A Winnipeg Lost Dog Alert (WLDA) admin comes in many forms. We may be a teacher, work in construction, be a janitor, a mature student or as in my case I am a retired Grandmother with two dogs.
Typically, my day starts early. I stagger out of bed, let the dogs outside and grab a much-needed coffee while waiting to let the dogs back inside. I’m often the first person on the page in the morning. One of the great things about this volunteer “job” is that you can work it into your schedule.
Sipping my coffee, I quickly check the page for messages and see if we have any mail waiting to be answered. I deal with anything that is needed and then check to make sure nothing has ended up in Spam Mail as we don’t want to miss anything.
Ten years ago the page was created as a way to co-ordinate the search attempts for missing dogs. Over the years it has evolved into what it is today. WLDA’s success is based on the ever-popular social media backed by a team of volunteers who take time out of their day to actively watch the page.
Some days there is no “action” and a volunteer can do other things while watching for messages to come in.
Other days it can be crazy busy. Multiple sightings for a missing dog might come in. Phone calls to worried owners. Monitoring for comments that might help the owner in their search which also means taking the time to read every single comment and disregard anything that is not helping a pup get home (including “awww, so cute” or “that dog needs his nails cut”). I get it, we are used to making comments on Facebook! However, these kind of comments on our page just take out time away from what is needed and that is to help get a dog safely back home.
Each volunteer signs up for a “shift” that we book on a calendar. We ALWAYS need more volunteers and any gaps in our schedule are often covered by individuals signing on because they see a new message or email. It would be awesome if we had enough people to cover 24 hours a day but that simply isn’t the case. We cover as much of the day as possible but the wee hours of the morning may not have anyone on duty (having said that though, a sleepless night means I might just be there).
We have had dogs reunited in minutes without even having to post on the page. At the other end of the spectrum, we have had dogs missing for weeks. I won’t lie and say that many of us haven’t shed a tear at a happy ending. Occasionally we shed a tear if a dog is found that won’t make it home (thank goodness this is relatively rare).
Every message, email and comment is read by someone like me. We support each other when needed. We support dog owners. We offer advice built up over 10 years of experience. We are here to help people like you.
Nothing makes an Admin happier than to be able to get a dog safely back home…
If you would like to join our team to help lost dogs get home, please complete the application form https://www.winnipeglostdogalert.com/admin-application/