Come on, let's go.

Hi, I'm Fitz, and today I'm here with Hannah Page.

Hi, Hannah.

Can you tell us where we are and what you do?

We are at Ingham County Animal Control and Shelter and I a the community outreach manager.

I like to kind of consider myself like the story teller for the shelter.

So that would be, you know showcasing some of our adoptable animals, maybe getting videos or photos of them and kind of sharing their story to hopefully connect them with a famil that's interested in adopting.

The other part of my job is to provide resources for the community.

So whether that's resources such as pet food or vaccines, part of my job is kind of figuring out how to distribute those resources.

What's the difference between an animal control center and an animal shelter?

We are kind of both.

So we have the shelter side.

where we take in strays, owner surrendered animals, homeless pets, and our goal is to either reunite them with their families or find them new families.

The animal control side is where our animal control officers are going out into the community.

Whether that's responding to stray animal calls, animal welfare, animal neglect to intervene as needed.

How many people work here?

So we have about 30 staff members that work here.

All part of the different teams in different division from our animal control officers to our veterinarian to our animal care specialists.

We are always looking for volunteers.

And we kind of have a wide variety depending on what a volunteer is looking to do.

So if they're a cat lover, we have volunteers that just come in and hang out with the cats.

We also have people that just do dishes because we have a lot of dishes.

Laundry.

Dog lovers, we have, what are called dog handlers, you know, taking the dogs out, just going for a walk, maybe.

Whos this?

This is Clink.

Clink?

Yes.

It's amazing that these animals live in such hard places or in dangerous environments.

You guys can just take them in and help them.

Kids can volunteer.

So you can't volunteer by yourself until you're 16, but you could volunteer with a parent.

So adorable.

Oh.

She's giving me some kisses.

What's a typical day at work like for you?

I could maybe spend, some time with adoptable animals, maybe getting some content, photos, videos to make a post about them.

Also could involve me plannin or organizing an outreach event, maybe talking with our staff to see if there is one particular animal that kind of has been overlooked, or coul maybe use that extra publicity.

So every day i kind of a little bit different.

And I like it.

What's something that surprised you about working at an animal control center?

So while most people obviously know we work with animals, the surprising thing is how many people we actually work with.

People in in this industry are just as important as the animals.

We want to be there for the people so that they can have the things in life that bring them joy, like their pets.

What kinds of animal do you keep here at the shelter?

usually it's just cats and dogs.

However we kind of get a hodgepodge of animals.

couple weeks ago we had an axolotl.

What?

Yes.

Yep.

So being that we are animal control, we never know what animal or how many animals are going to come in.

We never know what the day is going to look like.

And then a huge part of what we do here is our enrichment.

So we have an enrichment schedule So is it enrichment like a toy or?

It's kind of usually consists of like a treat.

So something with food or peanut butter.

Oh.

So a Frisbee.

So the frisbees we coated in peanut butter and we hang the on the outside of their kennels so they lick through the bars to get the peanut butter.

I mean, not like I wouldn't do that.

I like peanut butter.

What inspired you to become someone who works around animals a lot?

it's kind of, being their voice, being the voice for, you know, the animals that can't tell you what's going on, helping them find that happy ending.

What advice do you have for kids who want to pursue a career like yours where they can help animals in be around animals?

I'd say, be curious.

Do your research.

And just ask questions.

I had a great day at the ICACS.

And Mrs.

Hannah had a wonderful “tail” to tell.

Explore your “paw-sibilities”.