Get to know our staff
Each month, the ARL will highlight a member of our staff so you can learn more about those who care for the animals at the ARL.
Meet Paige Seitz
Name:
Paige Seitz
Position:
Foster Program Supervisor
Pets at home:
I have Budd, an 11 year old chihuahua mix, and Sid, another 10 year old chihuahua mix.
What were you doing before working at the ARL:
I was the livestock guarding dog program manager for the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, Africa!
How long have you been at ARL, and what does a typical day on the job look like for you?
I have been with the ARL since September 2019, so about 1 1/2 years. A typical day for me normally includes lots of kittens and organizing their transport out of the shelter and into foster homes. Since young kittens are very vulnerable to picking up diseases, we work on getting them out of the shelter as soon as possible. I also work on scheduling foster animals to come in for vaccines, to be spayed or neutered, and to have checks by our medical staff. I also work on getting adult cats and dogs into foster homes as well – Sometimes they are shut down or very reactive in a kennel and need the more relaxed space of a foster home to be their true self!
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
“You GOAT This!” An autobiography about a shy girl who moved across country to follow her dreams and find her true self. (The goat part is because I am obsessed with goats!)
What are your hopes for ARL/What do you hope we can accomplish as a team in the future?
I would love for the community to recognize what we do and ask more questions and get more involved as the ARL has come so far in the last few years and is better than ever!
If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be and why?
I would like to learn to play the ukulele. I am terrible at reading music and have never been great at learning an instrument, but I really like the way they sound!
What is your favorite thing about your job? What is the most challenging?
I love getting to see animals of all sorts thrive outside of the shelter in their foster homes. Right now, the most challenging thing is not having enough fosters to get kittens out as quick as possible.
Tell us about a shelter animal you’ll never forget.
Her name is Apricot or as I like to call her, Princess Shrew because she has the longest nose. She is a 12 year old chihuahua that has been living in my office for a few weeks while they figure out her medical issues, and we have fallen in love. She doesn’t walk well but is the sweetest and silliest thing. Unfortunately, I can’t adopt her, but we will remember each other always after she finds her fur-ever home.
What is your favorite memory at ARL?
To be honest, I think it’s just meeting all the people that work here. I was in Namibia for 5 1/2 years, so I was away for a long time during my 20s when everyone else was meeting new people and friends… So I was really nervous about starting a new job and making new friends at my age, but everyone has been so inviting and nice that it made it very easy.
Cats or dogs?
I love both, but I have always been a dog person. I have tried to study big cats for my internships and career and somehow, I always end up back with dogs. Haha.
Any last words of wisdom?
Everything happens for a reason. You might not realize it at the time, but in the future, when you look back, you realize you wouldn’t have it any other way because somehow, everything worked out just the way it was meant to be.
Meet Hailey Auriemma
Name: Hailey Auriemma
Position: Animal Care Specialist and Cat Lead
What you were doing before you came to ARL:
I had been a server in restaurants for 6 years. I had never thought about working in an animal shelter, but one day, I saw a post on Facebook that there was an opening here, and I didn’t even hesitate before I applied. Best decision I ever made!
Pets at home:
I have a 5 year old cat named Blue, an 18 year old sun conure named Jeffree, a middle aged ferret named Teddy, and currently I have a foster kitten named Azula – All are from the ARL!
How long have you been at ARL, and what does a typical day on the job look like for you?
2 years as of June 2021! Time flies! I usually spend my mornings cleaning and helping to take care of all of the cats in our care. I figure out what cats need in order to progress through the shelter as quickly and positively as possible so they’re ready to go up for adoption. My life has become entirely cat-oriented – Which anyone who has known me over the years know is so strange, considering I was always a dog person!
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
“What?” I feel like I’m always saying that when people are talking to me because I’m always mishearing things.
What are your hopes for ARL, and what do you hope we can accomplish as a team together in the future?
I hope people can see how hard everyone tries here and how dedicated we are to what we do. There’s a lot of people working here that go beyond what they need to do and it really shows in the animals in our care. We’ve grown a lot even since I’ve started here and I’m proud to work for this organization.
If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be?
Hmm… Probably tattooing. I love art and always enjoy playing around with new mediums. I think it would be amazing to learn the most permanent form of art, and I have quite a few tattoos myself.
Tell us about a shelter animal you’ll never forget.
There’s too many to name! So many to impact on your life in the short time they’re here. I guess I’d pick my cat Blue. He came into the shelter right as my fiancé and I were in the process of moving, and I fell head over heels for that hunk! It ended up working out that I was able to adopt him and bring him home only a few days after settling into our new place! He’s the light of my life, and I’m so lucky to have him!
Cats or dogs?
I was a dog person until I started working here. But I love both! I can’t wait till we’re able to add a dog to our pack at home.
Any last words of wisdom?
Do whatever you want to do, as long as it’s not hurting anyone. You’re never going to please everyone so you might as well do what makes you happy.
Meet Dr. Jason Banning
Name: Jason Banning, DMV
Position: Medical Director
What you were doing before you came to ARL:
After graduating in May 2019, I began a one year shelter medicine internship that concluded in June 2020.
Pets at home:
Kaia, a 6 year old female pit mix, Caoimhe (“Kee-Vah”), a 6 year old female husky mix, and Cat, a 6 year old male domestic shorthair.
How long have you been at ARL, and what does a typical day on the job look like for you?
I’ve been with the ARL since July 2020. A typical day sees me in surgery in the morning, primarily spaying and neutering but also performing dentals and other special procedures as needed. The afternoons are split between helping with the shelter’s medical cases and developing plans to expand our medical capabilities to include additional services, such as vaccine clinics and medical and surgical assistance for partnering animal welfare organizations.
What is your favorite thing about your job? What is the most challenging?
My favorite part is being able to provide medical assistance so that a pet can remain with the family that they love and who loves them. The most challenging part is constantly striving to maximize the impact we are making on our animal’s and our community while using minimal resources. The more efficient we can be as an organization, the greater the number of animals we can help.
If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be?
I would learn how to perform a lateral fabellar suture surgery to help dogs with ruptured knee ligaments. Cranial cruciate ligament rupture (similar to an ACL injury in humans) is a fairly common orthopedic disease that particularly affects our overweight, larger dog breeds. Surgical repair is the only reliable means of alleviating the pain and lameness associated with the injury, and that surgery can be quite expensive, particularly for someone just adopting the animal. This, understandably, causes these dogs to stay with us for longer periods of time and currently there is very little we can offer other than pain medication. Being able to provide some surgical support to these animals would both help them feel more comfortable and help them be adopted sooner, as the new owner will not have to worry about ongoing pain or an expensive surgery.
Name: Meg Yohn
Position: Feline Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator
What you were doing before you came to ARL: I’ve done quite a few things, but right before this, I was a third-shift warehouseman, throwing kegs and cases of beer for a living, driving forklift, loading trucks, et cetera. I’d started volunteering here as a photographer to keep my sanity when I got off work. When I lost that job, I took the plunge and applied here; fingers, toes, arms, legs, and eyes crossed. Best decision I could have made.
Pets at home (include name, age, breed!): 7 cats: Muttle; the derp, Stache; the spaz, Boo; the screamer, Willow; the noodle baby, Adeline; the angel, Bernard; the brainy lunatic goose in a cat-suit, Nugget; the torbie siamese. (AKA; Bucket of attitude)… It’s an interesting crew.
How long have you been at ARL, and what does a typical day on the job look like for you?
Oh my goodness, is any day typical? I first check in to see if there’s any help needed for cleaning in the morning, and from there… I do behavior assessments and modification for our cats and make sure we have the right information in our system to make sure they get the right home. I conduct behavior consults for families in need, whether it’s small questions or major problems that have them on the brink of surrender. I do enrichment and clicker training for our cats, build informational tools for clients, the public, and our staff on feline behavior and welfare, work on revising, expanding, and strengthening the behavior program, making DIY cat toys, run the Cat Pawsitive program – the list never ends, really. I like growth and diversity…so I’m always looking to put new things into my agenda to shake it up.
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
Uhh. I don’t know. You know, I actually think I’d call it “I don’t know.” Or! A word that is meant for something unknown or difficult to figure out, like “Enigma.” I like the word enigma. My life has been a riddle wrapped inside of a mystery inside of an enigma…or something, how does that line go again?
What is your favorite thing about your job? What is the most challenging?
There’s so much. My favorites… Seeing behaviorally challenged animals make progress, seeing them go home, helping my clients keep their companion animals (and hearing them tell me all about their repaired relationship and how much they love them, whereas just a few weeks ago they were ready to kick them out or crying to me over the phone and at their wits-end), responsible guardianship, building, strengthening, and retaining the human-animal bond.
The challenging stuff…understanding I can’t do it all. I can’t help everyone, and I can’t save every animal from coming into the shelter. Handling the tough calls, the sad people, and the sick animals can get difficult. Also, the vitriol some spew towards the organization…we’re not perfect, but, man…in four years I have seen such an improvement in care!
What is one thing on your bucket list that you really want to cross off soon?
I want to take a for-real diploma or certificate program, or even get a legitimate degree soon…rather than keep taking all of these rinky-dink professional development courses I do now. I’d also like to start rock climbing and get into art again!
What are your hopes for ARL/What do you hope we can accomplish as a team in the future?
I envision so many possibilities that I already see us headed towards with time. I want massive TNR programs. I want grassroots educational/outreach programs going beyond ourselves, welfare problems, legislative problems, all of it! I want legislative programs. I want to do classes for the public. I want to do more behavioral training. I want to build my department bigger and better! I want a new building one day so we can have a ton of free roam cat area and vertical space and can ditch tiny kennels forever…grumpy cats who hate cats can get portaled kennels with more space and call it a day. Mobile behavioral counseling, mobile adoptions! Selling behavioral aids and supplies to make things easy. Starter kits, too. Everything to set a new guardian up for success. I dream big. I want so many things for us and our community, and I can’t wait for us to achieve these things!
If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be?
It might sound weird, but I’m really into genetics right now. I want to learn more about how certain genes influence certain things, and I’ve always been intrigued by how it all works. I’d also like more formal English education; y’know, the really nerdy stuff so I can decipher the most cryptic writing! Forensic science really interests me, too. And of course, rock climbing and art. I want to learn all the things. I am a perpetual student. All I do is read stuff. They called me Encyclopedia Meg growing up because I just store random facts.
Tell us about a shelter animal you’ll never forget.
I will never forget Rambo. He was a diabetic, obese tripod cat who was surrendered last year, couldn’t walk, and was terribly shut down. I enrolled him in our Cat Pawsitive program, and I bought him a walkabout harness to take weight off his legs and support him in training because his legs would literally buckle beneath him. We got him mobile again so he could take several steps on his own before needing to rest – he didn’t buckle as much anymore, he became so much more social, rubbing and rolling as soon as he’d hear our voices. His diabetes went into remission, no more insulin…and I think he lost somewhere between 1-3lbs before getting adopted. Rambo was a champ!
What is your favorite memory at ARL?
The day I was hired? The day I was told there would be a feline behavior program? The day I was asked to head it? Those days we all got together after tough times and…just, were a team, and still do. Getting accepted into Cat Pawsitive..twice! A lot of kooky times with escape artist cats, silly things…I have a lot of stories, I don’t know!
Cats or dogs?
Cats for me! Dogs are great, but we don’t communicate well for some reason! And, for me, as a woman on the spectrum who is easily overstimulated (just like many of the cats I treat!)…they’re just too noisy and hyper for me! Me and cats just “click!” and maybe being neurodivergent is a part of that – I feel we’re a lot alike, intrinsically! I’ll still snuggle a pup when they’re calm and cozy, or take them on a walk – but, I’m easily overwhelmed with those not of the feline kind.
Any last words of wisdom? (Share a life motto, quote, movie line, etc.)
Never stop learning, never stop trying. It’s never too late, keep on growing. Don’t be afraid to be you; no matter what that means – we’re all a little weird! Be good to others, always have an open ear, a hungry mind, and a generous heart…
Name: Amanda Mellinger
Position: Pet Placement Specialist
What you were doing before you came to ARL: I worked in restaurants for many years before I made the leap to adoption/animal care and I’m so glad I did!
Pets at home (include name, age, breed!): 3 guinea pigs: Milton (2) Harvey (2) and Henry the Skinny Pig (1) (Henry is a hairless guinea pig I adopted from here and if you’ve never seen one, they look like baby hippos!)
I have 3 hamsters adopted from here as well: Frido Kahlo (2) Paige (10 weeks) and Yozhik (5 months)
How long have you been at ARL, and what does a typical day on the job look like for you?
I worked here previously, but I couldn’t stay away and asked to come back shortly after I left! I am a pet placement specialist, so once we are open for adoptions I spend my day helping people find their new best friend! I am also the adoptions lead for the small animals here at the shelter, so I spend time making sure our small animal room is ready for incoming animals, write accurate bios for them, and educate my team and the public on the care of the smallies!
What would you name the autobiography of your life?
“What just happened?”
What is your favorite thing about your job? What is the most challenging?
My favorite thing about the job is definitely spending time with the animals and seeing them go into their forever homes! It is also really uplifting when adopters send us photos of their new family members and we can see them living it up!
The most challenging thing is seeing the same great animals get passed up time after time because they are a little bit more difficult. It really hurts to see them brought back after only a few days of trying. We know how great they can be, we see their potential, but we understand they need a special someone to give them the time they need to blossom. It’s hard to see them looking so sad as they wait their turn for love.
What is one thing on your bucket list that you really want to cross off soon?
I would really like to take a Fall vacation in the woods somewhere secluded (maybe Vermont!) in a lake side A-frame cabin with a small group of friends and a lot of good beer!
What are your hopes for ARL/What do you hope we can accomplish as a team in the future?
I hope that one day people can get over themselves and their perceptions of who the ARL WAS and take the time to see us for who we are NOW. We’ve grown so much as an organization and we have such a wonderful team now. Everyone working here busts their buns to make sure every animal coming through this building is shown love and is cared for. The adoption team in particular goes above and beyond each day to be a tool for the community, and works hard with the public to find everyone the right fit for their home.
In the future I hope we can expand our organization and provide more services for our community and those in need. There are so many people who love animals and aren’t always able to access the vet care or grooming services they need, and it would be really awesome to have things like that or (my dream) a cat café! Serving coffee and doing adoptions simultaneously! What could be better!
If you could learn to do anything right now, what would it be?
I am currently attempting to learn Spanish! We have a lot of people in our community that are solely Spanish speaking and it would be really great to be able to help them instead of scrambling to find someone who is fluent.
Tell us about a shelter animal you’ll never forget.
If you ask anyone they all know my answer to this! Molly! AKA Molly Wobbles! The best hippo in the world. We got a pittie in that was brought here by the police. They went to the house to arrest her owner and she came wobbling up to the door so they shot her in the neck. So I’m expecting this rough and tumble, vicious beast and I turn the corner to find…a big grey pittopotamus smiling from ear to ear at me! My Molly bear! She was severely overweight, had a bullet in her neck, and was happy as could be. I fell in love! We put her on a weight loss plan and took her for short walks every day. I would climb into her kennel with her and give her eye medications and cuddle with her. We took her to the Reading Museum for a field trip! I still have pictures of her hanging on my wall, she was the best dog and now she’s happy in her forever home being loved up on and rolling around on every couch!
What is your favorite memory at ARL?
One night after we closed we were feeding all of the animals and giving them their medications before tucking them into bed. My coworker, Andrew, asked me what I thought this one particular medicaiton smelled like and I immediately and correctly replied, “Skateaway Roller Rink.” We still laugh about that!
Cats or dogs?
Both! I could never choose!
Any last words of wisdom?
Be nice to each other and be nice to yourself. Life is hard enough without being nasty to people all the time. A little kindness goes a long way!