When Cole Wakefield was hired some seven years ago as an assistant manager at the Good Shepherd Humane Shelter, he instinctively brought to the job the same disciplined abilities common to canine hunting breeds: Sit. Stay. Watch. Learn. Fetch. Bring it. Drop it.
From manning the welcome desk at the GSHS adoption center or working in his office, to taking a seat at conference tables and convention centers either listening to or giving talks at regional to national-level gatherings, Wakefield stayed the course, watched, and learned.
When he conceived an improvement or program he could apply to GSHS, he fetched ways to make it happen, brought it to committee or to the board, and dropped it there for discussion.
Today, thanks to Wakefield’s vision as GSHS Executive Director and CEO, the county has a thriving no-kill shelter that has become an example to and envy of rural animal shelters around the country, but he will be the first to give credit elsewhere.
The question most asked by other shelters or organizations is simply, “How? How did you accomplish so much with so few resources?”
“I tell them that instead of waiting, we just do it,” Wakefield said. “Instead of waiting for everything to line up perfectly, we figure out what we need, and we do it ourselves. That’s the thing – we have amazing support from the community. We just started doing it ourselves and people became interested and became supporters.
“It’s incredible what our community has allowed us to accomplish,” he added, “and because of it, we get calls from top leaders in the animal welfare field, and our role has expanded. We are a leader serving the entire Northwest Arkansas region and a leader nationally in setting the pace for reaching rural under-served areas. A lot of underlying factors are the same, but the solutions are different. Some counties have no animal control at all. Now people look to Eureka Springs as an example of what can happen with community support.”
Wakefield, fresh from receiving the title of Certified Animal Welfare Administrator from The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, commented, “I would never have imagined this is what I would be when I first took this job, not in my wildest dreams.”
When it comes to the hunt for a better life for unwanted pets, especially in rural areas around the country, the folks who supported and will support the local work of the Good Shepherd Humane Shelter should be proud to know we do have a dog in that hunt. A really good one.