veterinary technician

veterinary assistant

shelter associate

veterinarian

animal care associate

Dumb Friends League

Professional Review of Humane Colorado (Buddy Center) formerly Denver Dumb Friends League: A Cautionary Tale for Prospective Employees

If you are a passionate animal care professional considering employment at this shelter, I urge you to think carefully. While the mission of rescuing and rehabilitating animals may seem noble on the surface, the internal structure and environment make fulfilling that mission incredibly difficult—and emotionally damaging—for staff.

One of the most glaring issues is the complete lack of updated training materials and proper onboarding. New hires are expected to “hit the ground running,” yet are given little to no foundational knowledge about shelter protocols, daily expectations, or tools necessary to succeed. Worse, there are no properly/fully trained trainers in place. This leaves new staff members in the difficult position of either relying on outdated or inconsistent hearsay from coworkers or falling back on prior industry experience. Unfortunately, attempting to apply prior experience is often met with subtle (and sometimes overt) criticism from senior staff or management, creating a culture where new employees are made to feel not only unprepared, but also professionally inadequate.

The unrealistic workloads compound the issue. With limited staffing and an ever-growing population of animals, the daily burden of care falls on far too few people. It is not uncommon for one or two employees to be left in charge of the care of dozens of animals, resulting in rushed or incomplete care and severe emotional tolls on the staff. Burnout and compassion fatigue are not occasional concerns—they are daily realities at the Buddy Center. There is no meaningful support in place to help mitigate these effects. Employees are stretched so thin that even short absences (for illness, emergencies, or scheduled time off) can create operational chaos.

When these concerns are brought to management—whether it's about the need for better training, increased staff support, or just basic professional respect—they are often met with dismissiveness, blatant condescension, or outright hostility. Constructive feedback is viewed not as an opportunity to improve but as a threat to authority. This creates a toxic culture where problems go unresolved and morale steadily declines.

To be clear, the problem is not with the animals or the mission. Most staff members genuinely care and want to make a difference. But without proper systems, leadership, and support in place, the emotional and physical weight of the work becomes unbearable. Many good employees have left—not because they didn’t care, but because they cared too much, and the system failed them.

In conclusion, this shelter may look like a great opportunity from the outside, but the reality within its walls is disheartening. If you are considering applying, I recommend asking tough questions about training structure, staff-to-animal ratios, and how management handles feedback. If transparency and employee well-being aren't clearly prioritized, it may be best to look elsewhere.

The League is a successful organization that says it wants to promote diversity within the workforce however, when it comes to actually making positive changes to make room for diversity and inclusion the leadership will gaslight those who have suggestions. They do not tolerate any critical dialog and will push people out while taking their ideas and branding it as their own. They also will keep animals for far too long only to decide ultimately not place them and put staff members at risk while "working" with said animals. They need to make more responsible decisions when constrained on staff (due to high turnover rates) of which animals to place and who they cannot reasonably support. It isn't fair to the animals or the staff who are taxed with unrealistic expectations while the leadership takes all the credit and offers no support. In lieu of support,  they offer victim blaming, lack of accountability, and performative activism and plenty of guilt trips to make you think you aren't serving the mission if you advocate in a tone they don't like. 

I worked at Dumb Friends League full-time (More than a year)

Pros

-You genuinely get to improve the lives of animals
-Generally like-minded coworkers
-Decent pay and benefits
-Because it is an established non-profit it is able to offer many benefits to animals that small resucues may not be able to afford.

Cons

-Enormous disconnect between "upstairs" and "downstairs"
-Extreme compassion fatigue, largely unaddressed by management
-Misleading public image, not all animals that are euthanized are in misery, animals may be marked as unhealthy or aggressive when the issue is really time and space, which the management will never admit.

Advice to Management

Listen to your employees, they are there because they care. You could probably save yourselves money by offering more to your employees and experiencing a lower turnover.
-P.S. Expired gift cards and overamplified and generic appreciation messages at all staff meetings isn't equal to genuine appreciation of one's employees on a daily basis

Working at this facility was a good learning experience it was a great introduction to the Animal Care world and I was able to meet people who value the animal care aspect of sheltering. Downside was valid concerns fell on deaf ears and some managers will play favorite to whoever flatters them the most get stoned with them on the weekend or drinks with them after a long shift. Definitely not a place to work if you are a straight edge as alcohol and pot consumption runs rampant here. A good amount of the staff are severely compassion fatigued and overworked,it seems to be swept under the rug as not a problem. A few coworkers had to have interventions by other coworkers to talk them down from suicide. It is definitely not a job for the faint of heart.After serving a good few years here I was thankfully fired. I would have never left that place on my own but my world has got substantially better since leaving them.

This organization has given me the skills I needed to be a well-rounded technician but the people care aspect of this job is terrible (from the hospital perspective). The managers are toxic and will gaslight and manipulate until they feel they have appropriate control over their employees. Work life balance is non-existent as you are expected to stay late until everything is done. Staff does not get paid what they deserve especially with what they have to put up with. Managers will expect you to drop everything at the last minute and go to a different department to help out and if you aren’t accommodating, you’re told that you’re toxic. If you try to voice your opinions concerning changes within the hospital (changes that the leadership never asked for feedback about and just went ahead with anyways), you’re told to keep them to yourself to not spread negativity and toxicity. Although you do see/learn a lot on the job for to the urgent care nature of the hospital, the mental stress and compassion fatigue that comes within 6 months of employment does not seem worth it. 

The Dumb Friends Leauge is on of the top shelters in the country. Their mission of serving the community and animals is evident when observing a day with them. I have not seen their dedication to the quality of life of the animals in their care or the effectiveness of education to their community matched.
  I found  deep fulfillment in each shift I volunteered while learning more about animal care and behavior through classes offered by the Dumb Friends League. The culture their is very teamwork oriented. Everyone is willing to go above and beyond to help both their colleagues and the animals in their care. I would say the hardest part of my job is not being able to help all of the animals. The most enjoyable parts of the day are when I see that  I have made a difference in an animals life and when watching an animal, especially one I know well, walk through the doors to go home with the patron who adopted them.

They try to pass this Spur hospital off as high quality medicine when it is still shelter medicine with fancy equipment paid for by CSU. Be aware everything is on view for the public to come watch the surgeries and dentals so if you are stage fright, I would definitely not recommend. Management is terrible and wonders why 1 person can't do the job of 3 and you will get into trouble for sticking up for yourself if you do have any concerns or issues in the hospital. The low cost portion of this hospital is the only rewarding thing to this job and really the only purpose anyone stays is to help the community while management makes money off of their sweat, tears, and blood. Avoid this place if you're looking for a more healthy environment to work in. Perfect place for anyone who doesn't care for their own well being and mental health. 

The Spur Hospital is passed as high quality medicine but it is far from it. It's shelter medicine with fancy equipment. Management is very money hungry and condescending when you are stressed out. They give little to no support to the team unless you are a lead and even the lead techs are condescending and passive aggressive. They are constantly understaffed and overwork employees until the are burnt out. Cases are rough every day and if you're taking care of the parvo patients then they get decrease care due to the volume of work that is expected of you and no appreciation given in return.  Management doesn't care for your concerns and only wants bodies to be robots daily. Very depressing environment and surgeries are all on view for the public to watch so if you have any kind of public anxieties this is not the place for you. 

This non-profit has such a good, honest mission.  Pay scale and benefits which does include a 401k, are very good for a non-profit. Be prepared to work overtime hours if you are a full-time employee. This job can be very fast-paced, which is a plus.
This means very long days, usually with no breaks at all. 
Which creates very stressed, overworked and tired team members. Management can be very disconnected from their employees at times, and tend to have a lot of miscommunication problems.

As previously stated, this is NOT a job environment for person's with a family, or those who do not want to dedicate a large portion of their time and energy solely to their job.

Volunteer, responsible for the health of dogs, cats and small animals between surgery and return to their cages.  Assist in the preparation and cleanliness of recovery, take temperature, administer fluids,  and keep respiration and pulse of each animal, extubate breathing tube when animal is ready to breathe on its own.  Determine when animal is awake enough to return to its cage.  Coworkers are also volunteers who love animals and want to make stressful times as comfortable as possible for them.  Cages and surgeries are stressful.  The hardest part of the job is not falling in love with every animal I help.  The most enjoyable part is KNOWING that I am making a difference in the life of each animal I touch.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Veterinary technician 20 salaries reported	$27.13 per hour
Veterinary assistant 25 salaries reported	$21.58 per hour
Shelter associate 28 salaries reported	$20.54 per hour
Veterinarian 20 salaries reported	$123,247 per year
Animal care associate 20 salaries reported	$20.51 per hour

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