animal technician

customer support representative

veterinary assistant

technician

veterinary technician

Oregon Humane Society

Calling them a "shelter" is a bit off base. They run like a pet shop and they view the animals not as creatures but as product to be trucked in and moved out as quickly as possible. They are not concerned with space and will pack as many animals into as small of spots as possible. They are also not very interested in the mental well being of either their staff or the animals in care. 

They claim to be a pillar of the community but you'll never be able to surrender here because you'll be waiting 6+ months and then they might still say no to you if they don't think they can turn a profit on your animal. The new hospital is a joke and is just another VCA/Banfield that exist like everything else here to make money. Helping the community is just a cover. 

The work is insanely demanding and once you've injured yourself (which is inevitable when your working with animals) they fire you for not being able to meet the job requirements. 

Advancement is zero unless your best friends with those in power. They only promote friends and literally create jobs for people they like with even holding interviews. 

Please understand just because they're "non-profit" doesn't mean they're not money hungry it just means they don't have shareholders to answer to but they sure will give themselves bonus. 

If you are someone who truly cares about making a difference and improving the lives of your employees and the animals in your care-RUN. 
OHS has no need for anything other than “yes men” who do their bidding and don’t ask questions. 
If you have bright ideas, save it. 
They’re not interested in hearing solutions. 
They’re interested only in getting good PR and making money.
I do not believe in running staff ragged and ignoring cries for more staff while also piling on more work. 
There was a period of time while I worked for this awful organization that dogs were not getting walked until late in the afternoon because we literally didn’t have enough hands to walk them. 
This organization beat me down and made me resent a job I had previously loved. 
When the shelter in Salem was Willamette Humane Society it was a fantastic place to work. My co workers were solutions oriented and empowered to implement solutions that made us better as an organization.
As soon as OHS bought us out, the tone of the entire organization and the feeling among staff changed drastically. Formerly happy, committed employees suddenly were miserable and seeking employment literally anywhere else.
I am grateful to no longer work for such a cold and uncaring company. 

OHS has a really a great PR team but I soon realized it was to cover up their very inhumane practices to both animals and staff. Overworked and underpaid with little room to grow, disregard for helping the community members and more interest in large transfers from other shelters to boost their numbers, and treating animals like products on a shelf. 
Not to mention the abysmal management and executive staff (most of which have no background in animal welfare). Unrealistic expectations coupled with a toxic work environment where you’re targeted if you aren’t favored by someone high up. They will micro manage you about your jobs that they don’t even know how it works and then call you obscenities at company parties and to other staff members. They make it abundantly clear that they do not care about you as people and will bleed you dry until you’ve had it and quit, but it’s okay because they threw a pizza party! 
The one good thing I have to say is they would offer specialized training for de-escalations and DEI. 

I absolutely loved working shelter med and what everything in my job aspect (regardless of how chaotic and busy a day was) however hospital management is poor and co-workers were miserable and burnt out to the point that it was not mentally healthy to stay.  They often blamed management for lack of change and lack of being heard.  Management did not take accountability for mistakes and rarely helped when it was needed (other than with an extra spicy animal).  I was also bullied, mocked, and micromanaged often.  The people that were good at their jobs were overworked while others could do little and hang out on their phones with the same compensation or more.  Many people fought for change and gave up, leaving seemingly shells of good people to give up entirely.  Management would listen but no change would come.  Training was neglected as if others had too given up on wanting to teach newcomers but just put their heads down and work and make it through the day.  I truly hope things change for the better for these people.

The animals are taken great care of at OHS and the staff and volunteers care deeply for them also. Co-workers were wonderful people but the management is a different story. They are very one sided and don't like to hear the voices of the "lower" paid staff. This was very discouraging and I would have loved to have worked there longer but could not stand the attitudes of the management any longer. They have lost many good staff members due to this reason.

Also, if management didn't like what you had to say or if you weren't always in agreement with them they would find a way to get rid of you. Even those people who had been there 10 years or longer. Very sad to see. Get some new, more caring managers of their employees and that place would be very good to work for! Plus don't expect to get paid much or get very good raises unless you are management.

I will start by saying I love my job. The works is fulfilling and my team is incredibly talented and dedicated to the mission. As a member of the marketing department, I am lucky to receive lots of flexibility. I WFH, so if I want to take a 2-hour hike with my doggos in the middle of my day? No prob! However, flexibility is a 2-way street and I am expected to shift around my 40 hours to accommodate helping out with events and other community engagement initiatives. The hardest part of my work is figuring out how to fit in all my work + attend weekend/evening events within a 40 hour workweek. My role would be infinitely easier if I was salaried. I will also say that I feel like my supervisor is also massively overworked, so the understaffing/overworking seems to be a trickle down from upper management. Regardless of all that, I am happier here than in any previous company I've ever worked. They pay me well and treat me with kindness and grace. I love my job, my team, and am proud to work for OHS!

I worked at OHS for a couple of years and met the most compassionate and dedicated animal lovers. Helping the animals was worth it and I’m proud of the work I did there. I highly recommend it as a short-term experience.

If you want to work your way up, be ready to flatter and finagle. It’s more important to be seen as busy and useful, than to actually be those things. Defer to management, keep your head down, and (as I was told) keep your mouth shut unless you’re called to parrot a management opinion. 

They say they want innovation, but choose the known quantity every time. It was stifling.

Starting pay is $15/hr. You get a raise every year which is 3% or cost of living increase. They had a leveling system up to a level 3, each level was like a .30 raise but stopped the leveling system a few years ago. You only get acknowledged for your great work once a year in your yearly review which is sad your leadership doesn't make you feel valued. There management is extremely lax and provides no discipline. They want you to cross train and be able to work other departments but won't compensate you. You can switch departments but it ends up being a pay cut if you've been with the company long enough which doesn't make sense. They have a motto "If you can't do it, someone else will" what a way to belittle you or make you feel less important.. 

Pros:  
Generous PTO and benefits.
Decent starting wage.
Get to work with animals. 
Very thorough training/ learning opportunities.
Amazing coworkers.
Advocating for a challenging animal's needs and finding just the right home for them can feel incredibly rewarding. 

Cons:
High volume customer service job.
Leadership can be focused on metrics and overall number of adoptions rather than quality of adoptions.  
Sometimes required to adopt animals out into homes that are not a great fit for animal's specific behavior or medical needs.  Customer care reps have very little power to say no to an adoption even if they feel in their gut it's not a good match for that animal.   
Mentally and emotionally taxing work. 
Relatively few career advancement opportunities. 


I was part of a contract full time job. Mainly, assisting with their biggest event, Doggie Dash. I maintained the registration site, provided customer service on any challenges of registrants. Creating sponsor agreements and managing them in Salesforce.

Hardest part of the job was probably towards the end when things got a little hectic before event day. Just trying to make sure sponsors has what they needed, and donations were delivered in a timely manner. 

Management was great. I couldn't ask for better co-workers. They helped me out whenever I had questions. Most enjoyable was knowing all the work and fundraising was for the pets!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Animal technician 5 salaries reported	$19.52 per hour
Customer support representative 4 salaries reported	$18.27 per hour
Veterinary assistant 7 salaries reported	$18.76 per hour
Technician 2 salaries reported	$17.90 per hour
Veterinary technician 6 salaries reported	$29.49 per hour

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