Friends of MCHS: Addie Soares

Starting as a volunteer in the kennel, Addie Soares has worked at the shelter since 1990. She grew up on a farm in her native Brazil and thus, has always been comfortable around animals. In Brazil she was a professor of cell biology at the University of Brasilia, but has always been, as she puts it, “an animal lover.”

First Step: Animal Behavior Training

In 1996 she took a course on domestic animal behavior at an animal training company in Virginia and learned strategies for advising adopters on how to determine which animal was most suitable for them. For example, Addie learned that, “Cats are more difficult to understand than dogs because their behavior is more complicated. Dogs are much more open and friendly. So, if you like animals that are aloof, cool, and independent, then adopting a cat is the pet for you.”

Next Step: Adoption Counselor Education

She worked for a couple of years in the administrative office to become familiar with various shelter services such as adoption, rescue, and fostering. Gaining an in-depth understanding of these essential services gave Addie the expertise she needed to become an adoption counselor. And working on the Want List – a list of available animals that are matched with potential adopters– expanded her counselor credentials, too.

In 1993 the shelter and its board of directors decided to emphasis fostering , rather than just housing, the animals. Because of her animal behavior expertise and training, she was selected to be the first foster coordinator at the shelter. Merry Ellen Poole, then the civilian director of Animal Control, and Addie worked as a team and together, they fostered many dogs and cats. She also assisted Sandy Humphrey, a former employee of the shelter, with adoption interviews. When Sandy left, Addie assumed the role of adoption interviewer at the shelter.

Addie was an adoption interviewer for five years before becoming an adoption counselor. She left interviewing because of the emotional toll it took on her. She unhappily remembers, “If an animal was not fostered or adopted within a certain length of time, it was euthanized. I used to assist with these procedures and always cried. It was too emotional for me. Now as an adoption counselor, I save the lives of animals, rather than take them. I find them suitable homes and this is what I love to do.”

Over the years, adoption numbers have risen. She believes that with the population in Montgomery County increasing, a commensurate rise in the number of people who can adopt animals has occurred as well. She notes, “The other counselors and I work very hard to make sure these animals are adopted by the right families; we give them lots of support, encouragement, and training to ensure that adoptions are successful. We do not like to see animals being returned weeks later.”

Addie’s Motto

Addie’s motto reflects her philosophy on how to be an effective participant at the shelter (and in life): “My primary reason for being here is to make a better life for these animals. People are secondary. Keep the peace and do the best you can – be a realist. There are things you cannot fight against; just accept the changes that are part of the normal routine at the shelter.”

Better Animal Quarantine Procedures

Addie’s “Making a better life for animals” motto gave her a different perspective on how to quarantine animals. She proposed a more humane approach which is still applied today: rather than quarantining them at the shelter, thereby taking up valuable space for many months, dogs and cats could be quarantined in private residences. Note: During the six-month quarantine period, a few rules are imposed on the foster family, for example: Animals cannot go outside; animals have to be housed in a cage at all times; and they have to be visible from an outside window of the house.

Walking Down Memory Lane

• A Peacock Owner Crosses the Line

Several peacocks were brought into the shelter and later that day their owner showed up to reclaim them. Addie asked ASD if it would be OK to release them back to their owner, however, ASD said no because the owner was not taking proper care of them and the birds had escaped several times.

The next day the owner came back with a tape recorder and followed Addie around the shelter, recording all her conversations as she went about her duties. By doing this, Addie believes that the owner thought he could persuade her into returning his birds. Harassment of shelter personnel is a violation of shelter rules, and an ASD officer took the man away and confiscated his tape recorder. The owner eventually got his birds returned at a much later time.

• Mysterious Animal Call

One night a call came into the shelter regarding a dead dog lying in the road. When ASD arrived on the scene, there was a sign that read “Dead Animal Behind Bush.” The lone officer called dispatch to find out what to do and was told not to look for the animal. The next day a couple of ASD officers went back to the scene and took away the animal.

• A Happy Ending for Pomeranians

Thirty-two Pomeranian show dogs were brought to the shelter by their owner because he could no longer take care of them properly. They were kept in the shelter’s “puppy pen” for a few weeks until a Pomeranian Rescue team came to take away 22 of the 32 dogs. Happy ending: within a few weeks all Pomeranians were adopted.

• Breaking Up is Hard to Do

A 5-year-old Shepherd mix named Sheba was brought to the shelter because she could not get along with the owner’s other dog. She was in the shelter for almost two weeks when a couple came to the shelter to adopt a “big dog.” The couple fell in love with Sheba and adopted her. To this day, the owners still stay in touch with Addie, sending her pictures of the dog. Note: She became very attached to Sheba while the dog lived at the shelter. When Sheba got adopted, Addie was upset. In fact, the dog had left its paw print on one of her work shirts, and to this day, Addie has never washed the shirt.

Not Just Dogs and Cats – A Horse Lover, Too

Addie rides, rescues, and owns several horses at the farm she manages in Frederick, MD. The horse she rides most of the time is a rescued race horse from Florida. In fact, many of the horses on her farm are rescued race horses that have since retired.

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Friends of MCHS: Merry Ellen Poole

Originally from Alabama, where she started the humane society in her hometown of Montgomery, AL, Merry Ellen Poole was an active foster mom, taking in cats, dogs and white rats. “My love of animals started way back in college,” she said. “It’s in my blood. While a student, I used to take home stray kittens and puppies, in addition to my class assignments. I even encouraged my professors to adopt the animals!” That passion stayed with her when she moved to Maryland.

Moving Animal Control to the Police Department

Merry Ellen served four years as the last civilian director of the Animal Control Division during the 1980s, a period she recalls as the best years of her professional life. Appointed by then-County Executive Neal Potter, she coordinated her work with a contract administrator who managed the legal and fiscal agreement the county had with MCHS to manage the county animal shelter.

ACD was transferred to the MC Police Department and renamed the Animal Services Division. This transfer was a good fit organizationally. “Animal control issues such as enforcement and investigation were typically handled by the police department,” Merry Ellen said, “so this move made sense to me.” She strongly advocated for the animal rescue police officers to get periodic animal training worked into their schedules so that they would better understand how to handle rescued animals properly. A training schedule was implemented soon after.

Merry Ellen fondly remembers her tenure as ACD director and a strong working relationship with the Montgomery County Humane Society. “I adored the Humane Society because of all the dedicated people working there.” She also recalls that the kennel staff had a very positive attitude and was very supportive of her work in animal control. “I give them lots of credit for what they accomplished, given their challenging circumstances and resources.”

Shelter Philosophy

“A shelter is a reflection, for good or bad, on its community,” Merry Ellen said. “The shelter staff should be caring and knowledgeable about the animals and the physical plant should be clean and sanitary. The (MCHS) shelter staff is fantastic. However, in my humble opinion, MC needs a new and improved shelter facility. This is a wealthy area and I don’t understand why the powers that be don’t provide more resources for it.”

In fact, she recalls that when she headed ACD, funds were so tight that even small items like office supplies were donated to the shelter. Now, if the shelter building is not improved, she fears, it could end up compromising the safety and welfare of the animals.

Her sense of what the priorities should be includes:

• Construction of a new state-of-the-art shelter building. The current facility is more than 30 years old and in desperate need of repair.
• Free or pay-what-you-can-afford spay-neuter services. This would take care of the chronic cat population problem.
  
• Higher salaries for employees. Current salaries are very low compared other non-profit pay scales.
  
• Expanded humane education programs for the community. Classes should start early and be offered often, when children are still young so that the messages are learned earlier and become part of their moral character.
  

“It’s crucial that citizens be made aware that it is not socially acceptable to be cruel to animals,” Merry Ellen said.

Farm Animal Rescue at the Shelter

While she was ACD’s director she wanted to build a barn behind the shelter on Rothgeb Drive to house rescued farm animals. The county council denied her request because it would cost too much money to build and maintain. Their priority was to use county funds for rescue purposes rather than building this structure. To this day, Merry Ellen regrets not pushing harder for the barn.

A Happy Ending Rescue

A Bethesda mail carrier once noticed a bad odor emanating from a house to which he was delivering mail. He notified the ASD about the situation. When officers arrived at the house, they discovered an elderly woman living alone with 40 cockapoos – both dead and alive – in her house. The living dogs were brought to the shelter and the old woman was put in a nursing home. Her house was condemned.

Many of the shelter’s volunteers came in after hours to “clean up” these dogs. The clean-up took so long that some volunteers were at the shelter until 4 a.m. “A front page article in the Montgomery Journal appeared soon after the incident, recounting the story and the selfless dedication of these volunteers,” she recalled. For their hard work, the volunteers were recognized at a special ceremony by then-County Executive, Neal Potter, at Rockville City Hall.

Getting More Animals Adopted

Merry Ellen pointed to two new strategies that helped significantly increase the number of animals getting adopted.

First was the Humane Society’s purchase of the animal Mobile Adoption Unit (MAU) van. For special events the van travels to local commercial neighborhoods with adoptable animals on board. “Going out into the community or visiting a pet retail store like PetSmart with the MAU is a much better adoption tactic. Rather than having the public come to the shelter, we began to realize that by going out to where the adopters are, we got more animals adopted.”

Next she appeared on a Channel 9 “Pet Adoption” segment for an interview about the shelter. After her appearance, the shelter began receiving many more phone calls from viewers interested in animal adoptions. “The interview gave us a lot more exposure in terms of making many more people aware of and interested in animal adoption.”

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