DCP, SHS staff train with GAIN animal shelter

Staff of the Saipan Mayor’s Office Dog Control Program and Saipan Humane Society are in Guam to learn from the Guam Animals in Need animal shelter on how to effectively run/manage the CNMI’s only animal shelter and to gain more knowledge and improve their skills in the field of animal care.

SHS executive director Lauren Cabrera said that learning from GAIN is helpful “so we can avoid ‘reinventing the wheel’ and that DCP and SHS staff are “always eager to improve their skills and practices.”

The staff exchange training is funded by Humane Society International.

Cabrera said SHS and DCP are both taking advantage of training opportunities with GAIN, since Guam is a close neighbor of the CNMI and GAIN has been in operations since 1989. At the same time, Cabrera said, it is hard to apply many animal shelter/control practices in the U.S. mainland to the CNMI’s unique situation—its remote location, high number of strays, high rates of diseases, unique climate, and limited adopters.

With their GAIN training, SHS and DCP staff will spend time learning about different policies/procedures and animal husbandry duties, and will also go for ride-alongs with animal control officers in Guam. Then, “toward the end of the training, we will bring select GAIN staff over to Saipan to help put into practice what was learned,” she said.

Cabrera said she is excited for SHS and DCP staff to see GAIN and how it functions, since the animal control and shelter programs are structured a bit differently in Guam. “I’m interested to see how we can implement different policies and things from GAIN here in order to provide more humane animal care, increase adoptions, and get to the root of animal overpopulation as a whole,” she said.

DCP and SHS are sending one to two people at a time to Guam’s shelter in one-week increments, with DCP manager Martin Pangelinan concluding his training from last Jan. 16 to 19. Other DCP staff are currently in training there, with others on the way.

Pangelinan found the training beneficial. He learned shelter management, properly washing down and feeding animals, animal care, humane euthanasia, and more. Another part was tying in with Guam’s Department of Agriculture and their animal control, and learning their techniques—how they capture dogs and their processes.

“I was very fortunate to actually attend their first ‘compassion fatigue training.’ It’s just basically for all animal care workers to get together because it is a tough job and being there for each other and taking time off if needed, so we won’t be burnt out, because it is a tough job,” Pangelinan said. “Overall, it’s very beneficial. It’s going to benefit the Saipan Mayor’s Office Dog Control Program and we’re willing and open-minded to implement some of the stuff that we’re learning out there.”

Cabrera, who is also the board president of GAIN, said they are always in close collaboration. “Ali Hadley, GAIN’s director, and the two vets helping the Guam shelter have been amazing mentors and helped to lay the foundation of SHS as we know it.”

Hadley, for her part, said the CNMI has always been near and dear to her “and it is such an honor to be able to work with the Saipan Mayor’s Office Dog Control Program and Saipan Humane Society in this capacity. We have been very impressed by the team’s enthusiasm for learning new skills and look forward to them continuing to do good work in their communities.

“Saipan is our sister island and we are happy to give back to them in this way. We look forward to seeing what the future holds with this partnership,” added Hadley.

She thanked the Saipan Mayor’s Office and DCP for their enthusiasm and interest in the training; GAIN for accommodating the teams and being invested in developing the training program; and to the Humane Society International for their funding and support.