Homeward Animal Shelter

Nurturing Women Dedicated to Rescuing Animals

By Ashley Thornberg

When you look for the best qualities in a pet, loyalty and enthusiasm are near the top of the list. What happens when you get those qualities in the people who devote their careers to animal advocacy? The answer is you get the staff of the Homeward Animal Shelter, previously known as the Humane Society FargoMoorhead.

Executive Director Nukhet Hendricks oversees the overall administration of the organization to ensure that it functions to fulfill its mission of the pound rescue organization, including four full-time and eight part-time employees, all of whom fit her description of an ideal animal shelter society employee. Each has an “incredible open mind and big heart,” and “reason tempered with compassion. You have to be a people person, and an animal person. This is about bringing people and animals together. That’s our number one priority… You can’t compromise."

That dedication is a driving force behind the shelter’s successes. In its almost 50year history, the nonprofit has saved thousands of animals from euthanization.

Hendricks, who’s been with the organization since June of 2006, is quick to tout the team’s tremendous successes― last year was the first year no adoptable pets were euthanized in Fargo/Moorhead. “We are an incredible team here. It takes a little village to run this place. We are as strong as our weakest link, and I don’t see one. We are, together, strong.”

Of that village, the a.m. crew of animal care technicians gets the day rolling with a deep cleaning. Throughout the day, staff care for the animals and get them ready for adoption.

“I call it a match made in the shelter. 86% of American households have pets. [They are] the fabric of American life.

Therefore I believe the match changes the family and keeps us going and hopeful. The work the staff does changes lives,” said Hendricks.

Like many in animal advocacy, much of the staff grew up with pets. Special events/P.R. coordinator Heather Klefstad grew up on farm outside of Pekin, ND, where animals “were [her] best friends, another part of the family.”

Shelter manger Heather Clyde thinks animals teach kids to be empathetic and hardworking. “I don’t remember ever sitting in front of the TV or playing video games like all the kids do now,” said Clyde. “I was outside with calves and pigs. We had pigs on leashes. We had calves we used to ride. We used to sit on them and ride like horses and hang out with lambs. We always had a minimum of two dogs and lots of barn cats following us.”

One notable exception to growing up with pets is Hendricks, who came to the United States from Turkey in 1987. She got her first pets as an adult, starting with two kittens. That quickly grew into four cats and a dog, which kept her going, even when she didn’t want to. “When you are not in a good mood or wanting to get out of bed, you get out. Your babies need your care. They are not simply little furry things to love. They are companions who listen to your secrets. They are companions for life.”

Her dog Rascal, a lundehunde, is also the reason why she works at the animal shelter. Hendricks’ background is in fundraising. She has a Master’s degree in public and human service administration. She saw the posting for the executive director position at a critical time. “I had just lost my dog, one of the very first animals I’d had. And I have to say it was traumatic for me. I was really drawn to the work. I have to be doing something with the animals. I applied. The rest is history.”

Clyde visits pounds in Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead daily to select animals for the animal shelter. She’s careful to choose ones that aren’t overly aggressive or too sick to be good pets. All pets are vaccinated and receive standard medical care, often including spaying and neutering.

They can board nine dogs, 17 cats and six kittens, meaning they need to use other outlets often. Clyde coordinates with Cat’s Cradle, 4 Luv of Dog and other shelters across the region for additional placement. There’s also plenty of need for foster families, who might take animals for a few days, or even a few months.

Approximately four million cats and dogs are put down every year nationally. “We don’t exactly have a good handle on animal welfare issues,” said Hendricks. The shelter hopes to stem that tide with education. “The more our young people know how to take care of animals, the more the habits of taking care of animals will change. We do believe in education. Education is what changes the world brings us to a different level of awareness … In a way you can’t just keep rescuing animals. There are so many. It never ends. My mentor used to say our job is to work ourselves out of job,” said Hendricks.

The staff also works to counteract the belief that shelter animals are problem animals. “A lot of times why an animal is here is a human issue. People move, have allergies or have a baby,” said Clyde. However, there are times when an animal ends up at the shelter because of neglect or abuse. Last year they rescued 17 dogs from a hoarding situation in Wheatland, ND. “They had to learn how to be dogs,” said Clyde. “They had never walked on carpet. They had never gone upstairs. They had never played with toys. They were in cages all the time and not housebroken. Some were scared to eat out of bowls,” All were eventually adopted, but only after proper medical care and training.

With hundreds of animals ending up at the shelter every year, Klefstad, Hendricks and Clyde make sure to focus on the positive. "If you concentrate on the bad, you will destroy yourself,” said Clyde. The job might be hard, but for animal lovers, that’s better than the alternative. Hendricks said, “For me, I hope to God it will never become easy because when it’s easy I will need to leave, because I will be too jaded.” Something she hopes never happens to any of the young women at the Homeward Animal Shelter. [AWM]