Upper management. Isn’t it always upper management? After 15 years in the animal welfare industry, I was left disappointed and disillusioned by my time at the ASPCA. I loved my job and did good work, however, all it took was one person in upper management who had a petty vendetta against me to turn my dream job into a nightmare. I was unfairly targeted, bullied, gaslit, and ultimately unfairly terminated. Feedback was given to me months after the fact and many items were brought to my attention for the FIRST time during my performance evaluation. I was placed on a performance improvement plan, and had three meetings with management in which I was told I was doing a great job, with no complaints, and then suddenly let go with no explanation. Management above the senior level are cliquey, play favorites, and have some of the worst people skills you can imagine. They don’t want people with ideas or initiative or anyone who may question authority. Instead, they want their employees to smile, nod, and not challenge the status quo. If you don’t comply, be prepared for them to find any excuse to let you go. To succeed here, one must be prepared to have a brown nose. It’s a real shame- good employees, people experienced working with shelter animals, those who have real people skills, and those with an actual passion for the work are getting pushed out by truly terrible people managers and completely useless and biased “people team” - the only people they protect are the ones at the top. Unfortunately, the ASPCA is like every other large corporation that treats its employees like cogs in a machine that can easily be disposed of and replaced. Also, upper management is elitist and values higher education over experience and skill and there is minimal career growth potential, especially for animal care staff. Also, regarding resources, wow they could do so much better. Donate to your local shelter, please, it’ll do way more good.
