veterinary assistant

veterinary technician

philanthropy manager

animal care associate

development associate

Seattle Humane

I'm not even sure where to start here. The culture in this place is beyond toxic. Anyone who is there 6 months or longer should be prepared to need therapy to sort through the emotional abuse the management puts you through at Seattle Humane. It's a good thing they offer health insurance, you're going to need it because the stress will make you ill more often than you've ever been in your life. They harp constantly on how they are a no-kill shelter, and yet are CONSTANTLY killing dogs for COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE REASONS. Yes, you read that right. Perfectly trainable dogs are being murdered at Seattle Humane. How do they keep their no-kill status, you may ask? Well, my dear job searcher, it's because they cherry pick thousands of "highly adoptable" dogs to offset their numbers. It's all a numbers game at Seattle Humane (are you good with numbers? Maybe this is the job for you!) 

Well why aren't they training these fixable dogs then? The answer is simple: incompetence. That's it. There is not a single manager in the building that has any clue on how to train or care for a dog properly. Not one. They're even adding more of these kinds of managers all the time (aka hiring their friends to upper level positions.) I personally witnessed over 20 dogs with trainable issues either be mishandled or euthanized without just cause over the course of a year. Seattle Humane claims to be the authority on standards of care, and yet cannot teach impulse control to a dog that has lived there for over a year. It took them several months to condition a dog to a gentle leader (he wasn't actually conditioned-surprise!) and he ended up being euthanized anyway. 

How is this behavior program still even in operation, you ask? It's not. The behavior manager was fired and still has not been replaced by someone with competence. The lives of at risk dogs are being trusted to the hands of untested and ignorant staff.

If you made it through all that and STILL think "oh well that doesn't sound that bad. Maybe it's dramatized," please feel free to research and reach out to current or previous staff. Staff, NOT management. You will only get lies from management. Staff members will tearfully recount how many lives have been lost to the soul sucking death machine that is Seattle Humane.

The goal at the end of the day, no matter what the challenge, was to find suitable homes for orphaned animals. Working for Seattle Humane Society has been a positive eye opener and I will always cherish my time with the organization. As their spokesperson, I was given the opportunity to reach out to animal lovers with the help of our local media partners and supporters. The hardest part of the job was seeing an animal you have grown attached to get adopted by a wonderful family. It was also the most rewarding aspect. Representing the organization and the adoptable animals through TV and Radio spot was challenging and fun. It was a highly visible role and required crisis management skills to handle delicate and unpredictable situations. My colleagues were passionate, determined and to me they were great motivators.

It's true, the people who work here are real-life superheroes, and a quirky bunch of crazy cat people and nutty dog lovers. Staff sincerely believes in the organization’s mission and is backed by an equally committed volunteer base.  However, the relationship between senior administration and its employees reads like a bad marriage:  strained, distrustful and loveless.  Leadership openly disregards employees as transient and makes little effort to retain them. It also relegates any expressed employee grievances to ‘a minority of workers’, despite overarching low morale.  Bottom line:  Unless you're hard-up and in urgent need of work, take your talent elsewhere; you'll be better paid and appreciated.  Research this organization before you apply.

Working in the intake department takes a special type of person with excellent communication skills. It also requires tremendous empathy and compassion for people and their pets. I fell in love with animals and my heart broke for people daily. We often saw people on one of the worst days of their lives and did all we can to help comfort them. We would also do all we could to help problem solve and enable people to keep their pets when possible. It takes a lot of love and dedication. We do everything from data entry, appointment setting, animal medical check ins (vaccinations/medications/microchipping/handling assessments) behavioral advice/consultations, cremation services and connecting people to community resources.

Absolutely love working with the animals and my coworkers are great. Management ruined this job for me. The power dynamic in this place is so stressful and the horrible decisions management makes everyday cause employees and volunteers to quit which causes harm to these animals. Only redeeming quality is being with the animals and helping them. No words can truly describe how awful the managers are. Careless decisions being made every day and no thought about employees feelings or animal welfare. Truly do not know how these managers are still in their roles. Makes me sad because this place could be so much better than it is.

Working with the animals is amazing, but for those seeking an ACA position, know that your opinions and emotions will have little to no meaning to management. You will work your *ss off everyday, be told you need to do more, have animals you love get euthanized, and be offered little to no support. I can't speak for other departments, but it seems that many good people come to work here only to get completely burnt out. And by burnt out, I mean totally wrung out, exhausted, and depressed. This job is not easy. You will have amazing teammates, other departments are nice, that is the only real support you have. 

I’ve been here for about 3 years. I love how rewarding it is to see animals (esp tough cases) go home, but it’s exhausting. It’s honestly mainly the public, but there’s very little support from higher up. I’m not sure why, but the higher ups really don’t care about the Adoption Department even though they rely on us to create a positive environment for adopters. Without us, SH loses about 20% of their revenue. You think with that much at stake they would pay us more. *eye roll* as if.

Leadership, particularly leadership in operations is really bad. Top leaders there should not hold the positions they do.  Day to day management is improving but still turning over at a high rate, mostly because taking a job in management here means having to deal with leadership. 
Working with the animals is great and their mission is a good one if poorly met at the moment 

Management is horrible, and they don't care about dogs program side at all. The cats get everything including keeping their lives. The animal care head management team is a joke. I worked there for almost 2 years and my last 3 months is when the new horrible management took over and they killed more dog in 1 month than the rest of the time worked there. It is NOT a no kill shelter

This was not a job, I helped socialize cats, and packed dog food orders. I would start by going up to the top floor , where all the cats that were not suitable for adoption where being kept. I would try and comfort them, and if possible tame them again.
I would also pack dog food orders for old folks homes around the area.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Veterinary assistant 2 salaries reported	$25.88 per hour
Veterinary technician 4 salaries reported	$30.25 per hour
Philanthropy manager 4 salaries reported	$85,000 per year
Animal care associate 3 salaries reported	$21.11 per hour
Development associate 1 salary reported	$23.00 per hour

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