Name:  Sasha
Position: Medical technician/Surgery technician

What were you doing before you came to ARL? Caregiver at an assisted living facility. 

Pets at home:  Zoey a 4 year old lab/pit mix and Lola a 3 year old pit mix. 

Tell us about some of the roles you and your team take on to help the animals under our care. We medicate the shelter animals whether it is medication to help ease the stress of living in the shelter or any illnesses the animals might have. Cleaning our sick cats and dog’s kennels and monitoring their symptoms. Vaccinating incoming animals to control the spread of disease. Prepping animals for their spay/neuter surgeries and monitoring their recovery. These are just a couple of things we do on a daily basis. 

How long have you been working in animal welfare? What made you want to work in this field? I have been working in animal welfare for about 4 years. When I would visit family in Puerto Rico, I would always find myself outside with all the stray dogs and cats begging my family to let me take them home. It worked twice! Since then, I always wanted to work in animal welfare to be able to help the strays. 

An animal you’ll never forget. Karma, she was a sweet pit mix and at the time I worked as an adoption counselor, and she would sit with us up front and she wanted all the cuddles in the world. She did not have the best life before coming to the shelter but still she was still so trusting and loving. She was adopted to a great home and is spoiled as ever.

What is your favorite memory at ARL? I have so many good memories, but I would definitely say when two of our longest stay dogs were adopted within the same month and I was able to finally see them go to amazing homes and knowing I had a part in that.

If you could cross one thing off your bucket list right now, what would it be?  I want to volunteer in a “Spayathon” in Puerto Rico. I love working in a high volume spay/neuter, it makes a difference!!

What is one thing you wish people knew about your job? It is not always playing with puppies and kittens, Don’t get me wrong we have some time to do that, and I will never pass that up. 

Any last words of wisdom? Positive anything is better than negative nothing.