Shannon LItz/Nevada Appealonya Ruffner, volunteer coordinator for the Carson City Animal Shelter, plays with Buddy, an Australian cattle dog mix, in the yard at the shelter on Friday afternoon.
Letters were expected to go out this week inviting former animal shelter volunteers to return to the shelter and apply for its new volunteer program.
In January, 20 volunteers were notified that the volunteer program was being suspended, based on recommendations from the U.S. Humane Society which conducted a study of the shelter and its operations.
After months of remodeling and policy changes, Health and Human Services Director Marena Works, who oversees the Animal Services Division, told the city's Health Board this week that a volunteer coordinator, Tonya Ruffner had been hired.
Ruffner, from Placerville, Calif., worked 10 years for El Dorado County Animal Services where she was kennel supervisor.
"I brought a lot of what I learned there to this job. They didn't have a program there either when I started so I had to figure out what worked and what didn't. It was trial and error," she said.
She also visited a number of other shelters and studied their manuals to help her with her new Carson City duties.
As a bonus, Ruffner is a California-certified veterinary technician, and is planning to take the Nevada exam. In addition to dogs and cats, she has experience with exotics such as birds and reptiles.
As part of her new responsibilities, Ruffner put together an information, policy and training manual, and will coordinate all aspects of the volunteer program.
"It is important to have a policies and procedures in place and a program that is consistent," she said.
There will be a junior program for youths ages 12-17 who want to volunteer with an adult who is in the senior program, she said, but one big difference will be the application process.
The city's human resources department will handle applications, then the candidate will be interviewed to ensure that the time commitments the volunteer wants to make will fit into the shelter program.
Volunteers will go through a city orientation as well as a shelter orientation to learn the new procedures. They will wear an apron, a badge and have keys.
Volunteer hours will coordinate with the shelter's regular adoption hours, from noon to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.
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