Center starts new chapter in the black, new boss says
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center has a new boss, and her face is familiar to employees.
Karen Walsh has been hired as the center's executive director. Ms. Walsh has been working at the center with increasing responsibility since Dr. Amanda Wojtalik-Courter announced her departure in February.
Ms. Walsh was one of about 100 applicants for the job, said Ann Ball, chairman of the Animal Care Trust, the center's operating board. Potential candidates came from all regions of the country, but ultimately board members liked Ms. Walsh's mix of business and animal-care experience, Ms. Ball said.
"We're very excited about moving into this new (phase) at the center with Karen and her staff," she said.
BY THE NUMBERS
* 1 year of operation
* 4,853 animals processed through May
* 27 percent euthanasia rate compared to a national rate of 64 percent
* 100 applicants for the executive director job
Source: McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center
Ms. Walsh has owned catering and restaurant businesses, and she's a licensed veterinary medical technician and works as an adjunct professor at Chattanooga State Community College. Ms. Ball declined to provide Ms. Walsh's salary.
The center, which has been troubled by budgetary red ink since it opened in July 2008, closed out April with balanced books for the first time ever, Ms. Walsh said.
"We've definitely made some changes financially that are helping us out," she said. "Not overspending for one month is the first step. Now we've got to fundraise our way out of the deficit we created up to that point."
"Karen and I have talked extensively ... about what we could trim," said Paula Hurn, the center's interim director of operations, who has worked with both Dr. Wojtalik-Courter and Ms. Walsh. "To a certain extent, we extensively squished our finances up. We've trimmed significantly to be a very lean operation."
Fundraising in a tight economy proved difficult for the initial team of McKamey managers. Donations fell far short of projections, and the center was hit with a rush of kittens within its first week of operation.
The center has battled a wave of negative attention, Ms. Walsh said, including news coverage last week of two puppies dying while in the back of a McKamey animal services truck.
Staff Photo by Lesley Onstott Karen Walsh, the new executive director of the McKamey Animal Care and Adoption Center, plays with Chip and Cher on Monday at the McKamey Center. Chip, an eight-year-old Australian Shephard Lab mix, and Cher, a one-year-old basset hound mix, are up for adoption at the McKamey Center.
She said overcoming the lack of financial support and the negative views in the community will be among her chief jobs.
"We need support," Ms. Walsh said. "We want the McKamey Center to succeed. We want the public to say, 'We want this wonder facility in our community.'"
Ms. Walsh said the facility could use in-kind support, such as the donation of four yards of cement to go beneath a shelter that needs be installed behind the center.
With the plea for more support comes the disclosure that more belt tightening is taking place. The adoption portion of the center now is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and new layers of management have been put in place to cut down on free spending and overtime.
Employees are doubling their efforts to raise money and adopt animals, officials said.
The facility has honored its commitment to be a low-kill facility, euthanizing only sick and aggressive animals, officials said. Its euthanasia rate stands far below the national average, according to McKamey data.
