Mission Valley Animal Shelter welcomes new director
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POLSON — Many dogs and cats have found their “forever homes” after a stay at the Mission Valley Animal Shelter. New director Jill Simpson has been on the job for about a month, and she hopes to continue the shelter’s work for years to come
Learning how the place works has kept Simpson busy, and she’s made some small changes to procedures, safety issues and updating paperwork.
Down the road, Simpson said she plans to make the shelter more visible to the community and to entice more volunteers into the shelter.
“People forget about us,” said Judy Coulter, MVAS director and secretary, reiterating that MVAS is a private shelter, not county-funded, and runs on donations alone.
It’s one of the reasons the board hired her, Simpson explained, and the goal is to get more cats and dogs into wonderful homes.
“A big chunk of my background is in education,” Simpson said.
She plans an outreach program aimed at youth groups and schools to educate kids about animal care.
“Most kids migrate towards animals,” Simpson said. “It’s easier for some kids to show love and care to helpless animals.”
She thinks if children learn to be compassionate towards animals, they can learn to be compassionate toward everyone.
MVAS has been a success story in the valley for almost 25 years, according to Sharon Hawke, MVAS board member and vice president.
“We continue to operate successfully while many nonprofits have come and gone over this time. We are proud of our history and are looking forward to bringing the community more services and resources. We do not euthanize for lack of space and are considered a very “low kill” shelter - meaning that animals are euthanized for medical reasons only,” Hawke said.
The shelter’s euthanasia rate for 2012 was about 10 percent, compared to the national average of 50 to 70 percent.
The MVAS can house a dozen dogs. Each dog is in a separate run at night, with the exception of puppies, who can share a run, or a mother dog with small puppies. During the daytime, dogs are in individual playgroups and run at will.
Cats are in colonies by age. Cats under age 1 are in one group, and older cats are in the adult room. They can access the outdoor through a cat door.
“Keeping cats healthy is keeping them clean,” Simpson said.
There are separate intake and isolation rooms for both dogs and cats. There are also concrete runs, with no dirt to infect surgical wounds, for spayed female dogs.
“Everybody gets vaccinated when they come in,” Simpson said, unless MVAS has the animal’s history and medical records. “Most need to be spayed and neutered.”
Simpson has a background as a dog trainer, many years working with dogs, behavior consultations, and she’s fostered dozens of dogs, specializing in shy and fearful dogs.
She also worked at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in southern Utah, the largest sanctuary in the United States, with about 2,000 animal residents, including dogs, cats, horses, bunnies and pot-bellied pigs. While at the sanctuary, Simpson worked with dogs that survived Hurricane Katrina and some of the Michael Vick dogs, rescued from dog fighting.
With a decided English accent, Simpson came from Bourneville, England, but has spent years in the United States.
“Jill’s impressive and has a lot of experience,” Hawke said, adding that MVAS is ready to step up to a different level under the direction of Simpson and MVAS directors.
Simpson is not totally new to the area since she traveled through Western Montana in 2000, camping at Swan Lake. She remembered Polson. She’s lived in Colorado in and Alaska in the mountains so Polson and the Mission Mountains are a good fit for her.
Simpson has two “crazy hounds” of her own, both special needs dogs. Dazee is deaf and Dundee is blind. All three are settling into their new home in Polson.
