Daphine Hale holding Twix and Hershey. Photo provided by Daphine Hale.

By Laurie Lechlitner
Staff Writer

FULTON COUNTY — “I’ve worked at Fulton County Animal Adoption and Education Center in Rochester for about a year and a half,” stated Daphine Hale. “The staff members and environment are so supportive. My coworkers teach me well.

“I think my favorite part of the job is that I’m constantly learning new things about animal health and all the other areas of nurturing and supporting dogs and cats. To me, this is more than a job. It’s my career. I love making a difference in an animal’s life and finding them a forever home.”

Hale has always loved animals. “When I was growing up, we lived in the country. People dropped off cats in our area all the time. I was always finding kittens and bringing them home. My mom didn’t always appreciate my enthusiasm for animals. But we made it work.”

A typical day for Hale starts at 8 a.m. “There’s hard work to do. We don’t spend all our time playing with dogs and cats. I start by unlocking both buildings. Then I start rotating and cleaning the dog kennels and feeding them. Then I do the same thing with the cats.

“There’s always cleaning, dishes and laundry to do. We have to stay on top of the vaccines the animals need. But in the middle of the day, I take time for some one-on-one with the animals. We work on socialization and play with them.”

Even though it’s the shelter’s main job to find forever homes for the animals, it can be a bit heartbreaking. “It’s really bittersweet, especially with those who have medical issues we’ve had to deal with. We grow very attached to them and spend quite a bit of time nurturing them. When we watch them leave, our hearts cry out, ‘There goes my baby!’ ”

Hale believes in order to work with an animal, we must learn to understand them. “A person working here has to be kind. We also need a lot of patience. A lot of times animals may scratch us or bite us because they’re frightened. It’s a new environment for them. It’s also very stressful being placed in a kennel and cooped up. When we understand these things, it’s easier to work with the animal.”

Some of the animals have been in very traumatic situations. “We can never tell what we’ll run into when we arrive at work in the morning. One time I found a taped box with holes for air. Inside was a parcel of very small baby kittens. It’s hard to keep very young kittens separated from their mother alive. But we saved them all.”

Hale goes back to the fact animals are a large responsibility. “They’re a bit like toddlers. We have to feed them, make sure they have enough water and pick up after them. Then when they get to that teenage stage, they will not listen. Then we must realize that with the proper training, those days will pass.”

Hale is a newlywed. She and her husband Skyler were married this past April. “I love married life. We have three dogs: Benji, a 16-year-old lab mix; Puter, a 14-year-old mut; and Bear, a 5-year-old pitbull we adopted from FCAC. My three cats, Maddox, Oliver and Coco, are smart and independent. We are a big, happy family.”