Unfiltered Story #216737

I am answering phones at the animal shelter I work at. We get calls regarding almost anything animal related, and often the people who call are interesting to say the least.

Me: “[Shelter Name], how may I help you?”
Caller: “Yeah, there’s a dog here, and I need to report it to somebody.”
Me: “Ok, is this a stray animal or is it owned by someone?”
Caller: “It’s owned by someone.”
Me: “Alright, is something going on with the animal that you would like to file an animal cruelty report on?”
Caller: “I don’t know, I just need to report it to someone.”

Unsure why he is wanting to simply report a dog’s existence if it is not a stray animal or experiencing animal cruelty, I continue to ask questions to assess the situation. It could potentially be an aggressive animal, an animal that is not allowed on the property, etc., and without knowing exactly what’s going on, I obviously can’t help him.

Me: “Ok sir, what is the reason that you are wanting to report this animal?”
Caller, starting to sound annoyed: “Look, there’s a dog on the rental property that I own, and I just want to report it to someone.”
Me: “Alright, is the dog aggressive or not allowed on the property?”
Caller, now clearly irritated and raising his voice: “Look, I called you for help, you answered the phone and said ‘How may I help you?’ and you are not helping me! How about instead of trying to interrogate me and analyze all this data and whatnot, you either let me report this animal or direct me to someone who can!”
Me: “I’m sorry sir, but until I have all of the details of the situation, I do not know who to direct you to. There are different agencies that handle different types of animal complaints.”

This continues on for several minutes with the caller complaining that I am asking too many questions and that I should just transfer him to the right person. I repeatedly tell him that without knowing what the problem is, I can’t transfer him anywhere. Finally I just give him the number to the local animal control facility, hoping that whatever issue he has may be something they can help him with, although I doubt he was willing to give them any information either.