Passion for pets

By AMY MAY

Planner spends time finding homes for shelter animals

The Daily Inter Lake

When Kirsten Holland told a friend she'd do her the favor of transporting a few animals from the Flathead County Animal Shelter to her home in Eureka, Holland didn't think twice.

But she never thought the simple favor would turn into a passion she'd devote hours of her time to every day.

Now, in addition to her demands as a full-time planner and floodplain manager for the county, Holland, 38, works endless hours for Friends of the Shelter, rescuing and fostering animals from around the Flathead Valley.

Growing up in San Diego, Holland was an animal lover from Day One. Her first dog was an Old English sheepdog named Heidi.

Even after college when Holland was living in San Francisco, working for the San Francisco Foundation in neighborhood planning and community development, she was rescuing dogs off the street. She cared for them as long as she could in her apartment where no dogs were allowed.

Holland later worked for the Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty with fundraising. It was during that time that she saw the way a top-notch shelter is operated.

In 2003 Holland moved from San Francisco to the Flathead Valley to be closer to her parents in Bigfork. She took a job as a grant writer for Flathead County, but by June 2004 she jumped at the opportunity to work in the Flathead County Planning Office.

She said it was the changes she saw around the county that motivated her to work in land-use planning.

"I thought 'I don't want this place to turn into where I just came from,'" Holland recalled. "I wanted to help shape the growth."

FOR THREE years she's seen firsthand an enormous amount of growth, first as a planner and more recently as a floodplain manager.

For eight hours a day, often more, Holland walks county residents and developers through the process of floodplain and subdivision applications. Applications are meticulously reviewed for compliance with regulatory documents and reports are prepared for the planning board and the county commissioners.

The work is difficult and draining.

Holland said the hardest part of her job is watching open space turn into subdivisions.

"The long-time residents don't want to subdivide," Holland observed. "But they want to feed their families and leave something for their grandchildren."

The public can be a tough customer, she added, "but they do reward you 100 times over when you are truthful and respect their viewpoint."

WHEN 5 O'CLOCK rolls around, Holland switches gears and begins her work rescuing animals.

"I work hard for the planning office because it's what I know how to do," she said. "Animals… that's not work."

Her boss, Assistant Planning Director B.J. Grieve, agrees.

"As long as Kirsten fulfills her works for the planning department, which she does, then any work she does for the shelter is both admirable and appreciated," he said.

According to Grieve, Holland manages to balance the two jobs very well, even if it means putting in many extra hours.

City-County Health Director Joe Russell knows exactly what kind of hours Holland has been working.

Russell, who recently took charge of the county shelter, said he often gets e-mails from Holland in the middle of the night with suggestions of how the shelter can be improved.

"I get phone calls from her during her lunch breaks and on Saturdays, asking if she can come get another dog out of the shelter," he said.

Russell credits Holland and others for the recent significant drop in euthanizations at the shelter.

He said he admires the gusto with which Holland approaches all aspects of her life.

"When you are as passionate about something the way she is about animals, you're going to be passionate about everything in your life," he said of her dedication to her work for the county. "She is just so hell-bent on getting the animals out of the shelter."

But when Holland walks out of the animal shelter, she doesn't leave with just one dog or cat.

She doesn't pick the sweetest, most lovable puppy.

Holland always has her eye on the animal who is least likely to be taken home and most likely to be put to sleep.

This week it's Gus, a 12-year-old Labrador/shepherd mix whose owner turned him in when he left for college.

"There is nothing wrong with this dog. He is so sweet," Holland gushes as though the dog was her own. "He's just a big goof-ball."

Holland said she worries that Gus' age will keep someone from adopting him.

"I know it's a county facility; it can't be a 'no-kill' shelter," she said. "But a lack of space should not be a reason to put animals down. If that's the case we are not doing our jobs."

So Holland works to get animals out of the shelter as though it's her job.

Some weeks she takes two animals home from the shelter. Sometimes 10.

Sometimes new owners are already lined up, though usually not.

Friends of the Shelter is spearheaded by Holland and Lori McNichol, both of Eureka. The women use a network of animal lovers both near and far to find homes for each of the animals rescued from shelters.

The organization previously worked mainly with the Eureka Animal Shelter. But when the shelter closed in January, they began fostering out of the Flathead County Animal Shelter.

In August, Friends of the Shelter rescued 55 animals, 40 dogs and 15 cats.

Currently nine dogs, five cats, one mule, one llama and nine horses have a home at the Holland household in Eureka. A few are foster pets but all are rescued animals who wouldn't be alive, much less have a home, without Holland's help

She describes her husband, Randall, as a saint for putting up with her long hours, whether it's at planning-board meetings or helping out at the shelter.

A love of animals is what holds the couple together, she said.

When Holland recently told her husband about Oscar, a red heeler at the shelter. He told her, "Bring him on. I'll drive him around in my truck 'til I find him a home."

Even Holland, who knows the rules of fostering, has a hard time letting go of foster pets once their new home is found.

She has to tell herself that letting them go makes room for that "one more animal" she can save from the shelter.

Every little bit helps, she said. If you can't adopt, take a dog for a walk, play with a cat, let them know they haven't been forgotten.

"I do this because feeling sorry for the animals does no good," she said. "I was lazy for a long, long time, thinking that all my love and compassion would change something for them. But you have to act."

Reporter Amy May may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at amay@dailyinterlake.com