?" he laughed, checking his watch. It was getting pretty close to lunch time and Chase figured he better go check the traps for the mother dog relatively soon.


"Hey, if you're not too busy, do you wanna come with me to check the traps and stop at the diner for lunch?" he asked.


@Flutterby


Avery starting a load of laundry, Avery wondered what to do next. The lack of explicit instructions or assignments had given her a chance to get to know the shelter better, but her overachieving personality made waiting around to be given another task almost impossible now that she had run out of things to do. Avery wandered out towards the reception area, assuming she might find Remus or Nichole. A girl hurried past Avery in the hall and all she could do was give a brief smile before she hustled off.


In the reception area one guy was sitting at a chair. He looked too comfortable to be a client, but wasn't doing anything particularly helpful that might suggest he was a volunteer or worker.


"Hi there, I'm Avery, the new Vet intern." she said, introducing herself briefly with a warm smile and a slight wave.


@Lonelytaco @mikaluvkitties

 

[Flutterby]

Kipty tensed, waiting for his response. But when it came, it put her at ease. She grew a little red and smiled. "Since I was young. Started off as a good way to bond with my older brother, but I quickly became a bigger fan than he ever was." With a glance at her watch, she decided it wouldn't hurt to help Chase with the traps. After all, she didn't have any dogs in training- they either had their basic commands down already, or were to young to start. "Sure, if I wouldn't be a bother. We don't have any animals that need long training sessions, so I don't have a whole lot to do myself." With that, she gave the ferret another scratch, mentally promising she would come back later and give the little guy some love, and grabbed her baseball cap. It was a light blue, well-loved cap, with a pawprint embroidered in navy on the front. She looped her ponytail through the back and settled it firmly, and then motioned for him to lead the way. "Ready when you are!" Kip couldnt help but get a little excited about something new to help the animals she loved.


@Emem


In reception, Sadie lifted her head and peered across the room. The mutt found herself looking at Kyle, who had plopped down in a bad mood. She gave soft ruff, somewhere in between a bark and a whine. Tail wagging cautiously, the dog stood and stretched, and then trotted over the the unfamiliar man. She had seen him a few times, but always when she was with her Kipty and needed to behave. But now, Kipty was away and she wanted to be friendly. With a friendly light in her eyes, Sadie sniffed at his shoes and then nosed his hand softly, clearly looking for a scratch behind the ears.


@Lonelytaco

 

[Catharsis]

Kyle jumped a bit when he heard Avery's voice. "Oh, hey. I'm Kyle. That's cool, I'm the guinea pig." he said looking down just as the dog came trotting over to him. He tried to swat her away, but she wouldn't budge. He let out a sigh and stood, brushing off his black jeans. "I guess I'll be getting to work then." he said narrowing his eyes at the dog, but speaking to Avery. He walked out the door and remembered the call he had gotten earlier. He ran back in and grabbed the yellow notepad that was sitting on the receptionist's desk. He got it and jogged out the door to the stables, where he found Nichole feeding Edgar. "Uh, you got a call earlier." he said handing her the pad through the stable door.


Nichole finished pouring the horse's food and then grabbed it from the boy. "Thanks Kyle." she said as she began scanning over the details. There had been a call about a tan colored dog wondering around Dirk's steakhouse. That was all the pad said. "Did they say if it was aggressive or anything like that?" she asked as she slid out of the stable. "Uh... they said he had a crooked tail and a slight limp but that's it." he said with a shrug and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Nichole gave him a death glare and ripped the paper out. "Ok, that's the kind of stuff you need to write down Kyle!" she yelled before tossing the pad back at him. "You're on reception today. Make sure to write ALL the details this time." she said walking back to the shelter.


She walked in and wrote a sticky note saying she would be gone for a bit, and started to leave when she noticed Avery standing there. "Wanna come with? Got a hurt dog at Dirk's." she asked pressing her back to the door and staring at the girl.


@Emem @Flutterby

 

[Emem]

Avery smiled politely as Kyle introduced himself, but wasn't exactly sure what he meant about being the guinea pig. Shortly after he left to go outside and returned a minute later with Nichole following, looking slightly irked. She mentioned about catching an injured dog and asked if Avery wanted to come along. "Definitely! Do you need me to get any supplies or anything?" she asked, trying to be helpful.


@Lonelytaco


Chase smiled at Kipty's enthusiasm and walked over to the door, holding it open for her. "Great, let's just go and check in at reception to make sure there isn't anything else going on. They walked out into the reception where there was a lot of action going on. He saw Kyle at the reception desk and nodded curtly at him in greeting. Although Chase wasn't one to jump to conclusions about people, he wasn't the biggest fan of Kyle's apathetic attitude about working at the shelter. Chase heard Nichole talking about going out to get an injured dog and asked Avery to go with her.


"Sorry I didn't take the call, I was helping feed the small animals." he apologized earnestly. "Do you guys have catching that dog under control?" he asked Nichole and Avery. "I was going to bring Kipty with me to check the traps at the diner and look around for the German Shepherd, but if this situation is more urgent, I can check the traps later and come help?" he offered.


@Flutterby @Lonelytaco

 

[Catharsis]

Nichole shook her head at Avery's question. "The van has everything we'll need, but I'd suggest getting a water or something before we head out. You never know how long this could take." she said walking forward a bit to the desk. Chase came in a few moments and nodded to Kyle. Nichole shook her head and weved her hand dismissively to Chase's apology. "Me and Avery should be able to handle this one, besides, you have a momma missing her pups somewhere out there. I'd say you better get to it. We're taking the van though, so you'll have to take your truck." she said opening the mini fridge that sat on a counter towards he back of the room. She dug around for the coke she had put in last night, but came out empty handed. There was a coke thief among them. No doubt it had to be Kyle, who had a half empty coke sitting in front of him.


Nichole bopped him on the head slightly with her water bottle and started back towards the door.


"You earned that one you coke thief. Now come on Avery." she said winking at Kyle who's face was now red from anger. She walked out the door to the purple van that sat in front of the shelter and climbed in, waiting on Avery.

 

[Emem]

Avery nodded at Nichole, going over to grab her backpack, which had a reusable water bottle inside. She laughed a little at Nichole and Kyle's encounter, he seemed thoroughly embarrassed. "Okay, I'm good to go." she said, following Nichole outside and hopping up into the passenger seat of the bright purple van. She grinned, when she saw the van, everything about this shelter was so unorthodox, but great. "So whereabouts is Dirk's steakhouse?" she asked curiously. "I'm still trying to get my bearings about this town, although taking my dog, Hunter, for a good long walk around town yesterday certainly helped." she chuckled as Nichole backed out of the driveway.


Chase nodded at Nichole "Okay, well, good luck guys! Call me if you need anything." he said, waving as they walked out the door. "Alright, let's go find a dog!" Chase said, leading Kipty outside. He pulled open the hatch of his truck to make sure he still had lots of treats for luring the mother dog, in case she wasn't in the trap. He was satisfied with the supplies at hand, and slammed the back hatch shut before climbing into the driver's side. He started the truck and the quiet sound of an old rock song filled the cab. He waited for Kipty to jump up in the truck before turning around, with one hand on the wheel and the other arm resting on the back of the seat as he navigated out of the parking lot. "We'll go check the trap at the house on Maple St. first," he said, waiting for Nichole to turn left in the van so that he could turn right and go the opposite way. "I have a feeling that if we're going to find mom, she'll be in the trap closest to her pups." he explained.


@Lonelytaco @Flutterby

 

[The Mechanist]

Remus turned to Cornelius and smiled, "Well vets get the most fun, yet serious job there is. The Vets are the doctors, truly taking care of the cats at the biological level, making sure both the anatomy and physiology is up to par. Health is always important, only slightly above the happiness aspect of the animal. A happy animal isnt always a healthy one, but really just do what a doctor does, blood tests perdiodically to check for health issues, urinalysis as well, check the cats BMI as well. Thats about it really, anymore questions?"

 

[Flutterby]

Sadie whined and looked up at Kyle with big eyes, shifting her weight between her paws and sitting down politely. Any other dog might have jumped onto his chest trying to get attention, but she knew better. Instead, she watched with mild confusion as he walked away. Didnt he love her? Everyone loved her, where was he going?


"Sounds great." Kipty agreed, following Chase out with a smile. Sadie's ears picked up on her voice instantly and she turned to see her, wagging her tail and standing up. While the others were talking and coordinating, Kipty patted her thigh once and Sadie bounded across the room, stopping with a happy whine at her person's feet. Kipty bent and ruffed up her face, giving her cheek a kiss. Sadie was wiggling happily, only to stop as soon as Kipty's attention returned to Chase. With a point, Sadie was sent back to her bed in the corner, where she would happily wait and watch until her person returned. The dog shifted her head to stare pleadingly at Kyle, hoping he would call her over from her bed and pet her.


Kipty followed Chase out, taking a look at the sky while he checked the back. She started getting in the truck before he did, but he still had to wait for a moment because.. well, his truck was a lot taller than her little car, and it took some effort to get up in the cab. At last, she was in her seat and they were headed out. "I sure hope we find her. Those puppies will be getting really lonely soon."


@Lonelytaco @Emem

 

[Emem]

"Mmm." Chase absentmindedly replied to Kipty's comment about finding the mother dog as he scanned the streets. It had become a habit of his to keep an eye out, even while driving, because you never knew when a stray cat or dog might run by. It was a rather uneventful drive to Maple St. and they arrived a few minutes later. Chase parked the truck in the boulevard in front of 39 Maple St. before turning off the engine and pocketing the keys. He led the way to the back of the truck and dug around a bit.


"Okay, so before we get started, there are a few things I am obligated to tell you, but are pretty much common sense, about the animal control aspect of working at the shelter. First, you always want to be wearing these thick leather gloves." he said, handing her a pair, that he hoped wouldn't be too large. "As a general rule, the dogs on the loose in Safe Haven have either been born on the street and treated like pests or were a part of the original dog fighting ring. So it's quite possible for them to be very fearful or aggressive, whereas once they've been fed a few meals in the shelter and you start working with them, they're a bit more pleasant. That means dog bites are a possibility, so the gloves help protect us from being hurt, if a dog does bite." he explained, pulling on his own well worn out pair. "Next, an animal control pole and a bit of trickery is always the easiest way to catch a stray dog. I keep a lot of dehydrated beef liver in my pockets for the occasion and will throw it down to distract the dog from a distance. While they aren't paying attention you can then slip the noose over their head easily enough. Try to avoid backing the dog into a corner, that makes them much more defensive, but if it happens, it happens." he shrugged. "There's a good chance you won't have to worry about this today, but I'll show you how to tighten and loosen the noose on the animal control pole, just in case." he said, before showing her how to operate the pole. "Hmm... I think that's about it. The rest of it is all common sense that I know that you know. Walk as quietly as you can and avoid talking if there might be a dog nearby. Try to avoid sudden movements, that kind of thing." he said.


"Got it?" he asked with a boyish grin, handing her a bag of treats and an animal control pole. He took one himself and also coiled a slip lead into his pocket. "With any luck, our friend will be in one of the traps and our job will be easy." he added, shutting the hatch. The old man, Mr. Johnston, had already said that it was fine for them to go in and out of the backyard, so Chase took the lead walking over to the gate and held it open for Kipty to step inside "After you," he said. "The shed is in the back right corner. If you want to walk up along the left fence and circle around, i'll hang back in case she's there and tries to run off." he said, quietly.


@Flutterby

 

[Flutterby]

Kipty clambered down from the cab, giving a small gasp as her feet slipped on the unfamiliar running board. She caught herself, and jumped down with a cross glare at the truck that she decided was a death trap for small people. She scampered to the back, listening intently to Chase. When he handed her the gloves, she slid them on, flexing her hands experimentally. They were thick and odd-feeling, but not too large. She memorized the movements he used to operate the pole, suddenly feeling a little nervous. He was right, once the dogs were at the shelter for a few days, they were almost never aggressive.


But when he asked if she had it, she gave a spunky nod and smiled back. Following him quietly as she put the treats in her pocket, she gave a nod and began moving along the fence. Kipty fingered the pole as she walked, trying to keep her mind calm. As she got closer to the hotel, she looked around closely, but didn't see anything. She reached up, adjusting her hat, and then she heard something. A dry, rustling sound. Her mind recognized it instantly as claws on a hard surface. Did that mean she was in the trap? Kipty glanced back, wondering if she should tell Chase she could hear it. But speaking might scare her off if she wasnt actually in the trap. Withdrawing a treat from her pocket, she moved closer to the fence line and started to round the corner, only half expecting to see the dog.


@Emem

 

[Emem]

Chase saw Kipty look back and nodded reassuringly to let her know that he had also heard the noise. He walked over to the near side of the shed and waited patiently about 10 feet away from it, but out of sight of the dog. 'Theoretically, if the dog isn't in the cage, it should see Kipty and run right past me. As long as I time it right, it should be easy to catch her. If I do happen to miss, at least the gate is shut and hopefully she can't find a way out before we can grab her.' Chase reasoned. Since he couldn't see the dog, he watched Kipty's face carefully for any indication that the dog was loose. He grinned a little at her wide eyed look of apprehension, and excitement.


A few seconds later, Kipty visibly relaxed. Chase, confident that the dog was in the cage, walked over. "Nice work dog catcher! You handled that like a pro." he said with a beaming smile. "We make a good team." he added with a wink. Chase looked into the dim light of the shed, he could just make out the outline of the German Shepherd in the cage pacing around as she saw them approach. He was relieved they had caught the right dog. With the number of stray dogs in Harmony, it was very easy to intend to catch one and come back to the traps to find a completely different dog. Chase bent down to enter the short garden shed and navigated the clutter to get closer. "Easy girl. You're okay. We're going to bring you to see your babies." he murmured softly, crouching down beside the cage and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light to examine the dog. "She looks like she's sound, but definitely on the thin side." he reported, speaking quietly to Kipty. Chase cleared a path through the clutter in the shed, to pull the cage out. He put an arm on each end and lifted it up, trying to be steady to avoid further upsetting the dog. It was a bit of a challenge navigating the over sized cage out the door while avoiding bashing his head on the top of the door frame. He set the cage on the grass outside, panting a little from the effort.


@Flutterby

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Cornelius Rochester


Louis smiled nervously, rubbing his neck. That did seem a bit obvious, huh? It made him painfully aware he was new to this job and didn’t know what was going on yet. If he had been back at the office he had interned at, he’d have a better idea- check ups, emergencies, a schedule with structure. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t like structure. However, he had another question and as he asked, shifting from one foot to the other, he remembered his sister was here, and no matter how today went, he could always tell her about it. “Um, just one more. Any idea who needs a check up? Is there any organization for that or should I just do all the cats right now?”


Roxanne Rochester


Well, better do something, Roxie thought, as she checked that the animals had food and water, washing her hands as need dictated, refilling what was necessary. She made sure to avoid the newly set up cage that had definitely not been there before. Maybe she was just being lazy, but she didn’t have an extra set of clothes. She’d try to remember that tomorrow. For now, she didn’t really have any idea what to do for the dogs. They had food, water, shelter, company, looked pretty clean. She guessed some might take meds maybe. She got up to look around, but stopped when she noticed to two dogs in the cage in front of her. They were pretty cute. She checked their names. Phil and Duke.


Well, she had stuff to check. She could look at them more later.

 

[Hotaru]

Aly walked near the shelter. It was her first day volunteering at the shelter. Her parents were always busy, and since she loved animals, she saw no reason to volunteer at the shelter. Her father was a veterinarian so he was very supportive of it and her mother was a lawyer who was either working at home or away, so she didn't really care. Aly walked in the shelter, looking around.

 

[Catharsis]

( Sorry about my absence, haven't been getting notifications for some reason. )


Nichole began to drive away from the shelter and took a left, heading towards Greenway while Chase turned Right towards Maple. She kept her eye on the road as she answered Avery's question. "Well, it's about a 10 minute drive from the shelter. I wouldn't suggest walking there because you'd have to go through some pretty bad neighborhoods first. In fact, it's pretty close to the bust site. Dirk's itself is in a pretty good place though. We can grab a bite to eat while we're there if you want, it's good eating AND a great place for catching some strays.". she smiled at the last part. A lot of the animals that were currently in the shelter came from the area, and Nichole was already quite familiar with the owner of the place. Dirk's was a family run restaurant, so the owners were local rather than corporate assholes. Nichole pulled into the parking lot and found a spot. She climbed out of the large van and began walking to the door. Before she could even get close, a tall woman with bouncing red hair ran out of the building with a look of fury on her face, behind her she drug a small crying child out as well.


The woman ran straight up to Nichole, and stopped. She knelt over on one knee and yanked the child's arm up so that Nichole could see and began to yell. "You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. Thanks to you that THING knocked my baby over and now she is bleeding." Nichole listened, trying to put two and two together and find out who the woman was. She decided not to worry about it and chose to find the dog before someone else did and began walking away. "I suggest you give your child a band aid rather that exposing that "wound" to air, which has the potential to cause an infection." she said as she did so. The owner of the steakhouse met her as she walked in with a sad smile. "I see you met my fiance." he said as if it were an apology.


Nichole waved her hands as though she had heard enough and smiled at the short man, "So where's this aggressive dog?" she asked sarcastically. "Er, he was outside a few moments ago." he said pointing towards the side of the building, "I laid out some leftovers for him just now so he should be out there still." he finished. Nichole nodded and headed back outside. She had already been carrying the pole the whole time and was pretty prepared to catch the dog any moment now. She walked around the corner and spotted the dog immediately. She got quiet and looked at Avery. She walked away from the dog again and looked at the girl. "Okay, so since Chase has the other pole we only have one. I'm gonna hold on to this, and you can have these gloves. I'll try to catch him, but if he slides by me I just want you to slow him down without you or him getting hurt."


@Emem (this post is terrible xD sorry)


Kyle looked over at the dog that was lying in the bed close to him. He rolled his eyes at it and began to play a game on the computer. A few minutes had flown by when Nichole's dog, Skye trotted in. Skye shook the mud off her coat and bounded over to the dog laying in the corner bed and began to sniff at it curiously. Skye was not used to other dogs being loose in the shelter so this one came as a delightful surprise. Finally, someone she could play with!


@Flutterby

 

[Emem]

Avery listened intently as Nichole talked about the area around the steakhouse, but before too long they were pulling into the parking lot of the steakhouse. A large sign on the side of the building read Dirk's. Avery followed when Nichole wordlessly walked towards the building. They hadn't walked more than ten feet when a woman came dragging a young girl over. She started yelling at them, and how it was their fault that the dog had knocked over the child. Usually Avery was very opinionated when it came to animals, but she was speechless. 'Really? This is how poorly they view dogs around here?' she thought, as they went to meet the owner, who Avery assumed was 'Dirk'. He explained where the dog was and they walked around out back.


"Sounds like a plan." Avery nodded, as Nichole walked forward towards the dog. Avery slipped on the gloves she had been given and followed, but hung back a bit. She waited for Nichole to reach the dog, who was so fixated on the scraps that he barely even noticed her approach.


@Lonelytaco

 

[Hotaru]

"Um.. Is anyone here?" Aly called. The shelter looked nice, it was just that Aly didn't come here a lot, in fact, the last time she came was about two to three years ago. After a bit of waiting, Aly took a seat at the nearest chair and pulled out her phone and played a game on it.

 

[mikaluvkitties]

Maya Godard, Talking to: Alyssa Harte (@Hotaru)


She had decided that there was never a limit of menial tasks to do around the shelter, and had gone off to do as many of them as possible. Kitty Room, Dog Room, where the smaller animals were held, she did what was still needed expeditiously. There was less than she was expecting, which probably meant the new people were doing their job. As she passed through the first room once again, she noticed a girl sitting there.


She figured they were probably a client or something along those lines, and after a quick look to see if there was anyone else around to help. There was Kyle, but he appeared to be doing… something, and the two dogs in the room couldn’t exactly talk, which left her. I wish I could trade places with one of the dogs- they know how to be friendly, and it comes so easily to them, she thought as she moved speedily towards the girl.


“Hello,” Maya said, putting on a flimsy, fake smile as she approached, “Can I help you?”

 

[Catharsis]

Nichole had begun approaching the dog slowly. She had the pole at her hip ready for any sudden attempts that the dog may have decided to make. However, the dog seemed not to notice her. In fact, even as she slipped the noose gently around the dog's neck, he still continued to eat, barely noticing. The problem began when Nichole tried the pull the dog away from the tiny strips of scrap meat that laid in front of him. At the first tug, the dog bowed his head and began to growl, fighting the pole. Nichole could tell the dog was starving, and understood it's reasons for fighting, but she could only hope that it would not lead to food aggression later on. Safe Haven had taken in many aggressive dogs in its time, but that around feeding time was the most common. It was the reason the dogs were kept to only two in a cage at a time and why the dogs were watched constantly during feeding time. She continued to lead the dog away slowly as it continued to fight back, it's paws dragging against the rough pavement as it did so.


Nichole finally dug into her pocket and pulled out her back-up plan: Dog treats, more specifically, beggin strips.


The dog sniffed the air for only a moment before turning it's head towards Nichole and started its attempts to get the treat from her hand.


Nichole allowed him to take it, and gave him time to devour it before getting out the next one. By the time she had lead it back to the truck, it had eaten half the bag. She opened both the doors to the back and threw a few of the strips into one of the cages. The dog had been limping, so she hadn't expected it to simply jump up, so once it put one paw on the back side of the van to lift itself, Nichole carefully lifted his bottom half up and allowed him to climb into the metal cage before she removed the pole and shut the door.


She stretched a bit and waved a thumbs up at Dirk, who had been watching from a nearby window. She walked back to the driver's side of the van and climbed in, giving time for Avery to get in before she began driving away.


"So this one's obviously got a few problems. We'll have to be careful when we check him out because he does seem to be a little aggressive." she said looking over.