AC Pet Rescue receives much-needed upgrades at new facility recently
Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - Adams County Pet Rescue Director Kyya Grant and Evergreen Implement IT Supervisor Josh Anderson work out the bugs in the new computer system being installed at the facility.
Bob Kirkpatrick/The Sun Tribune - It's been said looks can be deceiving. Such was the case at Adams County Pet Rescue as the outside shell of the building looks like a shiny new penny. However, the operating system inside the facility was in bad need of an upgrade, which is currently underway.
OTHELLO — Pulling onto the grounds of Adams County Pet Recue off Bench Road in Othello and seeing the outside of the spiffy new building, one gets the impression the facility must have every new bell and whistle imaginable.
But that isn’t the case, or should I say, until recently wasn’t the case. But thanks to a rather impressive donation from Evergreen Implement, managing the new digs has gotten a whole lot easier.
“We were in desperate need of new computers and didn’t even have a landline here,” said Kyya Grant, director of Adams County Pet Rescue. “The outdated equipment we have been using was down more than it was up…there were problems with the internet and the adopt program we were using would quit in the middle of the process. It became very frustrating and made it difficult to do our job.”
When Evergreen Implement owner Roger Thieme, who is an avid proponent of pet rescue got wind of things, he quickly took action to help elevate the problems, sending his trusty employee of 17 years and the company’s IT supervisor the past eight years, Josh Anderson to address the issues.
“Initially, Roger had me come out and do a site survey. I checked their desktop PC’s and printers…it’s great when people donate things, but the PC’s were 10 years-old, which in the computer world is like a 100 year-old person,” Anderson said. “The printers were donated too, but were just black and white and couldn’t copy or scan anything, so to make a copy they had to run upstairs and use the only copy machine they had.”
Following his survey, Anderson gave Thieme his recommendation regarding the upgrades needed for the necessary improvements that would make things much less complicated. Thieme then told Anderson to “do what needed to be done.”
“We provided a new wireless access point, which set up the network, and provided three new Dell computers,” Anderson said. “We also brought in a color printer-copier-scanner that they can directly email from it, which alleviated a big problem they were having because the building wasn’t hardwired…everything was wireless and the wireless router they had was decent for residential use but not designed for commercial use. So we put in a commercial wireless access point that will provide a good portion of the property with wireless internet.”
The task to upgrade the entire system, Anderson said, “definitely took a lot of man-hours to pull it off.”
“It’s a challenge I enjoy…it’s not really work when you enjoy what you’re doing.”
Grant says the improvements have made her job a lot easier.
“I was taking work home after adoption events and would do a lot of scanning and emailing at home as well. But now I can do it all here.”
The landline is yet to be installed, but the project is in the works.
“We are working with CenturyLink to install the line,” Anderson said. “During the new construction process, it and hardwiring the building was overlooked. A new line will have to be trenched from Bench Road to the building. Everything is mobile nowadays, but part of running a business is having a landline so people can call and leave a message.”
When asked why he is such a stanch supporter of Adams County Pet Rescue, Thieme replied, “There are a lot of animals in and around the area that need to be taken care of. I really didn’t pay that much attention to the need until the older facility burnt down. The animals in the county weren’t going away and neither was the people wanting them. So when the rescue folks were looking for another location to house the animals and I helped with that process.”
When they found the piece of property the shelter now sits on Thieme helped get the new shell built.
But during the planning stages, he said, a lot of things like the updated computer system, landline and a commercial grade washer and dryer were overlooked. So he stepped up once again to lend a helping hand.
“They have a great group of people working there…I was amazed on how many animals they were able to move with the old system,” Thieme said. “Just think of the many more they can move now with a better system.”
Something else in the works to make the job easier for Grant and her staff is a better means to transport animals to and from the facility. Thieme has a hand in that too.
“We’re working on fixing up a vehicle so they won’t have to continue to use their own to take the animals back and forth,” he said. “They (the dogs and cats) make all kinds of messes, so they (staff members) won’t have to worry about that anymore.”
All told, the time, materials and equipment donated by Thieme totals in the six-figure range.
“It’s probably going to run between $150-to-200,000 to get it fixed up right.”