Dr. Barbiers Interview
An Interview With Our President, Dr. Robyn Barbiers
After veterinary medical college, I practiced small animal emergency medicine for 5 years. I then went to Detroit Zoo as a veterinarian. After seven years in Detroit, I went to Lincoln Park Zoo as the Director of Veterinary Services and later became Vice President of Collections.
What is your proudest accomplishment to date?
I was very fortunate to come on board at Lincoln Park Zoo during their incredible growth phase and was able to participate in the planning and construction of many new exhibits. I was honored to have been appointed to the American Association of Zoos and Aquarium’s Accreditation Commission – I feel that was a recognition from my colleagues and a vote of confidence in my integrity. And now, to have been chosen to lead The Anti-Cruelty Society!
How do you view your role as a part of The Anti-Cruelty Society?
The animal welfare world faces so many challenges, and The Anti-Cruelty Society has a record of leadership and results. I see my role as one of ensuring our continued service to this community. I am very excited to have the opportunity to help save lives everyday.
What are your key goals for The Anti-Cruelty Society?
Two key goals are planning and communication–we need to expand our awareness and let people know everything that we do here.
I am working with the Board of Directors as well as staff to develop a new strategic plan for the organization. With this plan, we will have a clear vision of where we want to be, and how to get there. Since 1899, The Anti-Cruelty Society has been a leader in animal welfare in Chicago. By developing a solid strategic plan, we will ensure that we will address the myriad of issues facing dogs and cats for years to come.
Communication is essential, both internally—so all staff, volunteers, and supporters understand our vision, mission and goals—and externally, to ensure that the public is aware of all our great programs. Most Chicagoans are familiar with our successful adoption center and many utilize our low cost spay/neuter clinic, but few know about our other programs such as our behavior hotline, our dog training classes, our humane investigations, and our many community outreach programs…and I want to change that! I am so fortunate to be part of an organization with a mission of preventing cruelty to animals and to advance humane education. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to spread the word.
What sets The Anti-Cruelty Society apart from other local animal welfare organizations?
The Anti-Cruelty Society is committed to being Chicago’s comprehensive, open door humane society. To achieve such a goal, we need to have solid programs and vision. With the addition of our second rehabilitation and treatment center last year, the Virginia Butts Berger Cat Clinic, we’ve been able to reach our goal of finding homes for all healthy or rehabilitated dogs and cats Innovations such as Charlotte’s Cat Corner (our cageless cat adoption rooms) and our Bully Buddies program (the adoption program designed to find unique dogs their own special homes) demonstrate new ways of increasing adoptions. Ground-breaking programs such as our S.A.F.E. program (Short-term Accommodations for Emergencies) demonstrate our commitment to people and their pets. We continue to help by providing education and outreach to the children and adults of Chicago to strengthen the human-animal bond.
When you say The Anti-Cruelty Society is a “comprehensive, open door humane society,” what do you mean?
The Anti-Cruelty society is an open admission—or open door—humane society. This means that we will not turn away any animal that comes to our doors. Many of these animals are healthy, good natured dogs and cats who go up for adoption—and there are no time limits on how long they can stay up for adoption.
However, there are animals that come to a shelter sick, severely injured, or too aggressive or behaviorally unsound to be placed for adoption at that time. While open admission shelters will give at least temporary refuge to these animals, many limited admission shelters—which sometimes call themselves “no-kill”—do not have the resources to dedicate to such animals. These shelters must make a decision as to which dogs or cats will receive their care and attention, and therefore they limit the number of animals they will accept. As a result, limited admission shelters may choose not to help the unadoptable animals that come to them with health and/or behavioral issues. It is The Anti-Cruelty Society’s belief that no animal should be turned away. Sometimes, these animals can be rehabilitated but sometimes they cannot. In the case that they cannot, we strongly believe that euthanasia is the most humane alternative to an existence of suffering and pain or being limited to life in a cage.
How do The Anti-Cruelty Society’s rehabilitation efforts help animals?
There are animals who, with proper rehabilitation and care, can be placed up for adoption. Since the opening of The Anti-Cruelty Society's Bruckner Animal Rehabilitation Center in 2004 and with the opening of our new Butts-Burger rehabilitation center in 2008, The Anti-Cruelty Society is proving its commitment to providing rehabilitation to as many animals as possible. Dogs and cats who can be rehabilitated receive medical, foster, behavioral, or other care from our highly trained staff. With our six veterinarians and over 200 dedicated rehabilitation spaces within The Anti-Cruelty Society, we are able to provide care for almost 2,000 treatable animals annually that would have, in the past, been euthanized.
How does the current economic climate effect The Anti-Cruelty Society?
For the past 110 years, The Anti-Cruelty Society has been a compassionate and reliable friend to the animals. And in these difficult economic times when we see companies and organizations are closing their doors, I am proud to say that The Anti-Cruelty Society remains strong.
Because of the economic downturn, we’re seeing higher rates of surrendered pets, due to job loss and foreclosures. The Anti-Cruelty Society is here to help in these situations. Our adoption screening process educates potential pet owners about the costs of caring for a pet prior to adoption, so there are no surprises to first-time adopters. If a family is looking to relocate—and not just for reasons of foreclosure, but for normal life-changes as well, we provide lists of pet friendly housing options. If moving with a pet is simply not feasible, The Anti-Cruelty Society is always willing to accept the animal. With our open door policy, we are here to help.
In the long term, what additional services would you like The Anti-Cruelty Society to offer?
We will continue to expand and improve upon our existing services to meet the needs of the public. To name a few, our behavior hotline is available to help bridge the gap between concerned pet owners and animal behavior issues that often cause people to give up their pets. We are also exploring the possibility of adding new classes at new times, g.iven the popularity of our dog training classes. Furthermore, our public education lecture series is very popular. As interest continues to grow, we will add additional topics on animal related subjects, similar to how we implemented our pet loss and grief support group, which addresses an identified need for support.
With the addition of the Virginia Butts Berger Cat Clinic to the Bruckner Rehabilitation and Treatment Center, we have expanded our capacity to provide medical care for animals with treatable diseases. As a result, we are now saving approximately 2,000 additional lives every year. The numbers are extremely impressive.
Even before joining The Anti-Cruelty Society, I was impressed with the amount of lives that were being saved, due to these rehabilitation centers. Part of the reason I came here was to be a part of an organization that provides programs and resources that save animal lives—an organization that really “puts their money where their mouth is.”
Furthermore, we want to partner with other organizations to work together on issues such as dog fighting, domestic violence, feral cat issues, and drastically reducing the overpopulation and euthanasia of dogs and cats.
And of course, through all of our programs and services, we want to continue to live up to our reputation as being the animal resource center for Chicago.