customer service representative

veterinarian

vice president

volunteer coordinator

foster coordinator

Michigan Humane

What I have learned from studying nonprofits over the last decade is that in many cases, the actions in question are not illegal acts, nor are they perpetrated by those who set out to abuse the system. Rather they are the result of arrogance, sloppy ethical practices or simply inattention to being responsible stewards of resources, including the human resource.

Anyone who studies the history of the MHS will find that problems of accountability and transparency are not something new to the organization. In the late 1980's, the MHS almost went out of business. The executive director at the time left an unexplained deficit of $1.6 million. Historically, things have to get very, very bad before board members will start asking questions. Like many nonprofits, the MHS appears to be once again struggling with a crisis of governance and a lack of credible self-regulation.

Over the last decade or so, MHS has made a fundamental shift in their focus of helping animals to focusing more on numbers and money. Seven of every ten animals that walk in to MHS will not walk out alive. Yet, up until four board members found out about it and quit in June 2011, leadership was touting a 100% save rate.

There are six people earning over $100,000 per year. And, senior management lives the good life with generous salaries and perks including weekend getaways, a membership to the Detroit Athletic Club, and two cars in one year. Often enough on regular workdays, senior management can't be located. And that's at an organization that euthanizes 71% of the animals they take in. The Board of Directors has neglected their duty of providing adequate oversight of the organization.

With no oversight from the board, MHS has become a tyrannical dictatorship with a workplace culture of fear and negativity., Certainly the culture has become anything but supportive-in a job that is already emotional enough due to the nature of the work. I saw many employees mistreated, most often when senior management perceived that employee as a threat for whatever reason. Many people have left MHS over the last decade.

I very much enjoyed working with the animals and my coworkers, most of whom are some of the nicest, most dedicated people that anyone could ever meet. And that includes the folks in lower and mid level management who also work very hard. But, leadership-senior management has made MHS a troubled entity to be sure.

The management at this organization is horrible, specifically to the Detroit shelter. The Detroit location gets treated as the stepchild amongst all three locations. There are no opportunities for growth for anyone. They are always quick to terminate anyone without full investigation. Some individuals have worked decades at this organization and have been let go because of one minor mistake. They do not go above and beyond to help low income families and they look down on clients. The management is cut throat horrible towards it's employees. They do not give out bonuses for all the hard work everyone contributes. Senior management rarely visits the Detroit location and that says a lot about their bourgeois perspective on the city. However, most of their revenue comes from the city. The adoption staff changes like a woman's tampon because many individuals do not like working under the current adoption shelter manager. Half of the original animal cops who went above and beyond on their job are no longer there. At the annual meetings, most of the Detroit staff are sitting in the back or to the side because the other locations are treated at a different standard. In my tenure there, I can count on my hands how many times the CEO has visited the Detroit location let along played with any of the animals, but that's none of my business. If you apply to work as a ACT, be prepared to stay to yourself because many of your co-workers in the shelter will quit or get fired for something stupid. If you apply to work as a receptionist, it's better off that you have no other life priorities because you won't be able to do anything else but work for them. If you apply to work as a veterinarian technician, be prepared to never get off on time and to get in trouble for many things you did not do.  If you apply to work as a rescue driver, be prepared to work crazy hours with low pay and definitely no opportunities for growth in that department. Other than that, be prepared to get cursed out by clients every five minutes, spit on, things thrown at, and low pay. Or better yet, go work at the Westland or Rochester shelter.... You'll get treated better as an employee. If you don't believe me, look at the other reviews. Notice how they give the company 4 and 5 stars, but Detroit employees give the company 1 to 2 stars.

Michigan Humane Society was initially a great place to work. I've worked for the organization over 28 years. I've always wanted to work for a non profit. I wanted to do something bigger than myself. I wanted to make a difference, educate the public and save lives. I feel that I fulfilled all goals I set for myself.       Upper management showed through accolades, acknowledgement, gift cards, holiday parties that employees were appreciated. Even though stress was daily, we knew we were appreciated/respected.         Fast forward, no holiday celebrations, no accolades , no acknowledgements. We were asked to do more with less personal , less communication, less tools in which to succeed year after year after year. We submitted surveys to indicated to upper management this very problem. One of their solutions ..food. FOOD REALLY !!!      The Michigan Humane Society is most definitely not the same. As a matter of fact there is no Society as of late 2020.  It is now Michigan Humane. How disrespectful and arrogant to change the name of an organization that was started in 1877. I could only imagine how appalled Thomas Witherell Palmer and Alexander Lewis, the first board members, would be to learn the organization's name was changed. An organization that started out of care and dedication for animals. An organization that no longer contains the term 'society'. The Michigan Humane.        A crucial word, in my opinion, that summarizes an invitation to members of humanity in which to protect animals. What do you have with no society but chaos. I found this to be telling as the epitome of lack of communication, appreciation and respect.                                             
            I didn't want to leave when I did but I felt I had no choice. It's so telling when a manager vocalizes to you not to expect to be respected, when I moved  to this particular department.        I was told this department was on the lowest rung. Who wants to work for that kind of mind set. I left my job years early. I am a uplifting, positive person who appreciated all of my co-workers. It saddens me to know I am one of the
'turn over' statistics that has grown exponentially over the last several years. I know others have left after me. WAKE UP!!! Without your front line you have no line.

I worked there for almost a year & a half before they terminated me under false pretenses. When I first got hired it was nice. After a while once that new employee smell wears off you get treated like the rest of the staff and they don’t care about you. 2/10 of your coworkers are friendly, the others are are so clicked up it’s ridiculous. Management loves to talk about how we are a family, but will sit at their desk all day while you struggle to get done in time just to take a lunch break. Always keep your head down because the slightest “unwanted” interaction with any of your coworkers will get you in trouble. They have staff favorites and aren’t shy about showing it. They make us tell customers that we don’t euthanize for space however during my duration here I’ve seen countless times are when was an animal coming through rescue/intakes & our managers would tell us to go ask the medical team if any animals were on the list to get euthanized today. They are quick to save a small bred over a pitbull. The behavioral team is made of pure stupidity. They don’t interact with the animals they just do some miscellaneous tests and if the animal freak s out BAM EUTHANIZED. You don’t get compensated accurately either. I had coworkers that got paid more than me even when they came in months after me. They don’t give you a raise after you’ve been fully certified. If you have children please make accommodations before working there. You’ll get written up just for calling in if you have important things to attend to. The facility supervisor is a hag in a clown suit. If she doesn’t like you then all bets are off & you should look for employment elsewhere. They will terminate you with no accurate reason and expect you to still kiss their butt.

I loved working here, but overall this job feels like a toxic relationship. There are things about it that I loved so much, I loved the animals and helping them and my community and the team is truly some of the greatest people in the world but overall it is not a good place to work, you won't be appreciated or respected, and you aren't going to be able to support yourself. Management will tell you there's no money to pay lower level employees a living wage while higher level employees are making over 100k a year. 

I have never felt less respected or less supported by management than at this job. If you show any small sign of discontent they take it as a personal insult. They treat employees like an annoyance and a burden instead of members of their team. I saw many of my former coworkers get treated this way. When I first started working here I was so happy and saw myself working here for many years but after a while I couldn't stand the unfairness I was seeing, the wonderful employees unfairly and unceremoniously fired. You get no support, no appreciation, no understanding. It's an incredibly hard and emotional job but it is extremely rewarding!! But the good feelings aren't worth the bad when there are other places to work where you can also help animals, where the managers will treat you like a human being. 

Overall I do think this a good place for a young person who maybe has minimal bills to work for a year to get a start in the animal welfare field, but it is not a place for an adult to have a career and be able to support themselves. You will learn so much and you will meet so many amazing people and animals but after a while you will feel like a shell of a person and be desperate to get out. 

Leadership, or the lack thereof, is taking it's toll on the organization.

Most everyone in a Director position is there based on Peter's principle, Not much room for growth unless you are owed something, incompetent leadership very long pointless meetings on a regular basis zero appreciation shown to those who work horrifying hours save countless animal lives and pour their heart into all they do, IT department may as well not exist, company cell phones do not allow texting, Micro management at it's worst, Poorly maintained budget - willing to splurge on weekend getaways to plan the budget when there are 4 perfectly good buildings to hold such meetings, Management is rarely around and when it is they dodge their employees

Advice to Senior Management: Get smart....you truly have no clue what you're doing. You think that because you have letters after your name you deserve your position but that's just not true. MHS needs leaders, not quiet people who make decisions behind closed doors and without the input of their team. Man up, speak up, and respect those who work for you since they are making you look good. The directors take way too much vacation time, spend WAY too much money at conferences and host far too many "donor appreciation nights.

This company tries really hard to make you feel like their main priority is getting these animals into great homes but it's all about putting on a show for social media to get donations. Managers are nonexistent, they sit in the office all day in random meetings, they try their hardest not to work weekends and are out by 4pm on any given day and you and maybe 2 other people are left to close up and if anything happens and you need to call them for help you are made out as irresponsible. Speaking of irresponsible, you can't deny anyone of adoption, and there's actually no application process for adopters anymore. And if you come to management with concerns they ask you what you could have done differently, and force you to process the adoption no matter what.  They want to be a zoo and cater to the customers experience instead of actually finding the animals homes. They pick and choose who to praise and who to constantly dig into before they quit or switch to another location. 

I've also had the pleasure to work at other locations during the pandemic and it's all the same. Behaviorist are prejudice of breeds, specifically pit bulls and if you speak out against them, they find a reason to fire you. They make a big effort to get animals from out of state instead of helping the animals in Michigan so they can have a bigger selection of breeds to advertise. 

This place is incredibly unprofessional. The current manager of the call center doesn’t know the actual job (veterinary or animal welfare). Can not and will not help with calls. Thinks it is okay to have 25 callers in queue with hour wait times which is absurd for a veterinary clinic. She hardly ever works full days. Turn over is high due to bad pay, stressful work environment, and the clients are AWFUL. You will be cursed at and yelled at all day long by clients. The veterinary clinic itself is laughable compared to any actual animal hospital. You may be thinking, of course, it’s MHS. Well, if you’re going to be open to the public and have the clientele size that this organization has, the hospital should really hold itself to a higher standard. Everything about working here is a depressing. DO NOT apply here. Even if you’re desperate. It’s not worth it. This place is horrible for your mental health. Management does not care about you. The whole department needs a huge overhaul before it can function properly and employ people. It’s really sad honestly. The organization does so much good for the public but treats their employees terribly. It was an awful experience. Please for your own sake.. do not work at the call center.

I thought working here would be amazing, like how they show how amazing the company is all over tv. I thought it would be a great start to my veterinary medicine/animal welfare career. It’s quite the opposite, almost everyone is burnt out, compassion fatigue is through the roof, and none of the higher ups seem to care. Majority of the people there don’t actually care for the animals well being and i think that comes back to the burn out issue. Leadership cares way more about numbers rather than animal welfare. There was only 1 manager there that would ever listen to my issues i was having, but there was only so much she could do to help.  We’re completely overworked and underpaid. And as much as they say there’s so much room to grow in the company, it’s not true. I feel like i couldn’t really grow in my career here, The longer I was there, the faker it got and the more i realized this is more of a short term job. They are very euthanasia happy and have no issue with euthanasia if it’s an easy fix. it became an issue for me and my personal morals with animal welfare. 

A typical day at the Westland Humane Society consists of working through lunches and breaks because they are currently extremely under staffed. They do offer benefits for full time staff which is a plus. During my employment I gained valuable customer service experience and increased my knowledge of caring for animals. Management is really good at making a hard job harder, by showing no encouragement or acknowledgement to their hard working employees. The staff supervisors are very young, with little or no previous experience, or education, in a supervisory position. This leads to an unprofessional and frustrating work environment. Co-workers are great, but the poor management leads to a very low morale and unhappy employees.The only thing that made the job worth it was the knowledge that I was making a difference in animal's lives. Eventually however, this knowledge was not enough to overcome being over-worked and under appreciated by management and I found employment elsewhere.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$14.25 per hour
Veterinarian 1 salary reported	$117,500 per year
Vice president 4 salaries reported	$137,500 per year
Volunteer coordinator 1 salary reported	$15.00 per hour
Foster coordinator 3 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour

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