Dori Peck: Cats, dogs and spiders, too

COEUR d'ALENE - Most folks who spot a spider in their home squash it.

Not Dori Peck.

In summer time, she'll carefully catch it in a jar and release it outside. And in the winter, she'll just leave it alone. Yep, just lets it live in a corner.

"I don't want them to die," Peck said.

She doesn't want cats, dogs or other critters to die, either, and she's brought her passion and compassion to her role as executive director of the Kootenai Humane Society.

It also explains why her home includes cats, dogs and a pet rat, too.

"I've never not had pets, my entire life," she said. "My parents raised Arabian horses. We always had cats, dogs, birds. Anything that was injured, hurt, I took it home to my mom. It's deeply engrained in my soul. There was never something that I didn't pick up and bring home. If the cat had a ground squirrel, you took it away."

Peck, a former health and PE teacher and ad sales representative for a Spokane newspaper, came to KHS about five months ago from the Spokane Humane Society, where she was development director and outreach coordinator for almost five years.

Here, the Spokane resident oversees a paid staff of about 12 and even more volunteers currently caring for 110 cats and 55 dogs.

Their never-ending task, at times overwhelming, is one Peck and crew take on with smiles each morning.

"I don't know if people understand how much of a service we provide, not just for the animals but for the people of our community, too," she said. "We provide a safe haven for these pets that are found, that are lost, if an owner passes away we're taking these animals in, providing a place for families to bring them. We have our Claws programs, where we give food out once a month to folks who need it for the pets. We provide so many services for the community that are kind of fly under the radar."

KHS shelter is at 11650 N Ramsey Road, Hayden. Hours are noon to 6 daily.

Information: 772-4019

Why did you come to Kootenai Humane Society from the Spokane Humane Society?

I'm from St. Maries, so Idaho is my home. I wanted to come back and be an executive director, that's just kind of the natural progression, development into ED. When this opened up, it was like coming home, and with the animals, it was a natural step for me to come over.

How have things been going?

I love it. It's very challenging. We're kind of out at the end of the road, so that makes a difference in getting folks out there, letting them know we're out there. As far as with the economy, we just have so many animals, it's an ongoing issue. And now it's kitten season, and you know how that is. There's just kittens upon kittens in this area.

How do you keep up with caring for so many cats and dogs?

The staff works nonstop. It's a small staff, but they never quit. They're there 7 o'clock in the morning and they're working all day long.

What are the biggest challenges you face?

It's always money with the nonprofit. That's always the issue as far as donations coming in. We're 100 percent nonprofit, so we rely 100 percent on everybody's goodwill and donations. So many kittens, so many cats right now, this is just the time of year when it's so busy.

We need a new building, desperately. We've outgrown that building.

Any plans for a new one?

Our board of directors is working really hard on a new building. They've been searching and looking and trying to find a perfect spot for us to move to.

The KHS shelter is a no-kill facility. Will that ever change?

At this point, I don't believe it's going to change. That's the direction the board has taken, so we follow that policy. No one is euthanized for time or space. They're kept as long as they're healthy and adoptable. They stay with us until they're adopted.

Are no-kill shelters becoming more standard across the U.S.?

No-kill is the trend. That's what everyone is working toward. So that's why the spay and neuter is so critical, so you can bring the population down, so that you're able to keep the animals in the shelter until they are adopted. That's the goal for all shelters and agencies. Everyone wants to go to that.

Are some of the animals dropped off abused?

Most of them are in good shape. Some come in, maybe not abused but neglected. Maybe folks just don't understand what it takes to take care of them. They need grooming, vet care, so we can provide all that service, which is good. I've seen some really abused ones, though.

What's the average length of stay for a dog or cat at KHS?

About 41 days for a dog, and 60 days for adult cat.

Are most folks looking for a specific pet when they come to the shelter?

Everybody is different. That's why we behavior assess the dogs, so we kind of have an idea of what the dog is like, so we can match them with the perspective owner. If you want a go-getter who's going to play ball with you all day, we have an idea who that is. If you want a couch potato, we have an idea who that is.

Do you get close to the dogs and cats?

Of course, you get your favorites. Sometimes, they come in and go out so quickly you don't really have a chance, but there's some, they stay with us and you fall in love with them.

Why do some dogs end up there longer than others?

I honestly don't know, it's the weirdest thing. Even in Spokane, you'd have the most wonderful dog and it would stay and stay, and you'd have one come in and you'd think, 'That's going to take a special home,' and that dog will fly out the door. There's no rhyme or reason to it. There really isn't. I don't know why. Black animals have a harder time because there's such a plethora of black animals.

Age is a factor. Folks want something that's going to stay with their family long term. It's hard to lose them. There's some of us that love the old ones. They're easy and fun and they just hang out. They move in, they're all right, it's no big deal. If you love a puppy, that's great, but they're a lot of work.

Do people visit the shelter daily in search of pets?

Every day. I'm amazed. It's like a little hub, it's a constant buzz. I'd love to move closer to town where we'd be more centrally located. That would be amazing, where people could literally come out on their lunch hour and walk dogs. It's pretty far for folks from Coeur d'Alene to come out on lunch.

What is the hardest part of your job?

Where the owners pass and the older animals come in. That's my heart and soul, because they've been so cherished and beloved, it's such a shock to their system. Puppies and kittens adjust. They come in and go out so quickly, and they adjust to most anything. Older ones, they're lonely, they're grieving.

What do you enjoy most?

The success stories. When you get emails back, pictures back, of someone that's adopted an animal that's the love of their life. That's so rewarding. It's so amazing.

How is KHS doing financially?

Donations across the board for all nonprofits are down. That's been the trend, because folks just haven't had the money to give, or if they do, they continue giving, but they give less. Our needs then increase, because with the economy being down, we get more animals. People have to move into apartments, they're losing their homes, so, we're getting their pets. So we always need help. Our Avista bills don't go down. None of those bills go down. The need just goes up.

I'm always amazed at the folks that give. It's really, truly, the middle, hard-working people who will come and give. And they give and give and give and keep us as their charity of choice. If they have 5 bucks, they give us 5 bucks. That's pretty cool.

What's the best way the public can help other than donating money?

We depend on the cat and dog food to come in from the public. So schools, classrooms, people like that could get together and do food drives. That always helps. Any type of outreach event, so if someone wants to do an adoption event at their business, we'd love to come out. The more the public sees the animals, the more that get adopted, the more room we have for more.

What is the average cost to care for dogs and cats each day?

In Spokane, we had broken it down to where it's $10 per animal, per day. We haven't done a cost analysis here yet, but it's probably relatively the same, $10 a day. My boss in Spokane used to say, 'We're not good business people. We're certainly not making our money back.' When you adopt a dog for $85, they're spayed and neutered and microchipped, vaccinated, you're not making your money back. That isn't what it's about.

What's one thing you want people to know about the Kootenai Humane Society?

I really want them to come out and visit. I want them to come out and see what we do. We've love to give them tours and really see what we do. We'd love to have them come out and see the animals, see how they're cared for. It's pretty amazing. Those animals are well cared for out there. So come out.

Isn't the shelter a sad place to visit because there are so many dogs and cats that need homes?

We hear that all the time. And the more I'm there, the more I realize, it's not sad there. Some of the situations are sad and some of the circumstances are sad for the dog to be there and the cats, but it's not a sad place. Every one of those animals are loved and cared for. They're warm, they're fed, fresh water, clean. That's pretty amazing if you think about it. It's not sad.

The more time that you give there, the less sad it is. I used to think that too, it's sad to go there. But that's not sad. It's a happy place.