Melissa Barry sat on the floor in the lobby of the Jefferson City Animal Shelter, her dogs, Crum and Dizzy - both adopted from the shelter - wagging their tails and waiting for treats as they sat and lay down at Barry's command. She hadn't planned to adopt the furry four-legged family members, but when they came to the shelter, she felt the connection.
"When I'm picking out my dogs, I go based off my feelings; and they just connected with me," she said, watching her rat terrier mix and border collie mix dogs explore the shelter's conference room while occasionally walking over to her for a pat on the head.
"I walked by Crum back in (the animal shelter's) entry and, I don't know, there was a connection, and I thought, 'This dog needs to go home with me.' And Dizzy hadn't even come through the glass door yet, and I already knew. So sometimes, they just speak to you on a different level."
That same connection to her dogs follows her as a veterinarian assistant at the animal shelter and has guided her in various related jobs over the last 30 years.
As a veterinarian assistant, she does a wide range of jobs like evaluating and cleaning animals, giving vaccines, micro-chipping and photographing adoptable pets for the shelter's social media page. There is never a dull moment, she said.
Barry received the city's February Outstanding Employee Service Award for her work at the Jefferson City Animal Shelter.
Barry can trace her passion for animals to when she was a young girl. She remembers working with animals, particularly horses, when she was 14 years old and doing dog obedience competitions when she was 16.
She later worked at a veterinary office for about 10 years and switched to animal control almost 18 years ago, eight of which have been with the Jefferson City shelter.
"For a while, I didn't know what I was meant for, and I've finally accepted that this is my role, this is why I'm here," she said. "I really just feel like I'm in the place where I'm supposed to be. This is my purpose - my purpose is to be working with homeless, unwanted animals, re-homing them and helping them out."
Her favorite part about working at the animal shelter is introducing shelter dogs to each other and letting them play in the backyard.
"A lot of these dogs, you don't know what they've come from, so just to see them out in that yard and to see them be free and know they are being taken care of and see that smile and just joy, that makes me happy," Barry said. "I like seeing them happy and relaxed and enjoying life even though they're in such a transitional part of their lives."
One of the hardest parts about her job, she said, is when pet owners feel judged for releasing animals into the shelter's possession and they don't provide much information about the pets. The animal shelter staff do not judge, she added, and the more information staff has on an animal, the higher chance they have of placing the pet in a new home.
While many think euthanasia would be the hardest part, Barry said advancements in veterinarian medicine help animal shelters focus more on treatment, meaning euthanasia is a small percentage of what the shelter does. Animal shelters now are treating things once considered untreatable, like upper-respiratory infections, ringworm and heartworms.
When an animal does have to be euthanized, though, she tries to be as compassionate as possible.
"If my job is to help the animal cross the rainbow bridge, if that dog is so sick that it's in its best interest for it to be put down, then I'm glad to be here and be able to do that with some compassion," Barry said. "It goes into taking as much anxiety away from the dog or cat as possible. It's not a part of my job that I enjoy, but it's a part of my job that I take with a lot of heart."
While someone planning to work at an animal shelter should always strive for experience in the field, Barry said, her most important advice is not to let negative days overshadow the benefits.
"The bad days are going to feel a lot heavier, but there's a lot more good days with it," she said. "Don't lose sight that you're making a difference."